Anyone taken the upgrade exam yet???

[DC Dalton]

I was wondering if anyone had taken the upgrade exam yet for SCJP. Or if not has anyone found any links to what is covered in it. Is it just on new stuff from 1.4 or a mish-mosh of everything..... I was going to jump on my web dev cert next until I saw this.....YIKES

[Manish Hatwalne]

You can know more abt what is covered in this exam here -
http://suned.sun.com/US/certification/java/certification_details.html#upgrade
http://suned.sun.com/US/certification/java/java_exam_objectives.html#upgrade1.4
HTH,
- Manish

[Valentin Crettaz]

https://coderanch.com/forums/

[Theodore Casser]

Personally, I'd be more interested in hearing folks' impressions of the exam if anyone has taken it - I'm thinking of taking it myself in a month or two and would like to know before I get ready for it as to comparative difficulty, etc.

[John Lee]

Not yet. But I don't think it is truly necessary...

[Theodore Casser]

Originally posted by Don Liu:
Not yet. But I don't think it is truly necessary...

I don't know that it is or isn't really needed either - I mean, I use Java every day (we're still on 1.3 here in the office) and I think it's fairly obvious to my employer that I know the language...
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm wondering if it's easy enough to merit the time preparing for the upgrade exam now (perhaps as a precursor to taking the SCJD exam) or to wait until Sun is ready to 'expire' the 1.2 certifications in favor of a later version. Cost really isn't my concern, since my employer's happy to reimburse me for exams I pass.

[Valentin Crettaz]

...(perhaps as a precursor to taking the SCJD exam)...
If you are using Java everyday, just go for the Developer Certification (or any other cert for that matter) and don't even think about the upgrade exam. My feeling is that the upgrade exam is not really useful for people who are already Java geeks. Now, if you have time to spend on that exam and since money is not a concern, you can take it, but the energy you put in that would be better used somewhere else doing something really useful... Just my opinion... I'm not planning to take the upgrade anytime soon, maybe never and I don't think that exam really buys you something.
If you think about it, two big sections have been removed (AWT and IO), and in counterpart, a small one (Assertions) as well as some deepening of the Collections Framework have been added. Is it really worth the 100 bucks? I don't think so.

[Kathy Sierra]

I'm with Valentin. I probably wouldn't take the upgrade unless I was specifically asked by my employer. Instead, why not go for the Developer exam (if you don't have a lot of developer experience to show) or if you DO have solid OO development experience, then my favorite would be the Web Component exam (which is becoming VERY popular).
cheers,
Kathy

[Thomas Paul]

Kathy, do you need a current Programmer certification to take the developer test? If you had an expired programmer cert would you have to update to take the developer test?
Although at this moment no one has an expired programmer certification since the expiration dates on certifications only started last year.

[Thomas Paul]

Originally posted by DC Dalton:
I was wondering if anyone had taken the upgrade exam yet for SCJP.

There is no reason to take the update test at this time. No one has an expired certification since all certifications prior to September(?) have no expiration date. As long as you certified for Java 2 you are good.

[Theodore Casser]

That works for me. As long as I don't need to upgrade my SCJP to 1.4 to be eligible for the Developer exam - I think that was probably my biggest concern.

[Guennadiy VANIN]

Originally posted by Thomas Paul:
No one has an expired certification since all certifications prior to September(?) have no expiration date.

Is it? Where is it written? It doesn't seem logical to restrict such policy only to the fact whether or not it is imprinted in Certificate. To harm, first of all, the most recently certified ones, e-h?
What is the Upgrade Exam for, then?
Portuguese escudos also NEVER had no expiration time on them until they were DECLARED to be out of circulation without printing it in them.
I am really worried to know.

[Jessica Sant]

Originally posted by Guennadiy VANIN:

Is it? Where is it written? It doesn't seem logical to restrict such policy only to the fact whether or not it is imprinted in Certificate.

Check this out: SUN RECERTIFICATION POLICY

Unless otherwise stated, and beginning with all Sun Certification exams taken after September 1, 2002, certification offerings from Sun are valid for two (2) years from the date of certification. The certification date will appear on both a certificate and an identification card with the applicable certification title. The identification card will also include an expiration date, on which an IT professional's Sun certification status expires.

[Guennadiy VANIN]

Thanks Jessica,
PS. I have in my plans to study over all SUN's postings but, so far, I failed

[Guennadiy VANIN]

That's a relief, I still cannot stop enjoying. What a luck! Eternal certification!