SCJP1.4 or SCJP5.0???

[Phani]

I'm planning to go for SCJP Ceritification.I would like to invite suggestions about which certfication to go for(SCJP1.4 or SCJP5.0). I prefer going for SCJP 5.0, though I didn't work on Tiger. However, I'm adviced to go for SCJP1.4, coz tiger is not yet standardized.
Please help me out.

regards,
fun

[Niranjan Deshpande]

1.5 is a big deal....lots of syllabus

1.4 is easy, exam pattern is standardized. passing %age is 52 ans compared to 59 in 1.5. no. of questions in 1.4 is 61 as compared to 73 in 1,5 exam

1.5 no standard books are available till february'06


hope that helps
niranjan

[Phani]

Niranjan,
Thx for those helpful words.
I have gone through J2SE5.0 enhancements over 1.4, but I still don't understand when I hear that there are lots of additions.
Yes, there are a couple of additions/modifications, but the overall Java language is intact, right!!!
Please clear my illusion by explaining in what way that would be a hectic task to undertake.

cheers,
fun

[Bert Bates]

Hi fun,

Two thoughts:

First, I have to request that you update your display name to be your real name. We work really hard at JavaRanch to maintain a friendly atmosphere, and we've found that when people use their real names a lot less "flaming" and such goes on! Thanks!

Second, the Tiger exam is MUCH broader in scope than the 1.4 exam. You're right to say that the core language is still intact, although important features like enums, autoboxing, and generics were added to the language and to the exam for Tiger. In addition, the exam creators decided to add topics covering some of the more commonly used or conceptually important Java APIs. So for the Tiger exam, you have to understand basic I/O, basic regex, Serialization, dates and currency, more about Collections than in the old exam, and several other areas of the API.

All that said, I'd advise most people to take the Tiger exam, not the older 1.4 exam. The only things removed from the Tiger exam were bit shifting and the Math class, so for all intents and purposes, the Tiger exam is a superset of the old 1.4 exam.

hth,

Bert

[Phani]

Bert,

Thanks for your guidance and for giving a clear view of all the things that need to be taken care of to get a Certification in J2SE5.0 And I'm glad that your views do match that of mine.
I would be thankful if you can hint at suitable pointers towards preparation for j2se 5.0
Also, I have changed my display name as per your suggestion. Thanks for making me aware of that.

cheers,
Phani

[Marcus Green]

When I set about re-writing my 1.4 Tutorial ( http://www.jchq.net/certkey/index.htm ) I assumed it would be an update. As Bert says, it is a much bigger syllabus and it turned out to be around 80% re-write. However the main benefit of certification is to get passed HR departments and they mostly don't know anything about the different versions. But for personal satisfaction and to ensure you do know the features of JDK 1.5 then the Tiger exam is attractive.

[Mark Spritzler]

Phani, Bert also asked you to change your display name to meet the JavaRanch Naming policy. Please click on the My Profile above and use your real first and real last names.

Thanks

Mark