SCJP 5 Upgrade Question

[Rose Philomel]

Hi,
I am new to the Java Ranch,working as a Java/J2EE developer in Omaha. I recently took my SCJP 1.4 Certification with Kathy and Bert's Book for SCJP 1.4. I passed with a 95%. I am thinking of upgrading to Java 1.5, and I have bought the K & B book again for SCJP 1.5. But I am planning to take only the upgrade Exam. How do I efficently use Kathy and Bert's book for 1.5 to tackle the Upgrade Exam. The book is for the full SCJP 1.5 Exam. Whats the big difference between the 1.4 and Upgrade Exam? Do I still have to read the full SCJP 1.5 book or is it o.k..to concentrate on parts of it for the Upgrade Exam? Does the Upgrade Exam concentrate on 1.5 stuff more than the 1.4 stuff? I will greatly appreciate it if any of you can clear my questions.Thanks a lot.

[mad dy]

Hi,

For Upgrade 1.5 Exam (CX-310-056),Prerequisite is Successful completion of previous version of Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Platform exam.

I think you can go for this with 1.4

cheers,
maady

[Theodore Casser]

I took the upgrade exam a couple months ago, so let's see if I can help out.

The big difference between the two is that the upgrade exam only covers those things that are new to the exam for Java SE 5.0. There aren't going to be any of the questions on basic features that have been around since the early days, and topics that haven't changed since the 1.4 version are also glossed over. What you're going to be left with are about 46 questions that relate solely with the newest features, which may or may not be harder (personally, I think it's easier with all the basic questions, but... )

So, best of luck!

[Rose Philomel]

Thanks a lot for the replies.

To Theodore: Looking at sun's site for the Upgrade Exam, they say they have the same topics as in the SCJP 5.0 Exam.So if they even have threads in the SCJP Upgrade Exam, so does that mean they will test only the new features introduced in Threads? Arent they gonna test on old stuff..like wait() notify() etc?

I took the SCJP 1.4..just 2 months back..actually I brought the voucher long time back..and didn't think about SCJP 5.0 when I bought that. So do you think SCJP 5.0 will be better off for me..as I just learnt all those basic old stuff too..so kinda have it fresh in my mind. So if I go in for the full SCJP 5.0 I will have more chances of passing ...right?

I am not worried about the percentage now..as I already got 95% in my first one. All I want is to pass an upgrade the certification and get to know some new SCJP 5.0 stuff. Thank you

Rose
SCJP 1.4