Isnt SCJP an overkill

[megha joshi]

Hi all,

I am here to see if anyone else is feeling frustrated with the SCJP preparation or am I the only one feeling its too much.
I am revising the K&B book and I really cant take it any more.Its like oh my God when will it end...and few things just dont go into my head..

I decide everytime that Ok today I have to finish revision and start mock test and by teh time I have read two three topics...I am ready to be frustrated again and feel like why am I doing this?When will this get over...

I thought someone can help me...

[victor kamat]

I can't say the same for myself. I have been preparing for less than 2 months full time and feel pretty good at this point.

Have the SCJP will help me get a job I like.

[megha joshi]

thats good...

I havent been preparing full time..bcoz I spend 7am to 8 pm travelling to my job and at the job, so left with only weekends and days after work when I am not too tired...but still frustrated ...dont know what I would have done if it was full time preps

[victor kamat]

I do like to code; pretty decent C and Visual Basic programmer

[Pankaja Shinde]

yeah i also feeling frusted
i studied every day for about 4 - 5 hrs but after that i exhausted
but when i read khalid or go for mock test i get new information that why i keep going

[megha joshi]

I saw the type of new questions you get...thats really more frustrating...

[Svend Rost]

Hi Meg,

taking an exam can often be fustrating! thoughts like "do I really need to
know this?" come in mind.

The programmer exam teaches you the nuts and bolts of the Java language. It
doesn't teach you how to program... it does - however - teach you the
language.

For my part, the important part of the SCJP is the process. You might learn
alot of things that you never have to use, but you also gain alot of insigt
in the language.

Keep up the good work

/Svend Rost

[Prafulla N. Patil]

Does SCJP really helps us in getting good job? (for india)
please guide

[Louis Moloney]

Hang in there Meg. I like you work long hours which doesn't leave much time
for studying for the SCJP (which i am at the moment).

It does start to get abit easier after a while. Although i still do have days when i feel demoralised sometimes.

[Gavin Tranter]

Hi all,
I have been trying to study for years. I started out looking at the SCJP for version 4, but the book I choose was just awful for me. Then I got a .Net job, found that to be a real pain so started studying for version 4 again.

Then I found a decent book, I think the one mentioned above for SCJP 5, and although I dont give it a lot of my attnetion I find it a very easy book to study from, so much so that I have not touched the other SCJP I purchased at the same time. I have learnt quite a bit (from this and teh previous book). I find that my biggest let down is not reading the questions properly.

Also there are topics I just hate, so these seem to grind, also I have found that taking the book with me to work and reading it on the bus or at lunch time actual helps, just having carried the book, seems to give me that mental shove to pick it up and read a bit more, where as when it is on my self i just look at it and think "cant be bothered".

Evental I will give teh exam a go, maybe the version 6 exam will be out by then if its not already :S

G

[Richard Parker]

Hi Meg -

I work a full time job as a Java programmer and find that when I get home after work - the last thing I want to do is look at another line of Java code.

I make studying a "treat" by going to a quiet coffee shop every morning before work for 1 or 2 hours. The people there are nice and know me by now.

I also give myself a little "treat" after each chapter. Sushi or ice cream or something small. (When I pass the exam - you can bet I'll be giving myself a bigger treat!)

The way I study takes a LONG time too. I read, take notes, create note cards and program the examples. But this way when I take the self test at the end - its way easier.

Yes - the book is daunting... after 3 months of doing this every day I'm on page 578. Whew! But the little rewards and milestones keep me going.

I would say - hang in there, but only if it is Java right for you. (This "right for you" thing is probably the hardest to decide.)

Richard.

[Jay Dilla]

Hang in there ock.
I use flashcards to quiz myself and I try to do all the example code in the book. Every time you get discouraged or something think about the *potential* increase in income or something to keep you motivated.

[Michael Battersby]

Hi Meg,

I know a lot of people who think SCJP is a bit over the board. But the fact is that SCJP covers a very small percentage of the entire Java API and to get to grips with this small percentage makes a huge difference to the way we approach programming.

Practice makes perfect and SCJP preparation dmenads a lot of that.. My recommendation to you is to try and complete one chapter a week. So that's about 10 weeks. I understand that you're working so take it slow. Go through the questions very carefully and practice examples when you're not sure of something.

[Atul Sawant]

I prepared for 6 months. I am working in a company where there are night shifts. It was hard to cope up but finally it is done. I took a leave a week before i went for exam. I use to sleep only 2 hours then.

Please understand this if you want to achieve something there are no shortcuts and you have to work hard. You have to understand you should not fall for such things like headache, "can't take it!" it is going to happen. Just ignore it and be focussed.

[Bert Bates]

Hi Guys -

Good discussion!

While the exam creators are no Mozarts, I'm reminded of the question "Which notes should I leave out?"

We really agonize over creating the objectives for these exams. So a very sincere question is:

"Which objectives should we leave out?" We take a lot of feedback for future exams, so this exercise can have some real impact.

Thanks,

Bert

[megha joshi]

Hi,

First of all I am really honoured that Bert Bates replied to this thread...I am a big fan of the style you teach and make things easier...

But coming back to the original discussion ...inspite of your style the preparation isnt easy...its bcoz as you say in the book a couple of times..."The exam creaters can be really cruel..." and then when the creaters go into every little detail that only compiler knows.

I guess whats difficult about SCJP is it needs us to be literally as knowledgeable(please forgive my spelling) about the language syntax as the compiler and also after that we need to know runtime exceptions...I think that every little detail makes it tough and frustrating..Often I ask myself I have the compiler to tell me all this weird language rules...why do I have to cram them...

[jan ter avest]

one of my problems is that, after having read a chapter, you already forgot some of the details of the previous chapter. This is only getting better after having done each chapter a couple of times....

Hard work, indeed, but I want to pass the first time and go to the exam knowing I will do so, I guess I couldn't do it any other way.

Last tip:
Buy WhizLabs (some off-topic questions but generally speaking good stuff) and go to javablackbelt.com for extra material.

[Bert Bates]

First off, I know some authors who have forgotten some of the details

My experience is that even if you forget some of the details over time, the exam covers stuff that WILL come up in your Java career over and over again, and if you've learned it once, it'll be far easier to recognize Java problems down the road and fix them. (So six months from now when you get a weird compiler error you'll remember how to start figuring out the problem.)

Another way to look at it is that the exam teaches you how to learn what you need to learn "just in time". For instance, a part of the reason for including API topics isn't just to learn those APIs, but to learn how to learn APIs in general. (And, of course, we hope that we picked APIs that are more comonly used.)

The other thing about the stroll through the API is that some common patterns and idioms are illustrated (factories, statics, etc.)

hth,

Bert

[Chuck Lowry]

I have also been pretty frustrated, but I have found that it is because I tend to avoid studying the topics I really need to learn. I bought the Whizlabs tests and found that I was missing a ton of API questions, so I made myself study them. I found that although I knew the concepts, I didn't realize that I didn't know the the method calls as well as I should.

My advice, be honest about your weaknesses and focus on them.

[Carol Enderlin]

Have we had enough supportive posts here that I can say this without getting flamed?

Not everyone finishes preparation for the exam and not everyone passes. Maybe it is not worth it to you. Maybe you need a break, or maybe you need to buckle down and really work on something you have been avoiding. ]

Only you can decide if it is worth it to you and what approach to take now.

I found it worth the effort more than a few years back.