SCJP 5.0 vs SCJP 6.0

[Wim Molenberghs]

Hi all,

I have the SCJP 5 book from Sierra and Bates.
If I've studied this book. Should I be able to pass the SCJP 6.0 test or are there so many differences between the fundamentals of java 5 and java 6?

[Nicholas Jordan]

That is an uncertain issue, but I would not invest in a trip to an exam site and the fees and so on unless I had studied for the exact exam being given.

[Paul Michael]

I'm also interested in the differences between the two exams. I don't think I can figure that out by merely looking at the objectives from the SUN website.

For those who are familiar with the Java 6 exam, which specific Java 6 APIs are included in the new exam?

Thanks.

[Wim Molenberghs]

I'm studying the 1.5 book but I'm going to take the 1.6 test within a month.

I will let you know if there are some questions on the exam who are not covered in the book.

[Marcus Green]

There is at least one new class covered on the Java 6 version of the exam. I cannot remember the name at this moment but it has been discussed previously in this forum. You can *probably* pass using the Java 5 material but you should definitly research the new class(es) covered.

[Gosia Wittemann]

There is one class:

java.io.Console

and two interfaces:

java.util.NavigableSet
java.util.NavigableMap

that have been added to the exam. All in all, it's just a minimal change.

[Paul Michael]

Thanks Eddy, Marcus and Gosia for the info.

Keep us all posted regarding SCJP 6 details.

Marcus, it's nice to see you here after all those years.

I used your mock exams when preparing for SCJP back in 2001!

You rock.

[Nicholas Cheung]

I took the exam last month, and basically it is very similar to SCJP 5.0 (in terms of question style). I got only 3 questions about the JSE 1.6 topics (Console, etc), and it is very simple.

Good luck.

Nick
[ February 14, 2008: Message edited by: Nicholas Cheung ]

[Jart Bo]

Hi Nick,

Could I ask you any pointers to review on the class java.io.Console

and two interfaces:

java.util.NavigableSet
java.util.NavigableMap

Many thanks!

[M.A. Khemila]

I took the exam too. And I got only one question from java 6. The question was about the class Console.
I prepared from Sierra and Bert's book and then I studied the three new classes/interfaces (Console, NavigableSet and NavigableMap) just from the java doc API. I think it should be enough.
Good luck with it!!

[Lucy Hummel]

Hi,

I just wonder if the exam tells me how many answers are correct.

[Paul Michael]

Lucy, as far as I know the answer is yes. The exam tells you how many choices are correct (for multiple selections).

For those who are interested, there's already an updated study guide for SCJP 6.

[Bert Bates]

If you already have the 1.5 book you really don't need the 1.6 book - much as I'd love for you to buy it

Seriously, as indicated correctly in this thread there is just one new class and two new interfaces in the SCJP 6 exam and those can be studied from the API docs. The Console class is pretty easy, and the Navigable collections aren't much harder. If you compare say the old TreeMap class to the new TreeMap class, you can find which methods are new and just add those new methods to your studies.

If you don't already have the new book, and you plan to buy a copy of the book, I'd recommend the new one - we fixed some errors, we wrote some new mock exam questions, we added a few small topics that should have been in there last time , and we added discussions for the SCJP 6 exam.

So, i wouldn't say that's enough to warrant replacing the old book with a new one, but if you don't have either, the new one is better

hth,

Bert

[Paul Michael]

Thanks for the clarification Bert!