New Sun Java Programmer Plus Certification

[Jari Timonen]

Sun is going to retire SCJP. What do you think?

Programmer Plus

[Ankit Garg]

Hmm, this looks like an interesting form of certification. It is not clearly mentioned there when will sun retire SCJP, but it seems that SCJP will be retired soon...

[Jari Timonen]

Just for the lazy ones:

Q: Will this exam replace the current Java Programmer exam?
A: Sun believes that performance based Java Programming certification provides both candidates and employers with greater assurance that their skills will meet the needs of the Java Programmer role. Sun will retire the prior versions of the Java Programmer certification in the near future. Sun will provide a public notification of at least 90 days in advance of any exam retirement.

[Lucas Smith]

Sun will provide a public notification of at least 90 days in advance of any exam retirement.

Good news . I hope someone will write about it on Java Ranch. I am going to take my SCJP on September

[Jesper de Jong]

Here's another topic where this is being discussed: Sun Java Programmer Plus Certification vs SCJP 6.0/5.0

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

Wow, a performance based SCJP exam. That will really help raise the bar with regards to how much the Java cert is respected by the community.

Too bad it is being delayed:

Sun Java Programmer Plus Exam is Being Delayed for JDK7


-Cameron McKenzie

[Faisal Ansari]

this sounds interesting.....this might reduce the number of people who use [ illegally copied material ] to pass the exams....

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

who use [ illegally copied material ] to pass

There are [ illegally copied material ] ?!??!!?It certainly might put a steak through the heart of even legitimate ones like Enthuware and Whizlabs.

New Sun Java Programmer Plus Certification

Do you think they perhaps should have been really progressive and just named it the Oracle Java Programmer Plus Certification? What's the new abbreviation going to be if we rename SCJP? SJPP? I don't like the "Pee-Pee" bit at the end. SJPPC? OSJPPC? SCJPPlus? SJPPlus?

Personally, I find the "Java Code Challenge Engine" to sound very interesting. Supposedly, any number of answers are correct, as long as your code generates the expected result, so it won't be as rigid as typing the exact ten or fifteen words that the exam makers want to see:

Q: How does the Java Programmer Plus Performance exam work? Do I need to write specific syntax, comments, etc?
A: The exam evaluates your ability to write Java code that will successfully compile and return the results requested in the problem statement. The test leverages the Code Challenge engine presented previously at JavaOne. The engine evaluates the code by running a number of test harnesses against the code and comparing the results. Your code must compile properly, but is not checked for specific syntax, comments or style - it just has to meet the requirements of the problem statement.

Am I hijacking?

-Cameron McKenzie

[Michael Tolenruc]

This would be great, with this the growing chain of dump users will end here(hoping)! Too bad i've taken my scjp last March, maybe i'll just take/upgrade when SCJP7plus is out, coz Maybe that time this new exam engine will be more established. For now, much better to focus on other Higher exam (e.g SCWCD and etc.) for those who already have the present SCJP like me.

- Michael

[Henry Wong]

One trait of cheaters is... there doesn't seem to be any limits in finding new ways to get around stuff. It will only be a matter of time before some new cheating device will be found.

If only these people spend the time and effort on actual study, it would be amazing on how far they could get -- and get there legitimitely.

Henry

[Rodrigo Bossini]

We all cheat someday, sometime, somehow, for some reason. It's our nature, our core.
By the way I took my SCJP exam with no cheating.

[Deepak Bala]

One trait of cheaters is... there doesn't seem to be any limits in finding new ways to get around stuff. It will only be a matter of time before some new cheating device will be found.

I have to agree with that statement to an extent. I guess the whole cheating thing is like breaking a lock or breaking a SSL connection by trying to guess the associated key. The harder it is to cheat, lower will be the number of cheaters.

The exam can take it one step further by offering permutations of requirements for a given problem statement. That way even if you did cheat and learn the problem statements, you will have to use your brain to code the same in the exam, since the permutation would not be the same.

[Jari Timonen]

Rodrigo Bossini wrote:We all cheat someday, sometime, somehow, for some reason. It's our nature, our core.
By the way I took my SCJP exam with no cheating.

That's just wrong. It's not our nature - it's learned, and maybe part of YOUR environment. Not mine.

[N.Senthil Kumar]

Great News from Sun.

[Lucas Smith]

Despite the fact that the new exam can appear soon, I am going to pass SCJP on September and then the new one
New SCJP will be more practical - so what about SCJD?

[N.Senthil Kumar]

Jari Timonen wrote:Sun is going to retire SCJP. What do you think?

Programmer Plus

What happend to the link .http://www.sun.com/training/certification/beta_scjp_plus.xml

yesterday i registered in this link, today i cant access this , it says page not found.
can anyone tell me what happend

[Lucas Smith]

Maybe the selection is end

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Lukas Smith wrote:New SCJP will be more practical - so what about SCJD?

As i wrote in my blog on Tuesday about this, the SCJD is more advanced programming. I don't see any conflict with the SCJP. So go on and take the SCJD if you are ready!

N.Senthil Kumar wrote:What happend to the link .http://www.sun.com/training/certification/beta_scjp_plus.xml

yesterday i registered in this link, today i cant access this , it says page not found.
can anyone tell me what happend

And that was today's blog post. No idea what happened to it - although the page is still on Google's cache. Didn't stop me from spectulating though .

[N.Senthil Kumar]

Thanks for the Info

[K. Tsang]

I like the idea of the new SCJP+ cert. IMO there will be less chance that people can cheat or simply know the real questions for the new hands-on exams. Why? I think the questions can vary so much that it is practically impossible to know before hand. And so what if you do know off hand. It really depends on whether you can actually "perform" at that terminal. The only thing I wonder is if the compiler or at least the API docs is provided so that once candidate finish typing, the code goes through the compiler and tell you it makes the question requirement or not instantly. Further every question can have many approaches so whatever Sun/Oracle's default answer/solution may not match the candidate's typed code. Now that's hard to check.

[Lucas Smith]

SCJP Plus depends on the chcecking system - checking engine.
I had some kind of checking system during Java Programming test on the University.
I have to say that the machine can not forgive you any mistakes. Sometimes you write good piece of code and that isn't good for the machine because you write one whitespace more than the machine expected

Will the exam be based on the reflexion mechanism?

[Jari Timonen]

There's one Java free online learning system made in Finland: http://javala.cs.tut.fi/en / http://javala.cs.tut.fi/en/welcomePage.do

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Update: the beta page is back up again.

I hope they use a combination of compiling, unit tests and a string search text check to test constraints about what API calls you can/can't use.

[Joe San]

I'm going to take this up once the exam is live!

[rhett howard]

wat?....i just took scjp last month

[saket bhardawaj]

yehhh that's a great news...now people will really have to put there ass back on chair in order to pass scjp(NO CHEATING)!!!.....

it took me complete two months of full dedication to pass scjp with a good score...but after giving the exams one of my friends told me that you have wasted time, instead you could have passed it in 15 days!!!...i were really surprised by his comments but now i can understand why he said so....

[Jason Irwin]

This looks like an interesting step, although I'd like to see a mock up of the environment and problem(s) that has to be solved. Reads very much like a lightweight-SCJD.

Hopefully they can also make this more relevant to real-world programming.

Of course, the major annoyance for me is that I am just about to sit my SCJP. GAH!

[Lucas Smith]

saket bhardawaj wrote:yehhh that's a great news...now people will really have to put there ass back on chair in order to pass scjp(NO CHEATING)!!!.....

it took me complete two months of full dedication to pass scjp with a good score...but after giving the exams one of my friends told me that you have wasted time, instead you could have passed it in 15 days!!!...i were really surprised by his comments but now i can understand why he said so....

Sorry for that, but your friend wasn't smart. I am going to pass SCJP, but I want to pass it using the knowledge which is in my mind.
The most important thing is the preparation process. The certification is only the confirmation of your knowledge.

[Fritz Guerilus]

I had no idea there was way to cheat for this exam, but I'm not surprised. I've been struggling the last 8 months to study the right way, like most people, and I have no intentions of taking shortcuts now. This new version of the exam sounds like a good way eliminate cheating. I hope it works. I plan on taking my SCJP in Aug, and if it is required I'll also take the new version.

[Lucas Smith]

The old SCJP will be on August. I think that the new one will be introduced something about the winter.
Only my guessing

[cchetan jain]

hi friends..after reading this thread.. i am a little bit confused now..i have not purchased the scjp voucher yet..and i am preparing for this exam from last 15 days..but after reading your posts i am confused that this is worthful exam or not??is there any mean of it or not??
please clear this confusion??

[Lucas Smith]

SCJP is wonderfull entry level to the world of Java

[Jason Irwin]

All qualifications expire in time. The SCJP4 was replaced by SCJP5 which was in turn replaced by SCJP6 and now that is getting replaced. If you wait long enough, SCJP Plus will be replaced too. It's the way things go. A bit like computers!

There do not (yet) appear to be any demos of this new test, so it is kinda hard to say. When do you think you'll be ready to take the SCJP? If it's soon, I'd do it; if it will take you a few months, then maybe consider the new one.

I'm going for the SCJP anyway as I've already spent the past 6 months studying (I'm lucky if I can get a few hours a week to study) or wait and see what this new one is like. The SCJP6 should be valid for a few years, if you don't do any other qualifications you can always do an upgrade later.

[Rizvan Asgarov]

At least we get rid from the laziness...

Sincerely,
Rizvan

[cchetan jain]

thanks jason,for your precious advice..i m final year engineering student..and i want to pass scjp for gaining java basic knowledge as well as for heaving my resume..but now a days..there are a lot of dumps available..and some freinds say that there is no value of this certification in the market..what do you think about it??

[Lucas Smith]

I will replay over and over again: the certificate is not very important but the knowledge which you are going to gather is priceless!

[cchetan jain]

thanks smith for the wonderful concern!!!i l always remind it....thanks again and again..

[Jason Irwin]

If there are dumps available, I've not found them. Then again, I've not exactly looked very hard. Also, if I did find a dump, how do I know the answers are correct? I'd have to know the SCJP syllabus to be able to work them out and ensure they are correct; and if I can do that, there's no point in cheating in the first place! For what little it is worth, I want to pass the exam on my own merit and it is painfully obvious when someone has cheated at an exam as their first piece of code is usually shocking. I have met "highly qualified" people who have terrified me with the garbage they write!

My personal opinion is that the SCJP tests some things that are not relevant in the real world (what with modern IDEs, testing practices etc.). The SCJP Plus is probably an attempt by Sun to address that as well as cut down on the cheating. Having said that, I do think the SCJP is worthwhile. Even as an experienced programmer it makes you look into the detail of the language and you find out things you never knew, or the reasons why things have to be done a certain way.

I am entirely self-taught in Java and I have found studying for the SCJP very worthwhile. It has made me a better developer.

I am afraid I can't comment on the SCJP in the market place, I am not doing it to impress anyone else.

[Lucas Smith]

I cannot agree more with Jason

[cchetan jain]

Thanks jason for your priceless advice..now i dive into the language with more confidence surely..thanks