SCWCD Certification

[Bharath Iyengar]

Hi

I have done SCJP 1.4 way back in 2006. I have been working on core java ever since and very little J2EE. I want to be an architect in a few years time. I was looking at SCEA. Although this certification does not have any pre - requisites, i think it is better i give SCWCD. I do enjoy devoloping solutions so i would like to have both programming as well as design certification

Please advice

Regards
Bharath

SCJP 1.4

[Will Myers]

Hi Bharath,
I also have the same plan and to give myself the best chance of passing the SCEA I am studying for the SCWCD exam now and am planning to do the SCBCD and SCWSD exams too before I tackle the SCEA. I'm sure you don't need to do it this way to pass but as I need to know this stuff for work anyway I figure it will do me no harm!
Regards
Willy

[Bharath Iyengar]

Hi Willy

i think you are right. Its first better to be certified with SCWCD, SCBCD and SCWSD before going on for SCEA.

BTW what material are you using to study for SCWCD? I am using only Head First Servlets and JSP. I feel this is enough to get a good score on the exam

I tried reading Manning SCWCD but it is too dry! So dropped it

Regards
Bharath

[Will Myers]

I have both the HFSJ and Charles Lyons books. I started with the HFSJ but it annoys me, I find the Charles Lyons book much easier to understand and read. I'm on my second pass of the CL book now and plan to do as many mock exams as my girlfriend will allow ( ) as well before I take the exam at the end of May.

[Ankit Garg]

Bharath please UseAMeaningfulSubjectLine for your topics...

[Larry Chung]

will myers wrote:I have both the HFSJ and Charles Lyons books. I started with the HFSJ but it annoys me, I find the Charles Lyons book much easier to understand and read. I'm on my second pass of the CL book now and plan to do as many mock exams as my girlfriend will allow ( ) as well before I take the exam at the end of May.

Yes, I have to agree that the HFSJ is annoying. Parts of the book can get too jokey so I get a headache trying to figure out what technical point was being made. But I sometimes use it to get quick and easy refreshers, if possible. Unfortunately, there aren't as many SCWCD books as there were for SCJP. I will try the Charles Lyons books.

[Keith Flo]

Larry and Will,

With all due respect let me say ... you guys are nuts! ...

The K&B book is much better for learning this topic than the CL book! CL is annoying in that he has a round about unnecessarily long winded way of explaining even the more Straitforward topics. sometimes he gives three pages of setup before making a point and other times he packs three pages of important information into one page!

That said ... he is very detailed! Personally, I like his book as reference better than as a tutorial. As a reference its excellent .. serious, specific lots of detail you might need that's a little beyond the topic scope.

[Ankit Garg]

IMHO, no book is annoying. All books are written for different target audience. Some people like one book some like another. Its a matter of personal choice. The authors of every book put in a lot of effort to write the book, so saying that a book is annoying is disrespecting their effort. You can plainly say that "I like XYZ book better than ABC book". I've not read CL book, but HFSJ book is also good. When I read HFSJ book, I knew all about Servlets and JSP, so I skimmed through those chapters, but I found the Custom Tags chapter very helpful as I didn't knew anything about them...

[Will Myers]

I'm not being direspectful about the HFJS book, I just don't like the style which therefore prevents me from taking in what the book is trying to get across. As has been pointed out this is a personal opinion, everyone learns different ways and I just happen to find the CL book easier to learn from. The end goal is to learn the subject and pass the exam so whatever book people use to acheive that is a valid source. It seems I'm in the minority and I'm sure Kathy and Bert won't lose any sleep over it!

[Larry Chung]

Ankit Garg wrote:... saying that a book is annoying is disrespecting their effort. ...

Keith Flo wrote:Larry and Will,

With all due respect let me say ... you guys are nuts! ...

The K&B book is much better for learning this topic than the CL book! CL is annoying......

I hasten to add that when Will and I read HFJS and then gave our first-hand opinion about it but it wasn't personal. On the other hand, when Keith posted that an author is annoying after claiming that Will and me are nuts, it was much more disrespectful, as well as certainly ignorant. Keith doesn't know Charles Lyons, Will Myers nor me but yet he thinks he can make those immature personal attacks with impunity.

[Joe Richard]

Both books are very good.

Every person is different...some people find HFSJ way of presenting the topic a better fit for them and some people find CLs' book a easier to understand.
Both books cover the topic, but I find it is always helpful to use a book that works for you and reinforce the information from that book with another book.
I feel comfortable using both books together for my exam prep work.

Lets not forget about the spec, if that were very entertaining and easy to understand everyone would only read that.

[Larry Chung]

Right you are, they are very good. I hope to use them both to prepare for the SCWCD exam.