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Questions about the developer exam

 
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I just passed the Programmer there today(68%), and I was thinking about looking into the Developer Cert. but I have a few small questions:

1. With the changes in requirements come August, is it possible to do the Cert in 5 months?

2. I can only find 1 proper book on the subject, from a quick google(http://www.amazon.com/SCJD-Exam-J2SE-Experts-Voice/dp/1590595165/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301330336&sr=1-1), but thats for Java 5 and so is there another, recommended book for the exam?

3. I heard Java 7 is out in the summer sometime, will I need to update my Cert. when that comes up, or should I wait for that to come out and take that Cert instead(provided I dont have to update my Programmer Cert.)?

 
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Hi John,

Welcome to the JavaRanch! Congratulations on passing the SCJP exam.

1/ I did my certification in 5 months (combined with a full-time job)

2/ That's indeed the recommended book. It's not really important it's for JDK 5, because first of all they are few changes between versions 5 and 6. Secondly the book is mainly about concept and things you should now about the different parts of the assignment (rmi, sockets, gui,...) and not about jdk characteristics. I used it too (and was using JDK 6 for the assignment)

3/ As for as I know there will be no new version for JDK 7, but that might change. This certification is more about good developer's practices and not so much about a detailed api knowledge (as you should have for the scjp exam)

Hope this answers your questions!
Kind regards,
Roel
 
John McDonnell
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Thanks Roel,

I'll look into getting that book in the coming week, and I'll will purchase the assignment soon... Thanks for the information
 
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Hey John, some more info that may be of use to you...

1. 5 months?

It's possible to do it in 5 months - but you only have 4 months now (April, May, June, July).

Realistically you will have to reduce that time to allow for doing the essay exam. Also you may want to add in contingency and time for wrapping up at the end. So I'd say within 3 months you'd want to have your assignment pretty near completion.

2. Books

Here's another book Java 2 Developers' Exam Cram 2

Here's a good book on RMI java(TM).rmi: The Remote Method Invocation Guide

Here are two good general Java books. They'll contain everything you'll need from threading, to RMI, to Swing:

Core Java(TM), Volume I--Fundamentals (8th Edition)

Core Java, Vol. 2: Advanced Features, 8th Edition (contains a good chapter on RMI - if you get this book then you wouldn't need the RMI book I previously mentioned).

Take a look at Reading Materials, and of course read through the forum.

3. Java 7

Are you worried that you will need to use Java 7 for your assignment? Or that Oracle will bring out a new assignment for Java 7?

For the first concern, there will be very little (if anything) new in Java 7 that would affect your implementation. If you develop it using Java 6 it will work on Java 7.

As for Oracle bringing out a new assignment. They may do, and rebrand it as "Developer Certification for Java 7". There's not much you can do about that other than wait and see. But as Roel hinted at, the Developer cert isn't aimed at a particular JDK. The same assignments, more or less, have been used for Java 1.4, 5.0, and 6.0.

Your only concern here I guess would be that if you start your assignment now that it will look a bit "out dated" if Oracle bring out a new one. But even if Oracle do bring out a Developer certification for Java 7 it will not stop you submitting the one you sign up for now - you have a year to complete it.

Hope this helps
 
John McDonnell
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Sean Keane wrote:
It's possible to do it in 5 months - but you only have 4 months now (April, May, June, July).




Oops, they wont be testing my mathematics will they?

Cheers for the information Sean...

 
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All rmi books i found are dated from j2se 1.4, it has changed since then.

there's a good tutorial in the java tutorial (not suited for beginner in java)
http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/rmi/overview.html
 
John McDonnell
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One final question for the moment...

How does the hand up of the assignment work? Is it done after or before the sitting the essay, if its to be handed up before, is there any required time between them?, as in can I schedule my essay in advance and email/submit the assignment only hours before, or will I need to wait like a week, etc?
 
Roel De Nijs
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I believe now you take the essay exam and then you submit your assignment. But there is no required time between them. In the Sunny days I submitted my assignment 30-45 minutes before taking the essay exam.
 
Sean Keane
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Jonathan Elkharrat wrote:All rmi books i found are dated from j2se 1.4, it has changed since then.

there's a good tutorial in the java tutorial (not suited for beginner in java)
http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/rmi/overview.html




Good point Jonathan. But correct me if I am wrong here, the only change of significance, in relation to this assignment anyhow, is that you don't need to generate stubs anymore (RMI Release Notes from 5.0). This is one line setup command. So practically speaking any 1.4 resource you read should still be good for Java 6.0.

Although it is worth keeping in mind that the instructions for the assignment still seem to state that dynamic loading should not occur i.e. you need to generate stubs. So in this context the "dated" 1.4 resources would actually be the ones you want . However, it seems from reading the posts here that many have submitted their assignment without the stubs, so it is worth keeping that in mind too.

The Core Java book I mentioned previously has been updated for Java 6.0. It contains a chapter on RMI. So there's an up-to-date book for 6.0 if anyone is searching for one. I took a read through the RMI book also and apart from the stubb generation it all seemed to apply to Java 6.0.
 
Roel De Nijs
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Sean Keane wrote:But correct me if I am wrong here, the only change of significance, in relation to this assignment anyhow, is that you don't need to generate stubs anymore (RMI Release Notes from 5.0). This is one line setup command. So practically speaking any 1.4 resource you read should still be good for Java 6.0.


I think the changes between 1.4 and 5.0 are huge: generics, autoboxing, enums,... which are also in relation to the assignment. Although you won't fail for not using these new language constructs, you might lose (a lot of) points in a section like "general considerations"
 
John McDonnell
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I'm actually leaning, in my head anyway to not use RMI for this. I did a small RMI/Client-Server application for work when in training, and so using RMI would grant me a little leeway in that regard, I just wouldn't be exactly testing myself.

I haven't got a clue about sockets, and so I may go with using that approach so that I actually pick up a new skill along the way.


Anyways payday is coming up in a few days time so I will be getting the SCJD book, and purchasing the Assignment, and after reading the book, and looking at the assignment, I'll then make my choice on the RMI/Sockets issue.
 
Sean Keane
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Roel De Nijs wrote:

Sean Keane wrote:But correct me if I am wrong here, the only change of significance, in relation to this assignment anyhow, is that you don't need to generate stubs anymore (RMI Release Notes from 5.0). This is one line setup command. So practically speaking any 1.4 resource you read should still be good for Java 6.0.


I think the changes between 1.4 and 5.0 are huge: generics, autoboxing, enums,... which are also in relation to the assignment. Although you won't fail for not using these new language constructs, you might lose (a lot of) points in a section like "general considerations"



I was replying to the Jonathans comment that RMI books he had read are based on 1.4. So I was referring to the changes in RMI between 1.4 and 5.0 - not all the changes in Java from 1.4 to 5.0
 
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