Howdy all!! Just passed the Web Component Developer Certified Expert Exam with 94%! :-)
Here's how I prepared for the exam (hopefully this will help others too):
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HFSJ: Read it twice. The first was more of a quick read through, not worrying about memorizing anything and not even doing the chapter exercises. The in the second time I made sure to try and memorize the content and did the chapter exercises. My score in the final Mock Exam was 59% (this is exam is much harder than the actual exam). I have both editions of HFSJ and I noticed very little difference between the two editions (to be honest, just one example that was added to the 2nd edition... that's pretty much it). As you read the book I'd also recommend checking the
HFSJ Errata Web Site. This will allow you to fix any mistakes in the edition that you're reading.
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Niko's Java Blog: great free mock exams! It doesn't cover
Servlet 3.0 topics, however I highly recommend taking his mock exams right after you read HFSJ. The questions are organized in a way that's almost like a study guide in it self; really helps understand/memorize some of the rules/contents around ELs/JSPs/Servletts/Custom tags.
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Piotr Nowicki's Web site: provides free Mock Exam (covers Servlet 3.0), and great tips and remarks. You can also check out his posts here at
Java Ranch. He provides very good pointers about the exam.
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The Servlet 3.0 spec: a must read when you're preparing for this exam. Given the lack of a certification book of the caliber of HFSJ for Servlet 3.0, I'd recommend writing small
test web apps using the features added in the new spec. This will certainly help your understanding of the new features introduced (and you can find code examples for these features pretty easy on the Internet).
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ENTHUWARE TEST STUDIO: I'm writing this in capital letters for a reason:
This is the best spent $20 bucks you'll ever spend if you're preparing for the Web Component Certification ;-). The mock exams are thorough and pretty close to the format of the real exam (how did you guys at Enthuware do that??? ;-) ). I may say that in average they are slightly tougher than the real exam (which is a good thing!). The other great thing about this package is the explanations provided for each question (which are the closest thing to a HFSJ-like study guide for Servlet 3.0 that I've encountered).
Other than that, I've written a little over a dozen toy/test web apps, consulted Javadocs on occasion, and, of course, the posts here at Java Ranch. To finalize here's my scores on the usual mock exams:
HFSJ Final Exam: 59%
Niko's Free Mock SCWCD Mock exams: average of 84%
Enthuware mock exams:
- Test 1: 74%
- Test 2: 67%
- Test 3: 75%
- Test 4: 82%
- Test 5: 77%
- Test 6: 84%
- Test 7: 86%
- Test 8: 89%
- Test 9: 82%
- Last Day Test: 88%
Help this helps other people!! Good luck to everyone preparing/taking the test!!
Cheers,
Adriano.