Upgrade to Java SE 8 Programmer (1Z1-810)

[Jose Rguez]

Hello,

Today I found in Upgrade to Java SE 8 Programmer (1Z1-810) exam available for just 39€ (or 50$). This beta exam end date is April 18, 2015.

I am "Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 6 Programmer", and I am considering to take this upgrade exam to Java SE 8. I have a few doubts:

1. Can I take this upgrade exam from my current certification (OCPJP-6)? or is it only for who has passed the OCPJP-7?
2. I suppose I must learn the new topics on Java-7 and Java-8? or just the new topics on JAVA-8?
3. Even it is a cheap exam, I would need to spend quite time on the preparation. Do you think the advantages of passing this exam are worth respect the spent-time studying?
4. After I pass this upgrade exam, will I have a proper "Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 8 Programmer" status?
5. After I pass this exam, what do you think is better choice? Leave in my CV the OCPJP-6 and OCPJP-8 references or just only leave the last version (OCPJP-8)?
6. Can you recommend any learning resource for preparing this exam from my JAVA-6 knowledge in just 2 months? (I will have only 2 hours a day for studying, because I am working during the day)


I know several of these questions are subjective ones, but I would like to heard your point of view.

Thanks a lot for your comments,

Resources:
For Java-7
- Java SE 7 Upgrade Exam Official documentation
- Upgrade to Java SE 7 Programmer (1Z0-805) Guide
For Java-8
- Exam 1Z0-810: Upgrade to Java SE 8 Programmer Study Guide

[Sergej Smoljanov]

some of your questions was answered here

[Abhay Agarwal]

Can I take this upgrade exam from my current certification (OCPJP-6)? or is it only for who has passed the OCPJP-7?

Yes, I think you can take this upgrade exam from current certification (OCPJP-6). Please check Oracle website for pre-requistes for this exam

I suppose I must learn the new topics on Java-7 and Java-8? or just the new topics on JAVA-8?

You have read/learn all certification objectives of the specified certification.

Even it is a cheap exam, I would need to spend quite time on the preparation. Do you think the advantages of passing this exam are worth respect the spent-time studying?

Very subjective question, you will get different answers from different persons. Ultimately, it boils down to your interest and career goals. If you think doing this certification will help you in your career goals, your interest, your zeal to learn latest Java features, then you can give this certification.

After I pass this upgrade exam, will I have a proper "Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 8 Programmer" status?

Yes. I have given Java SE 7 Programmer Upgrade exam two years back. I got "Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 7 Programmer" status. I have also cleared "Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 8 Programmer I" BETA exam and due to get my certification in few days from Oracle. BETA exam are same as actual certification. It differs only in exame fee, number of cert question and passing score policy.

After I pass this exam, what do you think is better choice? Leave in my CV the OCPJP-6 and OCPJP-8 references or just only leave the last version (OCPJP-8)?

Mention both. I use to mention all certifications (SCJP 5, OCJP7 and OCJP8 I).

Can you recommend any learning resource for preparing this exam from my JAVA-6 knowledge in just 2 months? (I will have only 2 hours a day for studying, because I am working during the day)

Difficult to specify resources for this exam. Exam topics are maily of Lambdas. Best way to start is pick latest book on Java Lambdas. There are few books available on Amazon website for Java Lambdas. But, from my experience of giving BETA exams, you will not find one single book/website/resource to study for exam, You will have to refer to multiple resources/books etc to prepare for exam.

[Abhay Agarwal]

Some Java 8 Lambdas books (not in any specific order) -

Java 8 Lambdas: Pragmatic Functional Programming
http://www.amazon.com/Java-Lambdas-Pragmatic-Functional-Programming/dp/1449370772/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1422420672&sr=8-1&keywords=Java+8+Lambdas&pebp=1422420674915&peasin=1449370772

Java 8 in Action: Lambdas, Streams, and functional-style programming
http://www.amazon.com/Java-Action-Lambdas-functional-style-programming/dp/1617291994/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422420672&sr=8-2&keywords=Java+8+Lambdas

Functional Programming in Java: Harnessing the Power Of Java 8 Lambda Expressions
http://www.amazon.com/Functional-Programming-Java-Harnessing-Expressions/dp/1937785467/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1422420672&sr=8-5&keywords=Java+8+Lambdas

Mastering Lambdas: Java Programming in a Multicore World
http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Lambdas-Programming-Multicore-Oracle/dp/0071829628/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1422420672&sr=8-7&keywords=Java+8+Lambdas

I have not read any of the books so I can not tell which book is better than others.
But point is , we do have some books available on Java 8 Lambdas

[Abhay Agarwal]

Just found one resource which I though would be worth sharing

http://java.boot.by/ocpjp8-upgrade-guide/index.html

[Andres Olarte]

Elier,

Looking at the Oracle site here in the Upgrades tab it seems that you are required to have Java SE 7 OCP to be able to upgrade to Java SE 8 OCP using 1z1-810. I'm in the same situation as you are, I have SCJP 6, and would like to take the opportunity to pass a cheap exam to upgrade my credential. However, it seems people have gotten answers that it is possible to upgrade directly using this exam.

Andres

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Andres,
Have a cow for actually looking this up!

On the page Andres linked to it says:

View Upgrade Path OCP, Java SE 7 Programmer - upgrade from OCJP or SCJP (any version)

View Upgrade Path OCP, Java SE 5 Programmer - upgrade from Sun Certified Java Programmer (any version)

View Upgrade Path OCP, Java SE 6 Programmer - upgrade from OCJP or SCJP (any version)

View Upgrade Path Upgrade to Java SE 8 OCP from Java SE 7 OCP

I've been advising people they can take the upgrade exam from any version of the cert. I was incorrect. I assumed it could be from any version because that is how it worked in the past.

[Will Myers]

There's a lot of confusion on this, and not just from people who are looking to take this exam! I raised a query with Oracle and got this answer (other people have been told the same thing) which contradicts the web page above:

Hi William,

Thank you for contacting Oracle Certification Team.

Please note Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform, SE 5.0 certified candidates can upgrade their credentials to Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 8 by passing the exam 1Z0-810 Upgrade to Java SE 8 Programmer. No other action is required.

For further queries we request you to please raise a new Support request at link. We will be happy to assist you.

Regards,
OCP Team

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Thanks Will! I hope Oracle figures this out before the beta ends!

[Andres Olarte]

Similarly to what other people have done, I also asked the same question to the OCP team, and got this response:

Dear Andres,

Thank you for writing to Oracle Certification Program Team.

We see you have earned the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform, SE 6.

Yes, you can pass Exam 1Z1-810 to upgrade to Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 8 Programmer.

So I'll just write the beta exam, and fingers crossed it will go through.

[Abhay Agarwal]

Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:Andres,
Have a cow for actually looking this up!

On the page Andres linked to it says:

View Upgrade Path OCP, Java SE 7 Programmer - upgrade from OCJP or SCJP (any version)

View Upgrade Path OCP, Java SE 5 Programmer - upgrade from Sun Certified Java Programmer (any version)

View Upgrade Path OCP, Java SE 6 Programmer - upgrade from OCJP or SCJP (any version)

View Upgrade Path Upgrade to Java SE 8 OCP from Java SE 7 OCP

I've been advising people they can take the upgrade exam from any version of the cert. I was incorrect. I assumed it could be from any version because that is how it worked in the past.

Even I was thinking in same pattern. Oracle seem to have revised this.

[Vasile Irimia]

Anyone took the 1Z1-810 Java 8 Upgrade yet ? Can share the experience ?

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Vasile Irimia wrote:Anyone took the 1Z1-810 Java 8 Upgrade yet ? Can share the experience ?

I haven't taken it yet, but this poster has.

[Jose Rguez]

Could someone tell me the difference between 1Z0-810 and 1Z1-810?

Thanks

[Mikalai Zaikin]

Elier Rguez wrote:Could someone tell me the difference between 1Z0-810 and 1Z1-810?

Thanks

Oracle has all beta exams naming pattern: 1Z1-... and production exams: 1Z0-...

So, once beta finished, the 1Z1-... is gone, and replaced with 1Z0-..., and objectives remain the same.

[Jim Kingdom]

I just finished the 1Z1-810 exam. I think I did OK.

This is the first Oracle beta exam I've taken, and I don't think I would do it again. The advantage to taking the beta exam is the low price, but there are several disadvantages:
- You don't get the results for several months.
- The exam is long - over 120 questions.
- Study guides and mock exams are unavailable and/or incomplete.

On the other hand, it was not a waste of time. Preparing for the beta exam was a good excuse to study new features of Java 8, so it was an interesting endeavor and I'll make use of the knowledge down the road.

I was able to get Mikalai Zaikin's early study guide and practice quiz. Although they're not complete I have to say that what's there is excellent.

[Mikalai Zaikin]

Jim Kingdom wrote:I just finished the 1Z1-810 exam. I think I did OK.

This is the first Oracle beta exam I've taken, and I don't think I would do it again. The advantage to taking the beta exam is the low price, but there are several disadvantages:
- You don't get the results for several months.
- The exam is long - over 120 questions.
- Study guides and mock exams are unavailable and/or incomplete.

On the other hand, it was not a waste of time. Preparing for the beta exam was a good excuse to study new features of Java 8, so it was an interesting endeavor and I'll make use of the knowledge down the road.

I was able to get Mikalai Zaikin's early study guide and practice quiz. Although they're not complete I have to say that what's there is excellent.

Hi Jim !

Thank you posting your feedback about beta test !

I agree with all you said: Oracle Betas are very exhausting, and the biggest reward which I get from exams is knowledge gained during preparation.

I hope you will be successful in your exam !

Best regards,
MZ


P.S. In case you fail - just a reminder that you can have unlimited lifetime updates of the Java 8 Upgrade Quiz, hopefully I will finish it by the time when exam goes to production.

[Jhonson Fernando]

Thanks for sharing info about OCPJP 8 Upgrade exam. The majority of the objectives are from Lambda Expressions.

[Paweł Baczyński]

I just finished this exam.
I think I did OK .
Most of the questions were about lambdas and streams (no surprise).
I was surprised to see very few questions about Date/Time API (5 out of 126) and Nashorn engine (3 out of 126).
There were more questions regarding whether an interface is functional or not (6 or 7 out of 126).
The time was very limited. I finished answering last question 5 minutes before exam ended. Very little time for review!

[Rahul Shinde]

I gave the exam too.
Too early to speculate how I did though.
There definitely wasn't enough time. I think i got like 5 mins or so to review.
Very few questions on Chapter 8 & 9 though.

Resources I used
- http://java.boot.by/ocpjp8-upgrade-guide
- Java Tutorial &
- Java docs

For those planning to take the 1Z0-810, I put all my notes up http://rahulsh1.github.io/ocp-java8

[Olivier Dupuy]

I took the Java 8 Upgrade OCP BETA exam end of April.
I prepared myself with the excellent Java 8 in action and I made my own prep material starting in January as there was nothing available then.
I did some programming too of course.
I likely missed the mark this time, not to far I think but this was a great experience.
This was my first beta exam and in a very poor location to make it more challenging.
I agree with Mikalai and other people.
Exhausting, long, hard to keep up for 3 hours, most of the questions not fitting the screen, no prep material and especially with no tests to get your brain prepared which is the worse.

It is however a very rewarding experience because creating your own material, you have to study in depth and ask yourself more questions than you would with a commercial book.
As an example I dived in lambda implementations (capturing lambdas), advanced stream topics such as characteristics, spliterators, splits, impact of the operations on the characteristics...
It revealed to be out of scope at the exam but this is good knowledge to have if you have to leave the base API or need to troubleshoot.
I will have a look at Mikalai's material and tests and eventually publish mine.
A few beta/incomplete tests are now available from a few commercial sources but I found them very far from the real exam regarding the complexity.
I also recommend Brian Goetz State of the Lambda and State of the Lambda: Libraries Edition as a background read.
So I will do beta exams again but you need a forgiving family around.

Being SCJP5 I was told by Oracle to upgrade to SCJP7 then to SCJP8 (1Z0-810).
I have discovered today a future beta exam 1Z1-813 to upgrade from SCJP6 or earlier to JSCJ8.
This is an option however they write late 2015 for this exam so I may go with my initial plan.

Here is an approximate breakdown of the 126 questions in the beta exam:

Anonymous classes: 10%
Optional<T> 10%
Collection enhancements (computeIf(), forEach(), replaceAll(), merge()…): 15%
Files methods (walk(), find()…): 5%
Functional interfaces, lambdas (may include capturing questions?): 10%
Streams: 40% (75% sequential, 25% parallel)
Date/Time API including daylight saving time changes: 5%
JavaScript on Java with Nashorn (Java to/from JS): 5%

Advanced stream questions (Spliterator, ordered streams, exception in a stream, Stream and Collector characteristics…): None!!!
Questions with code sample (they never fit the screen!!!) vs theoretical: 90-95% to 5-10%
Questions with an “exhibit” button to see the code in a window: 0%
Multiple choices (2 or 3) vs single choice: 20% to 80%
Write your own code: 0%
Drag and drop code blocks questions: 0%
Poorly written questions (would not even compile…): 0%
Many questions have a few ellipsis lines (getters and setters go here…)