[OCP 21 book] | [OCP 17 book] | [OCP 11 book] | [OCA 8 book] [OCP 8 book] [Practice tests book] [Blog] [JavaRanch FAQ] [How To Ask Questions] [Book Promos]
Other Certs: SCEA Part 1, Part 2 & 3, Core Spring 3, TOGAF part 1 and part 2
“You may never get to touch the Master, but you can tickle his creatures.”
― Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow
Grant Robertson wrote:I am probably a bit older than most other veterans in the program. I got out of the Marine Corps in 1988, having gone in when I was 23. So that makes me almost 55 now.
Grant Robertson wrote:while waiting for the OCP 8 book to come out at the end of June.
[OCP 21 book] | [OCP 17 book] | [OCP 11 book] | [OCA 8 book] [OCP 8 book] [Practice tests book] [Blog] [JavaRanch FAQ] [How To Ask Questions] [Book Promos]
Other Certs: SCEA Part 1, Part 2 & 3, Core Spring 3, TOGAF part 1 and part 2
Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:... about Scott and my book. Amazon lies. I don't know where they got June from because the OCP 8 book was *never* scheduled come out in June. (My best guess is Sept-Oct.) I can tell you there is a zero percent chance of it coming out in June.
Grant Robertson wrote:Maybe I'll have to just settle for the OCP 7 exam. I'll see.
Roel De Nijs wrote:
Grant Robertson wrote:Maybe I'll have to just settle for the OCP 7 exam. I'll see.
Remember it's currently not allowed to combine different version certifications. So if you decide to go for OCP7, you'll have to take (and pass) OCA7 in order to get your OCP certification.
Grant Robertson wrote:
Considering that almost all of the job ads that I have seen are calling for Sr. developers with at least five years of experience...
What are your thoughts?
Grant Robertson wrote:I think my new strategy will be to go for the OCA & OCP for SE 7, then upgrade to OCP 8 later. That way I will essentially be OCP for both 7 and 8. The OCA/OCP 7 book is already out and when the OCP 8 book comes out, I can use it to study for the upgrade exam.
Grant Robertson wrote:For other newbies reading: Don't rely on any one book. Use the OCA and OCP study guides as just that: guides. For each topic mentioned in the guides, go and look that topic up in several other books and make sure you understand the explanations in ALL of them.
Grant Robertson wrote:Then write some code. Write lots of code.
Jayesh A Lalwani wrote:Grant,
Just trying to provide more options to you to think about. Have you thought about going into DevOps. I see you have some IT Ops experience, and you have some Dev training, and are continuing to go through more Dev training. How fresh is your Ops experience?
Grant Robertson wrote: I have ideas for completely new ways to interact with computers and data. I know desktop application development in Java is practically ignored these days but I think great things can be done in that arena that no one else is getting into.
No more Blub for me, thank you, Vicar.
chris webster wrote:I think Guillermo's right. You don't see much desktop Java development these days, so any niche you try to create for yourself will have to be pretty persuasive if you want people to buy into it. Apart from an IDE and a GUI text editor, pretty much all the tools I use these days run either via the command-line or in the browser.
You might be better off learning more about JavaScript, CSS, HTML5 etc and maybe see if you can do what you want on a platform most people are comfortable with. I'm not a UI person, but I am frequently amazed at what people can achieve in the browser these days.
Grant Robertson wrote:I think amazing thing can be done with Java on the front end. Far more amazing than what can be done with JavaScript in a browser.
Grant Robertson wrote:To sum up: I plan to get my OCA 7 and OCP 7 certifications then upgrade to OCP 8. I plan to get a regular programming job, focusing on the desktop client end if I can. Lots of businesses still do that stuff, though perhaps not the most Slashdot worthy startups. I will continue to work on my ideas on my own time and try to get positions where I can do what I am most interested in. I also hope to go to grad school where I can work on my ideas in a greater capacity.
Roel De Nijs wrote:
Sounds like a very solid and realistic career path. Best of luck! Already looking forward to your doubts/questions you might have when studying for the OCA 7
[OCP 21 book] | [OCP 17 book] | [OCP 11 book] | [OCA 8 book] [OCP 8 book] [Practice tests book] [Blog] [JavaRanch FAQ] [How To Ask Questions] [Book Promos]
Other Certs: SCEA Part 1, Part 2 & 3, Core Spring 3, TOGAF part 1 and part 2
“You may never get to touch the Master, but you can tickle his creatures.”
― Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow
[OCP 21 book] | [OCP 17 book] | [OCP 11 book] | [OCA 8 book] [OCP 8 book] [Practice tests book] [Blog] [JavaRanch FAQ] [How To Ask Questions] [Book Promos]
Other Certs: SCEA Part 1, Part 2 & 3, Core Spring 3, TOGAF part 1 and part 2
[OCP 21 book] | [OCP 17 book] | [OCP 11 book] | [OCA 8 book] [OCP 8 book] [Practice tests book] [Blog] [JavaRanch FAQ] [How To Ask Questions] [Book Promos]
Other Certs: SCEA Part 1, Part 2 & 3, Core Spring 3, TOGAF part 1 and part 2
-Steven McDonald
Steven Mcdonald wrote: I got my bachelors while driving over the road, so I didn't have time for an internship.
Adrian Grabowski wrote:
So yeah, I'm in very similar situation, want to start a new and exiting career but I'm still bit scared. Good thing I'm putting my house on sale next month and will be able to move anywhere in the country to get a job, that should boost my chances I hope![]()
-Steven McDonald
[OCP 21 book] | [OCP 17 book] | [OCP 11 book] | [OCA 8 book] [OCP 8 book] [Practice tests book] [Blog] [JavaRanch FAQ] [How To Ask Questions] [Book Promos]
Other Certs: SCEA Part 1, Part 2 & 3, Core Spring 3, TOGAF part 1 and part 2
“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace