Java certifications

[Wynand Coetzee]

Morning

Most of my career I have been a SQL DBA\Developer and would like to invest in doing a Java certification. I noticed there is Java SE 6 , 7 and 8. Please help me to select which version I should start with.

Thanks in advance.
W

[Paweł Baczyński]

Welcome to the Ranch!

I suggest you do Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 7 Programmer (link) or Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 8 Programmer (link).

The version 8 is the newest but there is more study material for version 7.

Ranchers Jeanne and Scott are authors of this study guide for version 8.

I haved moved your topic to certification forum.

[Jesper de Jong]

Welcome to the Ranch.

Java 8 is the current version of Java. Java 7 and Java 6 are "end of life" - Oracle is not providing any security updates and bug fixes anymore for these versions.

Just because Java 8 is the current version that doesn't mean that the whole world is using only Java 8. Many companies are still using Java 7 or older - companies are often not so quick to update their Java versions.

Paweł has some good arguments, but I would choose for the newest version available, which is version 8.

[Roel De Nijs]

Hi Wynand Coetzee,

First of all, a warm welcome to CodeRanch!

Wynand Coetzee wrote:Most of my career I have been a SQL DBA\Developer and would like to invest in doing a Java certification. I noticed there is Java SE 6 , 7 and 8. Please help me to select which version I should start with.

It all depends what's important to you (e.g. money, available resources,...). In this thread you'll find an overview of all possible paths (OCPJP6, OCAJP7+OCPJP7 or OCAJP8+OCPJP8) you could take to become an OCPJP certified Java programmer. And this thread also contains some valuable information about which OCA version to choose. So I would advice to read these threads and if you still have questions or doubts, just hit the reply button and let us know!

In the OcajpFaq and this thread you'll find an overview of all available resources (study guides, mock exams,...) to thorougly prepare yourself for the certification exam.

Hope it helps!
Kind regards,
Roel

[Osagie Imafidon]

I have been a member for a few weeks now but this is my first post. I took a class "java for distributed computing" at Harvard extension school last semester and I am seriously considering getting certification. I was wondering which book is ideal for preparation for Java 7 certification.

[Roel De Nijs]

Hi Osagie Imafidon,

First of all, a warm welcome to CodeRanch!

Osagie Imafidon wrote:I was wondering which book is ideal for preparation for Java 7 certification.

In this thread you'll find an up-to-date overview of all available resources (study guides, mock exams,...) for the OCA 7 and 8 exams. And on the OcajpWallOfFame you'll find plenty of (links to) experiences from other ranchers (including resources they have used). So it can be useful to determine which resources are useful (and which are not). And in the OcjpFaq you'll find also plenty of useful informaton about the OCA exams.

Hope it helps!
Kind regards,
Roel