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Passed the OCEJWCD exam with 82%.

 
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Hello Coderanchers!

I want to share my experience of studying for the OCEJWCD exam which I wrote in Dec- '15.

PREPARATION TIME :
I had been reading a lot of reviews here about the exam which helped me kickstart my preparation back in July, last year.
I had given the OCPJP 6 exam in 2014 which helped me with Core Java basics. I was working with web applications a little. I wanted to understand what exactly was going on in these applications. I read through many posts here so as to decide what next after OCPJP which can help me with Web Apps.
I then purchased the "OCEJWCD Study Companion: Certified Expert Java EE 6 Web Component Developer By Charles Lyons" in July but actually started learning from it in August ( the usual starting problem ;)). The book was extremely helpful. There is an elaborate explanation for all the necessary exam concepts and it is carefully mentioned about the topics which aren't in the syllabus. The explanations can get intense at times. So to keep the concepts steady in mind, I had read each chapter twice and it required a good amount of concentration.
The posts here had mentioned to go through the book HFSJ 5 as well. In this book ,concepts are explained in a much more innovative way which makes it very interesting no doubt. I downloaded the e-book but unfortunately I couldn't read the full book. Include reading the book in your preparation.
I then registered in this website called www.memrise.com for free, to help me remember the basics of OCEJWCD exam in the simplest way possible.
Each chapter has a set of questions and answers. You learn a certain amount of these Q&As and the questions will be asked time and again as you move on with the chapters so that the answers as drilled in the head.
In between studying the chapters, I would take up simple tests for the already studied chapters and practise code snippets. This helped alot to keep in touch with the concepts.


MOCK TESTS TO STUDY FROM :

In the beginning of December, I completed the grueling 22 chapters of the Charles Lyons' book and registered for Enthuware Mock Exams which was a useful $20 spent in my preparation.
The tests were very much like the real exam with each answer accompanied by an explanation and a reference to the Servlet Spec 3.0. That is when I opened the Spec and started reading it thoroughly ( 3 weeks before the exam, mind you ). I scored a consistent 75%+ in the mock tests with the last mock test being an 85%. Try scoring a 70% minimum in the mocks and then you are good to go.
But I must say that the difficulty level of the mock tests is lower than the actual exam although I did come across some exact mock questions in my main exam. Overall Enthuware was of great help.

I went through the mock tests of Piotr Nowickis Mock exam: http://piotrnowicki.com/2011/03/jee-6-scwcd-mock-questions/ - more than once as it helped me understand the new features of Servlets 3.0. Do not Miss reading it !
Also the topics in https://nikojava.wordpress.com/ for EL, Servlets JSPS, Custom Tags etc. was a good exercise.

EXAM DAY :
My exam day arrived on the 23rd Dec. The exam questions can be very complicated if one doesn't have good experience with Servlets, JSPS, Tags, EL etc. And that was the case for me. There were few conceptual questions and more application based with confusing options. One needs to read them all with a calm mind and then it is set! Topics like Resource Injection and MVC and Design Patterns had 1-2 questions only. The exam duration is more than enough and I had 15 minutes to spare after reviewing the questions. So there is no need to rush. The exam results are sent by email in half an hour! and that was joyous moment for me
I was happy with the result for my preparation.

POST EXAM :
I now feel confident about working with Web Apps and I would like to know if there are avenues to practise online as I am currently not working.
I feel I need to take up a training in Spring framework as my next step forward but I would be more than glad if I can get suggestions on what to do next from fellow Ranchers here.
I thank the Oracle Community for this exam, coderanch.com, stackoverflow.com for clearing all kinds of doubts with ease.
My thanks also goes to various Mock test websites mentioned earlier and the book and buddy for life :OCEJWCD Study Companion by Mr. Lyons.
 
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Hi Ramona,

Congratulations champion! Great achievement Now it's time to relax a bit and have a (well-deserved) (or 2 or 3). And if you want to spoil yourself have a Belgian beer, our beers are the best of the world

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Other ranchers will definitely benefit! Have a cow!

Don't forget to add your name to the OcewcdWallOfFame!

Kind regards,
Roel
 
Enthuware Software Support
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Congratulations, Ramona!
Glad to know that our s/w was of great help in your preparation
 
Ramona D Souza
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Hi All,

Thanks to all of you and yes , I had a well deserved long break

I would want some suggestions on what to do or study next.

Regards,
Ramona
 
Roel De Nijs
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Ramona D Souza wrote:I would want some suggestions on what to do or study next.


That's probably related to your current work or possible carreer path. For example, if you are working with Spring, you might want to become Spring certified. If you are using web services or EJBs, you might consider a certification related to these topics.
 
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Hi, Ramona,
you said Enthuware mock exams are easier than those in the actual exam ?


But I must say that the difficulty level of the mock tests is lower than the actual exam although I did come across some exact mock questions in my main exam. Overall Enthuware was of great help.



I thought Enthuware mock exams are more difficult than the actual one in my previous experience.
 
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