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Passed OCAJP 8 with 97%

 
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Hi everyone, I would like to share my OCA story with you all.
I've been working with Java for about two years. I started working as a Java EE programmer and I still am. Thanks to the training on the job I gradually became confident with the language, but I wasn't able to take the OCA exam, since it really goes deep into the theory, which you don't learn on the job, having your beloved compiler doing all your dirty work.
I don't hold a degree, so a few months ago I decided to earn an Oracle certification to give consistency to my CV.
I studied on the OCA Study Guide by Jeanne Boyarsky and Scott Selikoff, which I truly recommend (it's absolutely sufficient). I found it amazing: fluid, clear, precise.
My preparation has lasted about three months, because I could study only sometimes in the evening and on weekends because of my job.
After reading the book twice, just before Christmas I bought the Enthuware mock tests: another pleasant surprise. You must get them, they're crucial. They give you a solid preparation to the real exam, because they have an identical structure and similar contents. They're also harder: if you pass them, you'll pass the real exam.
Both book and Enthuware tests contain sneaky questions, and that's good because also the real exam contain them, although I must say they're less than I thought (two or three, and one of them was one of the only two questions I got wrong).
As for the exam, beware of shadowed or hidden variables: the exam tries to trick you. However, I repeat that real exam questions are easier than Enthuware tests questions.
What surprised me about the exam was the total absence of questions about default methods and overloading implementation.
I took the exam (the new version with 80 questions instead of 77) yesterday, and I earned a satisfying 97% (two errors...). My Enthuware average score was something like 80%.

Greetings.
 
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Congratulations, Andrea! Great score!!!
 
Greenhorn
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Congratulations!
 
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Congratulations!
 
Greenhorn
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Congrats. That is quite an accomplishment.
 
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Hi Andrea,

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 OcajpWallOfFame!

Kind regards,
Roel
 
Roel De Nijs
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Andrea Simoncini wrote:What surprised me about the exam was the total absence of questions about default methods and overloading implementation.


For other exam test takers: please note that this is not a guarantee that when you take the exam you will also not get questions about default methods and overloading implementation and you can safely ignore these topics while studying. The exam questions are randomly taken from a pool of 5-600 (?) questions, so you might encounter such questions on your exam.


(When I took OCPJP6 I had a similar experience with regular expressions: no questions at all about this topic, which can be hard to answer)
 
author & internet detective
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Congrats Andrea! Thanks for sharing your story.
 
Andrea Simoncini
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Roel De Nijs wrote:Don't forget to add your name to the OcajpWallOfFame!


Done!
 
Andrea Simoncini
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And thanks everybody guys!!
 
Greenhorn
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congrats Andrea
 
She's brilliant. She can see what can be and is not limited to what is. And she knows this tiny ad:
a bit of art, as a gift, the permaculture playing cards
https://gardener-gift.com
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