OCP Oracle Certified Professional Java SE 11 Developer Complete Study Guide Question/Beta Exams

[Charles O'Leary]

Looking back on how exams were developed for Java 11, what pros and cons are there for the use of beta exams?   In your estimation, if Oracle had used beta exams, do you think Oracle may have prevented what looks to be their own acknowledged misstep of providing 815 & 816, only to abruptly walk both of them back in favor of 819?

[Scott Selikoff]

Charles O'Leary wrote:Looking back on how exams were developed for Java 11, what pros and cons are there for the use of beta exams?   In your estimation, if Oracle had used beta exams, do you think Oracle may have prevented what looks to be their own acknowledged misstep of providing 815 & 816, only to abruptly walk both of them back in favor of 819?

I think Oracle is done with beta exams, at least for Java.  They haven't done a beta in awhile.

As far as whether or not betas would have helped with the 815/816.. honestly, probably not.  Beta exams are about finding bugs in the exam, aka quality control.  The 815/816 had very few errors (it did have some we reported to Oracle).  If I had to guess (and I base this on no facts) I would think less people took the Java 11 exam because there was no associate cert.  At least with the 808/809 you take two exams, you get two certs.  With the 815, you didn't get anything from completing the exam.  I think if they had kept the associate cert, there would have been more interest in the new exams.  Just my 2 cents tho!

[Charles O'Leary]

Scott Selikoff wrote:I think if they had kept the associate cert, there would have been more interest in the new exams.  Just my 2 cents tho!

Here's to hoping that if things take the wrong turn, they will adjust (quickly).  

Thanks,
Charles

[Paweł Baczyński]

The best part of doing the beta is the price.
The wors part is not knowing if you passed for some time.

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Pros of beta exams

Less cost

Cert book authors can take the test sooner and get their foot out the door

Opportunity to report errors before the exam is released

Cons of beta exams

Hard to study without a study guide

Don't get your score or pass/fail for a long time

Score may not be final. In 2016, Oracle rescored the OCP 8 beta after announcing the beta scores

I agree with Scott that betas are gone. I miss them though!