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Am I wasting my time reading the Head First EJB 2003 Edition?

 
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I have just purchased the 2003 edition of Head First EJB and am somewhat dismayed to find it only covers J2EE 1.3 - I suspect this book will not be of any use to me as far as the SCBCD Exam is concerned. Could someone please advise me what to do - should I return the book? Do I have to use J2EE 1.3 as it states in the book? Can I use J2EE 1.4 and still work through the book and if so, what will I be missing with regard to taking the current SCBCD exam? Any advice would be much appreciated, thankyou.

Molks
Adelaide, South Australia
 
David Malcolm
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I have now realised that the current SCBCD exam is still covered by the book I purchased (which I really like by the way), so please ignore my earlier naivety. However, from what I have seen in other posts in this section, a new exam covering EJB 3.0 is being prepared currently and I am still a little concerned that the EJB 2.0 exam may be retired before I can complete my study. Could someone please advise me of the time frame involved - how long do I have? If a new exam is prepared, will the EJB 2.0 exam be withdrawn? Thanks for any advice that can be offered.
 
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Hi David,

It's true that a new EJB exam is in the works. It will go to beta in a few weeks, and it should be an official "live" exam within the next couple of months.

The current ("old") exam will be around for a long time. Sun realizes that upgrading a J2EE environment is not trivial. Vendors move to newer specs slowly, and IT managers dread the prospect of such upgrades even when the vendors are ready.

Additionally, EJB 3.0 is very, very different than previous versions - so at this point Sun is thinking (with advice from the exam creation team), that the old exam should stay around as a parallel track. In other words being certified in EJB 3.0 won't help much if you're working in an EJB 2.x environment.

I guess the summary is that it depends on your situation:

If your job situation isn't going to be using EJB 3.0 any time soon, then the current exam is a good choice, and it'll be around for a long time.

If you think you're going to be working in an EJB 3.0 environment soon, then you're probably better off studying for the new exam.

hth,

Bert
 
Bert Bates
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p.s.

Having just recovered from the EJB 3.0, exam creation death-march, err, workshop, my prediction is that the new exam is going to be MUCH tougher than the old one.
 
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Having just recovered from the EJB 3.0, exam creation death-march, err, workshop, my prediction is that the new exam is going to be MUCH tougher than the old one.



Oh, no !!!

 
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Please don't make us afraid...Is the EJB3.0 exam tougher than 2.0??Well my thought was that with newer versions of EJB, more and more complexities should move to the container...Is that thought wrong??
 
Bert Bates
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Hi Jothi,

I think it's easier to write EJB 3.0 code than older versions of EJBs. But, the Sun exams have been evolving a lot since the first version of the EJB exam was created! The newer Sun certification exams in general have become more "performance based" and less "knowledge based". Those are the terms Sun uses to mean basically less memorization and more "application" in real world situations.

So the new exam doesn't have "tricky" questions (well, maybe a few), but it has "deep" questions. (For instance it has many more complex scenarios to work through.) It has a lot more "deep" questions than the old exam had.

So, EJB 3.0 is easier, but the new exam goes deeper.

Bert
 
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Thanks Bert, maybe I might consider taking up the exam 3.0 sometime in the future and what sun thinks is simply true and needed.
 
David Malcolm
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Hi Bert

Thankyou for your reply. All things considered I think I will stick with the book and go for the "old" EJB 2 exam. Most of the companies here in Adelaide are still using the older technology anyway. Obviously I will ultimately have to use EJB 3.0, but since the version 2 exam is going to be around for a while, I will tackle that first. Thanks again for setting my mind at ease and thanks also to Kathy and yourself for your books - I have also used your excellent SCJP Java 5 study guide.

regards
David (molks) Malcolm
 
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Originally posted by Bert Bates:

If you think you're going to be working in an EJB 3.0 environment soon, then you're probably better off studying for the new exam.

hth,

Bert



And, as always, the best way to study for an exam is head first...soooo. Are you going to update the Head First EJB for the SCBCD 5.0 any time soon (or at all?)

I used HFEJB to pass the SCBCD for EE 1.3, and I'd love to use a new version of your book to pass 5.0. (Took the beta, still awaiting results, I have a 50/50 feeling about it)
 
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