Brandt Charles

Thanks for the help, Campbell. You were spot on. Replacing \n with %n took care of the problem.

Thanks Campbell, I'll try and get rid of the \n and replace with %n. I'm wondering if there may be some maximum amount a text file can take in terms of string length before the formatting is altered when it's copied.

Brandt

Hi,

I am completing an assignment converting decimal to binary, hex & BCD. That part of it went fine and works as intended. We are supposed to send the output to a file. When I test the program using printf it looks good: nice orderly colums. When I use the format method of a Formatter object and send the output to a file it's a mess. The colums are gone. Even playing with WordWrap does not resolve it. I thought at first I neglected to put in a '\n' but I had not. How do I get the Formatter object to preserve the spacing I painstakingly set up via the printf approach? Is it even possible?

The maddening part is this isn't even a Java course. It's for my Assembly Language/Computer Hardware Organization class. We were given the option of doing it in Java or C++. My C++ is even rustier than my Java so I thought I was taking the easy way out. I checked the Java tutorial and didn't find much in regard to this.

Thanks in advance

About 2 weeks ago or so I became a proud new owner of the SCJP 1.5 Study Guide. I bought it knowing full well there may be a 1.6 exam coming out, but I threw caution to the wind. Weeks later, my worst fears come to fruition: a new SCJP exam.

Presently there appears not to be any 1.6 study guides. I have seen in other posts how the test objectives have changed (as well as the number needed to pass, yikes). But are the changes in the versions of Java from 1.5 to 1.6 so extreme such that it wouldn't be a good idea to use the current edition of K & B to study for the 1.6 exam?

Just wondering,

Brandt

P.S. I didn't see this addressed earlier in this forum. Just lots of questions about test objective changes as well as existence of the 1.6 exam.

I responded to this in a PM, check your mailbox

A couple of other resources:

Java.net

Source Forge

Both have project help wanted ads. The latter often has a lot more than the former. Unfortunately, as of today there were no Java projects needing help, but it goes in waves.

I'm like you, I have worked in the behavioral health field for years. Now I'm looking to change careers.
[ December 13, 2007: Message edited by: Brandt Charles ]

When using println() in this case you are invoking the toString() method of an ArrayList. toString() tells an ArrayList to display its contents in the String output you have seen. If we were to check out the source code for the method, I expect there is an Iterator in there somewhere or maybe an enhanced for loop.

Like Marc said, this is only allowing us to view the contents, you are unable to manipulate them at this point. If you wanted to change the output when invoking toString() you could create, for example, MyArrayList, extending ArrayList, and override the toString() method. But that's only if you want to be extra fancy

Try specifying the type of data to be stored in your collection between < > where you are declaring and constructing your ArrayList.
[ November 29, 2007: Message edited by: Brandt Charles ]

I don't know of any workbooks, but each chapter of Deitel & Deitel's Java: How to Program has a load of questions after each chapter that will cover all these topics. The book is great, but comes with a hefty pricetag up to $100 US. The Java tutorials at Sun usually have questions at the end of each section too IIRC.

You could also peruse the Programming Puzzles forum on this very site.

Took it last Friday and passed! I'm a bit disappointed with my final score, but I aced the Client & Server section.

I would like to thank Cameron McKenzie for writing the wonderful Study Guide and Mock Questions. They were very helpful in hammering home the concept of programming to an interface as well as some other topics I wasn't clear on after taking Java classes. Without them I am not sure I would have passed.

Only one thing I would comment upon after reading the two books:

Starbucks > Tim Hortons (Seriously, who puts Honey Mustard on a turkey club?)
[ November 12, 2007: Message edited by: Brandt Charles ]

Thanks for checking on that Chandana. I was starting to obsess, and heaven knows my credit card cannot take another hit.

In regard to those books: I recommend getting them both. The study guide offers a wonderful review, while the mock exams are helpful in applying what you've learned.

I have both of Cameron Mackenzie's SCJA preparation books. In them, questions involving the equals( ) are sometimes specific enough such that the assumption is written that the method has been properly overridden. Some do not say that, which obviously changes what the correct answer is to be.

When asked questions involving the equals method on the actual exam, can I only assume it has been overridden when a similar disclaimer is given? My thought is yes since Cameron included this in the study guides, but one can never be too careful.

In the event the OP is looking for other good books from which to learn Java, I have always liked the books from Deitel & Deitel. They cover a very wide range of topics, and do so seemingly well. I've not read Head First Java, but do have Head First Servlets & JSP, and if it's anything like it, Head First Java would be well worth getting.

I would concur with a reply about staying active on the forums. Troll through this section (Beginner) and even if you have no idea about the solution you'll learn a lot from the replies of the more enlightened ones.

I'm actually taking this tomorrow, and as far as I know my testing center didn't charge anything above the cost of the exam, which was shocking. I hope I'm not in for an unpleasant surprise when I show up to take it. I ordered the exam first through Sun. Then on the Prometric site I entered the voucher number. Perhaps the costs outside the exam are site specific.

In regard to the books, I have both the Mock Questions and the SCJA Study Guide. Get them both and give yourself a few weeks to read them and do all the questions. Cameron explained a lot of things much easier than any of my instructors or texts did before, and they are great practice. The only downside is there are still some typos that in some cases are problematic. OVerall, though, they have been well worth the money.
[ November 08, 2007: Message edited by: Brandt Charles ]

I have read the differences between the two exams from the Sun website. I am hoping to spice up my resume a bit with a Sun Certification. I have yet to work in programming professionally (hence the resume spicing), and had initially thought of taking the SCJA. I have bought and read the SCJA study guide from Cameron Mackenzie, which was great.

However, I went to register and was a bit concerned about the cost of the exam and the cost of using the test center ($100 for the test, then $150 for exam location? Yikes). I have to consider costs since I don't have some corporation financing my certifications, assuming any ever do, that is. So I got to wondering, since I would eventually take the SCJP later, maybe I should just bite the bullet and take it. So my question is, and I'm not sure how one could quantify it, how much more difficult is the SCJP than the SCJA? Is it recommended someone with no professional experience take it? I didn't see any prerequisites on Sun's site in terms of work experience for the SCJP while other exams do specify some.

Anyway, thanks for the help.