Pete Letkeman

I agree with Daniel in that OCA and OCP Java is a good way to start. However it is not the only path that you can take.
Many books and resources can be found here https://coderanch.com/c/books, some of them reviewed, but not all.

You may also want to check out the publisher's web sites for deals. For instance https://packtpub.com some times has $5 deals and $10 deals on both books and videos.
I think that currently, for a limited time, there is a $5 sale.

There is also tutorials on Spring's own web site which may help out.

When you ask if it's worth it to get certification the answer all depends. Not all certifications are treated equally.
Some employers may think that certifications are not worth the paper they are printed on and others may expect some certifications.
Some people have too many certifications, and "too" is very subjective.

For the OCA exam I found that the journey which I took helped me to become a better Java programmer and a better programmer in general.
The certification is not going to change that and not having the OCP is not a hindrance to me (as far as I know) yet.

I too am learning Spring, but rather slowly at the moment as work keeps me busy. I would suggest you get a book/tutorial with has up to date coding exercises.
However everyone does learn differently so a good resource for me may not be a good resource for you.

Welcome to the site Srinithi, I hope that you enjoy the scenery.

That is great news that you've passed the exam.

If you are up for it would you please add your self/story to the OCA Wall of Fame found here https://coderanch.com/wiki/659980/Ocajp-Wall-Fame.

If your next challenge is the OCJ exam that you may want to read some of the stories on the OCP Wall of Fame found here https://coderanch.com/wiki/659976/OCPJP-Wall-Fame.

In the mean time enjoy your first cow for all the work that you've done.

Way to go, that gets you a cow for each exam passed.

When you get a few minutes please add your stories to both the OCA and OCP wall of fame found
here https://coderanch.com/wiki/659980/Ocajp-Wall-Fame and here https://coderanch.com/wiki/659976/OCPJP-Wall-Fame

That's the way to do it, and you get a cow for that.

When you get a few moments please add yourself to the OCP Wall Of Fame
https://coderanch.com/wiki/659976/OCPJP-Wall-Fame.

Many Spring and Spring Boot tutorials use Maven or Gradle. I suspect that Spring can be used with Ant and Ivy, do to have any hints/tutorials on how to best approach this?

What is the recommended process to move from Ant and Ivy to Maven or Gradle? Maybe you can point me in the general direction of some tutorials on this?

Welcome to CodeRanch Max.

Oracle and Acclaim and Pearson Vue do not provide physical copies of the Java 8 certification.
However you should have been given access to a web site which would allow you to download a PDF version of a certification document.
You could easily print this off and get it framed.

Now what you have a certification what's you next challenge?
Many people choose to get both their OCA and OCP certifications and then branch out from there.
You may want to look at some of the stories posted https://coderanch.com/wiki/659976/OCPJP-Wall-Fame to see how others have prepared for their OCP.
This could save you time, money and frustration.

meenal deshpande wrote:What are the significance of java IdEs...

IDEs are great for writing code especially production code.
You do not need to use an IDE, but they do tend to make things easier as they offer things like spell checking, syntax highlighting, debugging and more.
However you can use something like Windows Notepad to program Java (and many other languages) in.

meenal deshpande wrote:...and which is the best IDE

This depends on who you ask and what the purpose is. Everyone will have their own "best".
If you are more interested in Android programming then you may be more interested in Kotlin and as a result you would probably gravitate towards IntelliJ.
A rebranded version of IntelliJ is provided for free by Google and JetBrains for Android development. JetBrains are the ones who started the Kotlin language.

In the end @meenal, you will probably find that most Java IDEs have close to the same functionality especially if you extend them with plugins/addons.
So the question then becomes which IDE do you like to use and why?

Some companies may enforce and IDE and others may not.
Two of the most popular IDEs for Java are Eclipse and IntelliJ and it can be helpful to know how to use both of them.

Looks like we are going to need a bit more information in order to proceed such as:

Do you have a question about the code posted?

Does it compile?

Dose it run?

Does it run as expected?

What do you think the code should do?

Do you get any error messages? If so please provide them.

What Android version are you targeting (Lollipop, Marshmallow, Oreo, Pie, etc)?

What plat form are you targeting (phone, tablet, wareable)?

First I would make sure that everything posted runs as expected.
Next I would make sure that the unit tests are there, and if not then I'd add them.

Now  that you have a copy of the project and all of the required unit test fire as expected you should try to see what is missing.
For instance, is there a method which draws a card? If not you could add one.
However if there is one, how does it do it? Does it use AWT, JavaFX, Swing, ASCII, etc?
Ideally the project should support a render card interface and there should be more then one implementation of it.

You can add what ever classes you want, but note that your code will be inspected and people may have questions/comments about your changes.
There may be a changelog and a backlog, but then again those may not be there yet.

Another thing you could do it go over the code to see if it make sense to you.
If you have any questions regarding the code start a thread in the Corral and hopefully some people will join in and discuss them.

Congratulations, here is a cow you have earned it.

When you get a few moments please add yourself to the OCA Wall Of Fame https://coderanch.com/wiki/659980/Ocajp-Wall-Fame.
By the way, what were you Enthuware scores?

If your next challenge is the OCP exam then you may want to look at some of the sotries posted on the OCP Wall of Game https://coderanch.com/wiki/659976/OCPJP-Wall-Fame.
This could save you frustration, time and money.

I'm glad to see hat I'm not alone with my views on this matter.

Campbell Ritchie wrote:I presume you are allowed to touch a laptop with a touch‑screen?

Yes Campbell, a touch interface would be allowed however I suspect that many of us use non touch interfaces most of the time unless you are talking about smart phones and tablets.