Java Sun Programmer 1.4 Certification Exam HELP!!!

[Ghost]

Hi Everybody:

I've attempted at getting Java Sun certified twice (failing both times). My first score was a 22% and my second score was a 44% (big improvement :D ). I was wondering if anybody had any help or tips for taking the exam. I really want to pass next time.

C++

P.S. I bought this program after I took the exam thee first time from Transcender. It helped - but not enough. If anyone knows about any other programs, please tell me. Thanks.

[server_crash]

I really don't know what to say; I bought a book on this a while back, and I have to say, those questions are VERY HARD!

[Ghost]

i just want to get cerified before I'm 16. That would make me the youngest person ever Java certified (I'm 13).

C++

PS More help would be appreciated...

[server_crash]

I thought there was a 12 year old that got certified?

[jwenting]

A 12 or 13 year old got certified in India last year.

The only way to get certified is through hard work. Study, gain experience.
Just going out there hoping Sun will give you the certificate as a PR gesture (see, even a 12 year old kid can do it) is counterproductive.
Sun WANTS the exam to be hard and for good reason.
The results of too easy exams like MCSE can be seen all around. Where the certs are meant to tell companies the person holding them is good at his job MCSE has come to mean the exact opposite and there are now many companies who won't hire an MCSE holder on general principle.

I've been working in Java for 6 years professionally and fulltime and spent the last year or thereabouts studying specifically for the exam, and I now feel I'm ready.
I get 85% on average on practice exams, I'd not go for the real thing (2 weeks from now) if I'd not have this level of confidence.

[server_crash]

I'm planning on taking it, but NOT right now! I've studied for it about a year or so, and over the summer, I'm probably going to take a class on it. The java certification has to be one of the hardest out there(not that I would know), because those questions on practice questions are extremely hard..

Anyways, jwenting, good luck on the upcoming exam..I hope you pass! If you do, be sure to let us know.

[jwenting]

Thanks. Going up on 09 March noonish (CET).

After SCJP I'm planning to do SCJD which is harder and maybe SCWCD as well.

The main reason the 1.4 exam is so hard is because many of the things being tested are rarely encountered in real life and therefore not general knowledge for even experienced developers.
It's also specifically designed to weed out people who just try to cram for the exam without ever having used Java in anger, apparently with some success :)

[server_crash]

So is the SCJD held in a higer regard than the SCJP?

The crazy thing was I had read about 3 or 4 books on java, and none of them taught what was on the practice exams! I mean, even some of the simple things like how many classes you can extend, and how many interfaces you can implement wasn't even in these books.

[Narue]

When I took the exam it was full of trick questions and language subtleties. As long as you keep in mind that the obvious answer probably isn't correct, you should be okay. ;)

[server_crash]

ahh just like the SAT!

[Narue]

Except you don't get a nifty lapel pin when you do well on the SAT. ;)

[Ghost]

server crash, ur completely right!!! Most of the stuff on the exam is stuff you'll NEVER need to use, so they dont put it in books. Oh yeah, I've been studying for the test for a year now :). Anyway, I'm gonna take the test again over spring break (in about 1.5 months).

I hope I pass...

C++

[jwenting]

instead of a nifty lapel pin you get a nifty graphic to put on your resume, letterhead, and businesscard.
Far more useful in the real world :)

C++, don't take the exam until you're well and truely prepared. As it is you're just wasting $150 every few months. Better spend $150 on books and take that exam after half a year of intense study and practice.

[server_crash]

C++, your parents must be rich or something...I know my dad would stomp my #### if I failed a $150 test.

[jwenting]

Failing once is OK maybe, but taking it again in short order when failing so miserably and then once more soon thereafter after failing the second try with just slightly better results is simply stupid.
That first very bad result should have told you that you needed a LOT more work. The second failure should have told you the same thing.

[server_crash]

If you take it in succession like that, your score will of course go up, but that won't last for long. There will be a point when you score stops going up, even after taking it in succession like you have. So yes, the best thing is to study. If you feel like you are ready, grab a book on the java certification, and I think you'll be suprised at the knowledge that test requires(As I was).

[dishaan]

Hello, I am Dishaan Ahuja an Indian, I have cleared Sun Certified Java Prgorammer Exam 1.4 at the age of 11 years 10 months and 12 days.A 12 or 13 year old got certified in India last year.

The only way to get certified is through hard work. Study, gain experience.
Just going out there hoping Sun will give you the certificate as a PR gesture (see, even a 12 year old kid can do it) is counterproductive.
Sun WANTS the exam to be hard and for good reason.
The results of too easy exams like MCSE can be seen all around. Where the certs are meant to tell companies the person holding them is good at his job MCSE has come to mean the exact opposite and there are now many companies who won't hire an MCSE holder on general principle.

I've been working in Java for 6 years professionally and fulltime and spent the last year or thereabouts studying specifically for the exam, and I now feel I'm ready.
I get 85% on average on practice exams, I'd not go for the real thing (2 weeks from now) if I'd not have this level of confidence.

[freesoft_2000]

Hi everyone,

Hello, I am Dishaan Ahuja an Indian, I have cleared Sun Certified Java Prgorammer Exam 1.4 at the age of 11 years 10 months and 12 days.

Hi i am Richard West and have no Java certification whatsoever.

It sometimes makes me think what is in those exams if an 11 year old could pass it.

Let me tell you guys a beautiful story.

You see the people i work for are sick to their stomach each time they see someone with some kind of programming language certification(no offence to you guys) because they always end up with some guy that memorises code and when the time comes for them to build an application from the ground up they can't even get started. I am not talking about building an entire data engine but simple stuff like maybe something down the lines of a wordpad.

There was time when you had a certification you were special but now if you go for an interview and say you have this certification the interviewer would probably say "so what his 12 year old son also has it". The key is not a certification but a portfolio as well as being part of integral institutions such as GNU or etc.

You see the big guys on top are finally getting cleverer nad cleverer and realizing that what they need is not a certification but experience especially hands on.

You see years ago there was position in the place i work for a senior programmer and this guy turned up. Now he really has an impresive resume top college, top marks in everything and almost every certification you could think of. So you see after HR had interviewed him then it was my turn so i asked him a really simple question on JTables

This is the question

If i have a JTable and would like to use it as a database viewer how would you go about it?

I can't beleive when he told me he was not very sure. But i thought to myself never mind and i would ask him another question and got the same response.

At this time i thank him for his time and sent him on his way.

The moral of the story, don't put too much hope into a certification as it does not garantee anything.

If you want to be the best practice and practice and learn and learn.
You may have 0 certifications but if you have a good programming portfolio then you will go farther than the guy that has certifications.

I know alot of you guys will disagree with but this is my experience
of things around me.

Richard West

ps.Please no personal bashing
*****************************************************

[dishaan]

I agree with your views that practical experience is important. But, as an 11 year old I am satisfied with my achievement. I do not claim to be the ultimate authority in Java and I know and realize that I still have lot to learn. I really welcome your feedback. But, at the same time everybody has to start somewhere and I have made my start. And I am happy and satisfied with what I have achieved. You have questioned as what is there in the certification that even a child like me can clear it so let me say that I have worked very very hard. I have an uncle who is in software and at no point did he express any doubt about my ability to clear the exam. I am also a very good student and have obtained a postion in Mathematics competition at National level. I also have consistently good academic records.

Hi everyone,

Hi i am Richard West and have no Java certification whatsoever.

It sometimes makes me think what is in those exams if an 11 year old could pass it.

Let me tell you guys a beautiful story.

You see the people i work for are sick to their stomach each time they see someone with some kind of programming language certification(no offence to you guys) because they always end up with some guy that memorises code and when the time comes for them to build an application from the ground up they can't even get started. I am not talking about building an entire data engine but simple stuff like maybe something down the lines of a wordpad.

There was time when you had a certification you were special but now if you go for an interview and say you have this certification the interviewer would probably say "so what his 12 year old son also has it". The key is not a certification but a portfolio as well as being part of integral institutions such as GNU or etc.

You see the big guys on top are finally getting cleverer nad cleverer and realizing that what they need is not a certification but experience especially hands on.

You see years ago there was position in the place i work for a senior programmer and this guy turned up. Now he really has an impresive resume top college, top marks in everything and almost every certification you could think of. So you see after HR had interviewed him then it was my turn so i asked him a really simple question on JTables

This is the question

If i have a JTable and would like to use it as a database viewer how would you go about it?

I can't beleive when he told me he was not very sure. But i thought to myself never mind and i would ask him another question and got the same response.

At this time i thank him for his time and sent him on his way.

The moral of the story, don't put too much hope into a certification as it does not garantee anything.

If you want to be the best practice and practice and learn and learn. You may have 0 certifications but if you have a good programming portfolio then you will go farther than the guy that has certifications.

I know alot of you guys will disagree with but this is my experience of things around me.

Richard West

ps.Please no personal bashing *****************************************************

[jwenting]

Richard, there are indeed a LOT of certifications like that.
MCSE is one of them, in fact the main culprit in killing the good name of certifications overall was the NT4 MCSE exam which was a disgrace.
This got so bad that many companies (including the one I worked for at the time) rejected applications from people with MCSE certifications on general principle unless they could also show several years of realworld experience and came with excellent references.

The SCJP 1.4 exam is indeed too easy to get without realworld experience, I won't disagree with that.
But it's a good deal harder than is MCSE and the 5.0 exam is harder still.

SCJP alone indeed isn't enough to make a good Java programmer, but what it DOES say is that the person knows his basics and knows them well (unless the person is extremely good at cramming for an exam and then extremely lucky at answering obscure questions).

Studying for that exam (and now the SCJD exam which I'm currently working on and is a LOT tougher) taught me a lot about the language I didn't know though, and that despite having 7 years experience of writing Java as a professional fulltime.
That's the real value of this exam.

And yes, I've seen people with certifications that are a disgrace to the profession as well as brilliant people that never saw the inside of a university.
But overall the truth is somewhere in between and while neither a university degree nor professional certification alone are enough to class someone as competent they do provide an indication.