Cracked SCMAD

[Saurabh M Sirdeshmukh]

Guys,
cracked the SCMAD exam last week. got 80% score.
Special thanks to Sathya/Ko Ko n all... their book helped pretty much.
I would have liked had there been more focus and in depth coverage of:
-synchronization of repaint cycles and UI system thread issues,
-practical approach for implementing networked mobile apps,especially how to use Push Registry to build client-server apps over web,
-WMAPI in context of Push Registry.
I know the book's primary objective is to let the examinees clear the exam successfully, but the above mentioned details would help clearly understand the concept.

I went through all the Sun Java ME specs: midp 2.0/cldc 1.0-1.1/wmapi 1.1/mmapi 1.1 pretty rigorously.
Also many Java ME links n FAQs on Sun's website helped a lot. Sun's CLDC Hotspot Implementation paper also gives insights into many practical aspects of Java Me platform.
Guys.. I am thinking of getting some expertise in JavaFX along with Java ME.. What you say?

And it really hurts to see Sun being acquired by other company... but I still would have liked IBM acquiring Sun rather than Oracle.
I have been a fan and admirer of Sun's technology, R&D and Engineering vision...

Thanks n Warm Regards to All...

[Sathya Srinivasan]

Hi Saurabh,

Congratulations on passing the exam! We are very happy to have been a part of your success!

Thanks for the constructive criticisms. We'll see if we can address the issues (probably via the companion website). I think JavaFX is a good next step, but I haven't seen it picking up much though. I would wait at least till Oracle decides its fate.

[Saurabh M Sirdeshmukh]

Sathya,
Thanks a Lot...
Just as you mentioned about JavaFX not picking up as expected, It compels me to think where Java team went wrong or rather didn't focus on client side technologies?
I mean Java entered with the bang on the attractive Applet concept some 13-14 years back.. Portability being the key.
Now Sun guys always had vision n thought ahead of times. Don't you think the same guys capable of delivering Applet concept could have come up with the client side technology(runtime) for developing RIAs.They were very much capable, but I think they focused on server side technologies alone like servlet/ejb etc.
No doubt Java is dominant n ultimate choice with many application servers built around it.But as result of neglecting client side technologies,in mean time Flash/Silverlight came up with their runtimes for RIAs. And now they have large developer base n JavaFX has huge task to survive n grow against them.

What do you think?Let me know Sathya n all the other friends over here....

[Sathya Srinivasan]

My guess is that it's mostly related to what brings more money. Soon after applets were launched the focus pretty much shifted to having thin clients or lightweight apps and I believe Sun jumped into that bandwagon. During the boom time, everyone wanted to have web-based apps with barely any focus on RIA, which did not happen till the second coming of AJAX.

The same holds true even for Swing apps. In fact, in one of my projects, people wanted to convert a mainframe system into a web-based system without even considering the possibility of using Swing based apps. Thankfully sanity prevailed and we were able to deliver a much richer swing app at the end.

For JavaFX to survive, I'd think it should provide not just base capabilities, but more of ready-to-use widgets. Hopefully it'll happen, but I am not holding my breath - yet.

[Hong Anderson]

About Applets, I don't know why it's not popular, there is nothing wrong with it, except bad marketing, and huge size of JRE.
I've seen many Applets that work very well. And I've seen a commercial Applet that runs on browser and have rich UI long time ago, at that time nobody talks about "AJAX". Applets are so powerful, they are more or less Java applications on web browser.

Sathya, I have interest in Java ME, but I'm not sure that if SCMAD 1.0 is obsoleted, as MIDP 3.0 is in progress.
Even with MIDP 3.0, can Java ME compete with other mobile development platforms like Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, iPhone, and Android?

And what you think is the future of Java ME in Oracle's hand?

[Hong Anderson]

Congrats, Saurabh

[Sathya Srinivasan]

Kengkaj Sathianpantarit wrote:About Applets, I don't know why it's not popular, there is nothing wrong with it, except bad marketing, and huge size of JRE.
I've seen many Applets that work very well. And I've seen a commercial Applet that runs on browser and have rich UI long time ago, at that time nobody talks about "AJAX". Applets are so powerful, they are more or less Java applications on web browser.

Sathya, I have interest in Java ME, but I'm not sure that if SCMAD 1.0 is obsoleted, as MIDP 3.0 is in progress.
Even with MIDP 3.0, can Java ME compete with other mobile development platforms like Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, iPhone, and Android?

And what you think is the future of Java ME in Oracle's hand?

Java applets are quite useful and I agree that marketing was not great, not to mention some really bad examples in the beginning around Swing that ruined its name (IBM Visual Age comes to mind). I have used Swing/applets in a number of occasions with great success.

Even if MIDP 3.0 comes out soon, I'd think it'll still be a while before it gets into mainstream. So, the current stack is probably safe for another year or two. Blackberry API is essentially built on top of MIDP 2.0 and other APIs. While there's a lot you need to know specific to Blackberry, my grounding in J2ME definitely helped me when I started. I can't comment much on Symbian/CE/iPhone since I haven't worked with them.

Given that Oracle does not have an established presence in mobile space, hopefully J2ME will complement its existing capabilities. Your guess is as good as mine at this point though. One thing I have noticed is that Oracle takes time to consolidate its technologies - BEA comes to mind. They have 3 app frameworks, 4 app servers, 3 portal suites, etc.!

[Ko Ko Naing]

Congratulations! It's good to know that the book helped! Hope it will be useful for you as a reference in the future.

[Saurabh M Sirdeshmukh]

Kengkaj Sathianpantarit wrote:About Applets, I don't know why it's not popular, there is nothing wrong with it, except bad marketing, and huge size of JRE.
I've seen many Applets that work very well. And I've seen a commercial Applet that runs on browser and have rich UI long time ago, at that time nobody talks about "AJAX". Applets are so powerful, they are more or less Java applications on web browser.

Sathya/Kengkaj,
With respect to our discussion on JavaFX and applets , I came across the James Gosling interview on web on sidelines of JavaFX launch at JavaOne conference... Below are some excerpts. I would be glad if you guys can throw some more light on what Gosling says on applets and Microsoft v/s Sun lawsuit affecting applets.

Excerpts:

Stephen Shankland (SS):It seems to me this is (JavaFX) returning to the roots of Java, an interactive Web experience. Is that an accurate statement?

James Gosling (JG):It's very much an accurate statement. The applet (small downloadable Java programs) technologies and 2D graphics and Swing (Java graphical interface technology) are all about doing that. Applets are a technology that people have tended not to use for no particularly good reason. There is the legal history with things being a little bit uglier than they should have been...

SS:Microsoft vs. Sun and the antitrust (lawsuit)?

JG:That was really ugly. It really killed the whole applet thing for a bunch of years, but one of the not quite well-understood facts is that applets still work really well.

SS:So why are you guys doing this now? It seems a lot of this action is happening now with Adobe's Flash and perhaps Microsoft's Silverlight.

JG:This is certainly in that space. The Java platform has got a huge installed base, and the depth of what you can do in the Java platform is really huge. If you compare what you can do with Java coded in an applet, it's far more than what you can do with things like Flash. But the issue for us really has been that while the capability was there, it's been difficult to do. So we've been on this mad tear to make the easy stuff easy. We've gotten pretty good at making the hard stuff possible, and over the last couple years we've focused pretty heavily on the enterprise world and making (it easy to build) these giant enterprise apps.

Thanks and looking forward to comments on this forum.

[Cameron Wallace McKenzie]

Congratulations!

And thanks for the great feedback. This is one of those exams where feedback is extremely helpful to us all.

-Cameron McKenzie

[Vinod Tiwari]

Congrats

[Chanakya Gupta]

Hi Sathya and Ko Ko

Sorry for picking up an old thread.

Am planning to take the SCMAD(now Oracle) exam and
looking for your book, "SCMAD Exam Guide by Ko Ko Naing, Sathya..."
Have the objectives changed after the Oracle take over ?
Having some difficulty in getting the book, will get it only next week.

Thanking you in advance. Congrats ! Saurabh!