Hi Deepak,
Please find my views to the points you mentioned :
Originally posted by Deepak Arora:
1) For ICED test on Webspehere is also one of the requirement & skill 3b as well as skill 2b(For ICSD) so it might be a better idea to earn certification once that is also helpful in acquiring ISED.
Well, I was thinking on similar lines earlier.To become an ICED, I would need to take just one test Skill 3B - IBM Websphere Application Server (WAS), Advanced Edition (AE).Infact I don't even need to take Skill 2B - IBM Websphere Application Server (WAS), Standard Edition (SE).
Easier said than done!I know one thing for sure, if you want to have a crack at any of the vendor products, it is best to start off with their IDE, especially if you are doing it independently.Once you get accustomed to the IBM way, then things will not look intimidating.
I would have spent more than 2 months just to get a simple
EJB bean deployed in the Oracle Application Server and get it called from the EJB client.The reason is not only poor documentation from Oracle, but also the complexity of the products.Most of it has to do with the libraries and the jar files.It you look at the posts in the IBM Application Servers forum in JavaRanch, you would realize IBM products are no different either.The funny thing is their own product jar files are not compatible.Also, just as Oracle has come up with its own architecture/technologies, I am pretty sure IBM WAS will have similar challenges to offer.
I intend to crack this by learning the VAJ IDE, which has its own WAS Test Environment.Once you start deploying and testing applications in the Test environment, you can safely move on to the next step of trying with the actual AS.I am sure this would reduce the learning curve.You will have minimum problems of testing applications with an IDE than with an AS.
Originally posted by Deepak Arora:
2)WAS CErtification requires knowledge of JDK,Servlet,Jsp & Web which I have (& am sure that you also have it)
3)Studying Servlet book by O'really which is a common book, I have already read it & even you must have ( I think so).
4)knowledge if WWW session tracking etc.
5)Knowledge of WAS this is probabaly most tricky part of entire test
Knowledge of Java Technologies (Servlets,JSP,EJB,etc) is a must to learn the products.That is the reason you have two tests at the third Level.The Test 483 - Enterprise Connectivity with J2EE(Skill 3A) tests you on all the above Sun Reference Implementation (RI) technologies / specifications.
However, to get the same working on IBM WAS/Oracle AS is a different experience all together.That's going to take some effort.You have to understand the architecture, the troubleshooting aspect of it, debugging which is possible only using VAJ IDE (again signifying the importance of IDE) and lots of other vendor-specific features.
The test which I took from Oracle - Enterprise Development on Oracle Internet Platform (Skill 3B from Oracle), assumed I knew all the specifications very well.They were testing on scenarios which you could answer correctly if and only if you have come across it in real-life.And most questions on Remote Debugging, and deployment had links with their IDE-Oracle JDeveloper.You cannot isolate the Vendors' IDE at Level 3.So I believe, it is best to learn it.You needn't take the test, but I think
you should know sufficiently well for Skill 3B test.
Originally posted by Deepak Arora:
6)Caroline also suggested in one of post that WAS is probably more important than VAJ as it is a development tool.
I believe, IBM WAS is not a development tool but it provides an environment to host services like EJB,Servlets,JSP,etc.You would still need to use a development tool to develop these components.IBM VAJ can be used for development purposes.
BTW, I would like to add that IBM is now has two tools - IBM VAJ for developing thick clients like Swing Applications and IBM Websphere Studio for developing server-side web applications.They also plan to merge everything as one Suite sometime down the line.
Originally posted by Deepak Arora:
7)Test Objective list of va4j is very much intimidating
It looks like that, but it is not!Infact, IBM WAS test objectives looks very elegant, but quite opposite is true.
I have been reading VAJ from the IBM recommended book (Enterprise Development with VAJ Version 3.0) and found it very comfortable.Also managed to clear the IBM pre-assessment test on VAJ, before starting with VAJ
.You will get about 25% questions on pure Java, which sounds very nice.
Originally posted by Deepak Arora:
8)Oracle product documentations are always poor so that might be one of the reasons for difficulties you have faced with
OAS.by the way have you seen the WAS Documentation & V4J Documentation what is your opinion abt them
Lots of factors - poor documentation, lack of support in India,incompatible products,etc.
I guess the same applies for any of vendor products.This is happening because these products are still immature and will take sometime to become steady.They say that IBM VAJ is the best IDE in the market, but I happened to find a bug in it within one month of my learning exercise!
Originally posted by Deepak Arora:
what about other routes like weblogic or any other you know of.
For the reasons I mentioned in my earlier post, I would suggest you stick with IBM tools atleast for a while, unless your work demands that you master a particular vendor product.For instance, one of my friends is a HP Certified Enterprise Developer (HP Saphire Application Server).He took the HP Jcert track, as he is working for HP.
Also,since you are taking the Jcert track, you always have the facility to switch between vendors, if you feel you need to do so!
Hope this helps,
Sandeep
[This message has been edited by Desai Sandeep (edited July 23, 2001).]