I just got back from taking the
Java programmer certification exam a little while ago...and passed! What a relief! Thanks go to all of you that provided advice these past several weeks. Here is a summary of how I passed:
- took Java course at work about a year and a half ago
- after attempting to briefly study sporadically during the following few weeks, barely looked at any Java for the next year and a half (although I did work a while on Java
servlets,
JDBC etc for an upcoming web site which I plan to complete in the future, the programmer certification does not
test you on these advanced topics)
- took a sabbatical from work this summer (in part) to get down to business because the long hours of overtime were preventing me from exam preparation
- studied the first 4 weeks or so using "The Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide" by Roberts/Heller/Ernest
- during those first 4 weeks or so, took the javaranch Rules Roundup game about once a week, consistently resulting in "Spiny Cactus" or "Hood Ornament"
- after the first 4 weeks or so, took the three Marcus Green mock exams, consistently scoring about 50-60% (also attempted to take other mock exams available on the internet, but usually the English in those exams was so poor I could not understand many of the questions, or answers for that matter)
- after the first 4 weeks or so, retook the javaranch Rules Roundup game a few times, consistently resulting in "Hood Ornament" or "Silver Spur"
- studied HARD the next couple weeks or so using "A Programmer's Guide to Java Certification" by Mughal/Rasmussen, due to consistent advice from javaranch that the Roberts/Heller/Ernest text had numerous errors/inconsistencies
- retook the javaranch Rules Roundup game several times, consistently resulting in "Silver Spur" or "Lucky Horseshoe"
- purchased the JQ+ mock exam engine for $20
- took the JQ+ exams (one or two per day) and studied answers to all questions after each exam, until consistently getting 70%+
- retook the three Marcus Green mock exams two days before the REAL exam, to make sure that I was ready (I consistently scored about 80%, and since I was interested in a passing score on the REAL exam rather than a near-perfect score, I felt ready)
- retook the javaranch Rules Roundup game that same day with a score of 97%
- during this entire process I prayed regularly!
- took the REAL exam and passed with a score of 71%!
- although I plan on posting more advice in the future, for now, note that the testing area I took the REAL exam at this morning was much more noisy that I had expected - I was used to taking exams in my quiet home office - someone's cell phone even went off a half hour into the test even though pagers/cells were supposedly not allowed (I didn't report it, but would have been tempted to had I failed the exam)
- best wishes to you!