Sathya's notes were more complete and better presented than the others so I printed all of Sathya's notes and the parts of the other two that were not included in Sathya's.
Note: As time went on I found quite a few errors in Sathya's notes, which I will collate and send to Sathya when I get a chance. Sathya has promised to update the notes with the corrections when he receives them. In the meantime I would recommend that anyone who is using Sathya's notes to carefully compare them to the APIs and specifications. Remember: the APIs and specs are the only definition documents for this exam.
Also note: Sun has articles/tips/tutorials on J2ME, many of which relate to topics on the exam. Eduardo's notes have links to a number of those articles, at the beginning of each section.
I approached the exam in three stages:
1st Stage - Overview & Familiarity
I read all of the notes, the JTWI spec and one of the CLDC specs, with the intention of getting familiar with the material and understanding as much as possible, rather than remembering the material.
I also developed a few mini-apps focusing on each section of the exam in turn (for those sections that require programming anyway). I found the lab exercises in the J2ME Code Camp helpful in this regard.
2nd Stage - Learning
I went through the notes again, and this time I made my own notes (mind maps actually) and started to memorize the information.
At the same time I was writing mini-apps, but this time I was learning to do so without the aid of documentation. My goal was to be learn to write apps entirely from the information in my head.
3rd Stage - Read the APIs and Specs and focus on weak areas
By this stage I had much of the APIs and specs in the interest of clarification and because I had been using them as references during the first two specification. However, apart from the JTWI and CLDC I had not read the specs/APIs from beginning to end.
The understanding I had gained by this stage made reading the specs/APIs much easier, I'm sure, and reading them properly simply helped to clarify and fill gaps in the notes.
Again I wrote more mini-apps to help my understanding in areas that needed it.
Note: I wouldn't necessarily recommend post-poning a thorough read of the specifications and APIs until after you understand the material. I'm sure that it wouldn't work out well for some people, in particular some people would end up not reading the specifications and APIs before doing the exam. All that I can say is that it worked for me.
Good luck. [ December 16, 2004: Message edited by: Tomas Conway ]
Ko Ko Naing
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Tomas, Congratulations!!! Your preparation tips are knowledgable too... I'm on my way to take it within this month... Well, at least I need to take it before the voucher expires on 31st December this year... The problem with me is that I am not confident enough for the exam topics and I don't want to miss a thing, cos I must get a high score for this exam...
A pass should not be a pass in my case... A pass should be a pass with flying colors... So I am taking so much time on this exam...
Co-author of SCMAD Exam Guide, Author of JMADPlus SCJP1.2, CCNA, SCWCD1.4, SCBCD1.3, SCMAD1.0, SCJA1.0, SCJP6.0
William var
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KO KO ....Be confident like the nike ad
"JUST DO IT"! go and wallop those questions
Good Luck
Nicholas Cheung
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I am taking so much time on this exam
Ko Ko, when will you go for it?
Dont put too much time on because you need to save up some time for SCJP Tiger Beta as well.
Dont put too much time on because you need to save up some time for SCJP Tiger Beta as well.
Nick
But it's not free...
Nicholas Cheung
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Any sponsership?
Nick
William var
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Ko Ko you can do it
DOnt think too much
Just go ahead !!!
GOOD LUCK anyway ko ko you can go on after this year for sure so JUST DO IT
William var
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Also those peopl should have made the beta free wat a shame
Tomas Conway
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Thanx Ko Ko.
I advise you to book your exam now, if you haven't done so already because -
a) If you leave it too late you may not be able to schedule the exam for the day that you want it.
b) When you have set a date you'll have a specific goal to work towards.
Are there any areas that you're having difficulty with?
How much time can you dedicate to preparing for the exam?
I can't personally vouch for it, but the Whizlabs SCMAD simulator may be of some help.
Tomas
Nicholas Cheung
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Also those peopl should have made the beta free
I think beta exams should not be free. As if they are free, even you dont prepare well, you wont be affected. But if they are not free, people who have not study well will not take the exam, which affects the real passing rate.
Nick
Ko Ko Naing
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Originally posted by Nicholas Cheung: I think beta exams should not be free. As if they are free, even you dont prepare well, you wont be affected. But if they are not free, people who have not study well will not take the exam, which affects the real passing rate.
I partially agree with this to make a certain cert valuable... But for those who do not have any sponsorship for the exam, making beta would let them have a chance to take the exam.... :roll:
Nicholas Cheung
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But for those who do not have any sponsorship for the exam, making beta would let them have a chance to take the exam....
SUN does provide sponsership to some beta testers, such as Pradeep.
If you take part in the blueprint survey, you can then get a free voucher.
Nick
Ko Ko Naing
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Originally posted by Nicholas Cheung:
SUN does provide sponsership to some beta testers, such as Pradeep.
If you take part in the blueprint survey, you can then get a free voucher.
Nick
But I didn't take part in it... Too bad... Did Pradeep get the free voucher without participating in the blueprint survey?
Nicholas Cheung
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But I didn't take part in it... Too bad...
Neither do I.
Did Pradeep get the free voucher without participating in the blueprint survey?
He should be taken part in the survey.
Anyway, next time, we should keep close track here to get more beta exam info.
Nick
Sathya Srinivasan
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Good post, Tom.
I want to thank once again those who have pointed out the mistakes in my notes in the last few months. I created the notes while I was studying for the beta.
As Tom mentioned, I will post his updates as soon as he sends them to me either in the form of errata or even new versions of the notes so that they'll be less erroneous.
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because you need to save up some time for 
