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Passed SCJP 5.0, 94%

 
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People say, that this exam is eaiser, then most of mocks. Well, I agree. I used Whizlabs and scored between 75-90%, and some questions on exam made me very suspicious, mostly because they were too easy :-).

- Drag-n-drop - answer is indeed reset, when you review this kind of question, but the software will display message like "Are you sure you want this? Answer will be cleared." You can press No and your previous answer is safe.
- Generics&Collections from 1st question (tough warm-up), tested were mostly Collections, generics knowlegde was truly basic, nothing like "you must read whole AngelikaLanger" to pass this :-)
- Many thread questions (I guess 12 or 15, so threads are important)
- Drag-n-Drop question (12 questions, a lot easier than I expected)
- Question testing you for some complex logic usually don't have "Compile error" as option, (if they have, then it is very likely it is correct)
- Also it may be helpful to read question (also answers) before reading some piece of code, so you can focus on objective tested.
- Exhibit windows are resize-able, this can help you sometime to make code more readable.
- I didn't find any question, where was a syntax error due to "missing ; or )", but don't rely on it.
- 3 hours is very much time, I guess you would be able to answer almost twice as much questions. I went through all questions twice, a finished after 2 hours. (If you just don't know, more time won't help)
- you will be given an oportunity to take tutorial before real exam, take it, you'll be more comfortable with testing software and you'll also discover, how you can review your answers and how to end test
- read all options, select the one you thing is right and then try to reason it to yourself and then reason why the others are not correct
- some questions have option "compile error" also with reason why this error occured (good for you)
- put yourself in JVM's place: it is in human nature to read the code from top to bottom, try it also as interpreter, start in main and go statement by statement, and for each line check modifiers, scope, exceptions, etc. (this way you'll easily spot error like base constructor with parameter, or variable out of scope)

watch for:
method defined in interface is implicitly public and abstract
super-class constructor has parameter
variable of some type is accessing member of sub-class (which is not declared in this class)

recommendations:
read 2 minute drills and exam wachtes from K&B book, it's a very good summary of what you should know
[ June 08, 2007: Message edited by: John Stone ]
 
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Rocking John
 
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Congrats,
I am also praparing for scjp5. In your opinion, whether K&B and whizlab are sufficient for this exam
 
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Congratulations!!! Great Score.
 
John Stone
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Originally posted by Rizwan Qadri:
Congrats,
I am also praparing for scjp5. In your opinion, whether K&B and whizlab are sufficient for this exam



Thank you.

K&B is enough, whizlabs gives you some mock experience and perhaps confidence. (though, whizlabs is sometimes off-topic)
Mock questions will prepare you for question, where you need to study some code (there are many such questions on real exam)

I was also thinking, whether only 2 minute drills are enough (?) :-), but I recommend to read the whole book.

Literature:
Thinking in Java, 3rd edition - as introduction to java (2 month ago I knew only, that Java exists and is similiar to C++)
K&B book - this I read carefully
javaranch.com - Faq and forum - I was reading various questions in forum before I get the knowlegde of topic and was guessing the answer :-)

Mocks:
Dan Chrisholm (quite hard sometimes, don't panic)
Whizlabs (you'll get usually +10-15% more on exam)
JavaBlackBelt.com
 
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Congrats JOHN






REGARDS
NIK
SCJP 1.5
 
Rizwan Qadri
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Many many thanks john for your prompt reply.
 
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Congrats John Stone...

Thanks

Anil Kumar
 
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Congrats
 
John Stone
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Thank you.
 
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congratulations! great score!
 
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Congrats John,




What next?



With Best Regards,
 
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Congrats!
 
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Congratulations John Stone.
 
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Howdy John Stone

Thats a good score and a detailed explanation with tips you had given. Surely it would help the buddies whos gonna take SCJP exam.


 
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Hi John

Congrats and Thanks for the great tips.

Regards
Padma
 
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One word John...

Wow!!

Bert
 
John Stone
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Originally posted by Chandra Bhatt:
Congrats John,




What next?



With Best Regards,



Thank you (all).

I'm thinking about SCJD, but I'm worried, because my whole Java experience consist of last 2 months (not very much comparing to several years in C++). SCJD is my current dream, but perhaps SCBCD or SCMAD would be easier to start with.

I'm glad some of you like the tips, if I remember some other useful hints, I'll surely update the first post.
 
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Hi john,

Thanks for sharing your valuable tips and suggestions, about preparation and what to expect in the exam.
 
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