• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
programming forums Java Mobile Certification Databases Caching Books Engineering Micro Controllers OS Languages Paradigms IDEs Build Tools Frameworks Application Servers Open Source This Site Careers Other Pie Elite all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
Marshals:
  • Campbell Ritchie
  • Jeanne Boyarsky
  • Ron McLeod
  • Paul Clapham
  • Liutauras Vilda
Sheriffs:
  • paul wheaton
  • Rob Spoor
  • Devaka Cooray
Saloon Keepers:
  • Stephan van Hulst
  • Tim Holloway
  • Carey Brown
  • Frits Walraven
  • Tim Moores
Bartenders:
  • Mikalai Zaikin

Passed, just passed...

 
Greenhorn
Posts: 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I passed the exam yesterday, only 69%, but a pass is a pass. I wanted to share some thoughts about what YOU could do to get a better score than I did.

I did NOT take the practice exam at the end of the HFSJ book. I left it for the last minute, and then thought my time would be better spent cramming the notes that I had made. So DON'T make the same mistake that I did -- take the practice test roughly ONE WEEK before you take the exam, and then concentrate on your weaker areas. DON'T blow off the end-of-chapter tests, either.

I DID make my own notes, often copying from the HFSJ book verbatim (even using good-old Paint for many of the diagrams). In the end, I had an 80+ page Word document that I could take along for review.

I DID setup an ANT script that would let me quckly create and deploy the test files in the book to Tomcat. Some learn through words, but I learn by doing. Having the quick feedback was important, and I would suggest the next edition of HF(fill in the blank) include either ANT or Maven to show some sort of automated build and deploy tool.

I did NOT have extensive Tomcat or Web server experience (my background is POJO and JMS), so I came to this topic behind others who have this background. Creating my own notes, actually trying the code, and (of course) HFSJ helped me achieve this milestone.

I really can't say enough about the HF series. I'm not alone in wanting HF for Web Services!!

BTW, I want to thank Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates for being gracious enough to not only say 'hi' when I met them at the Sun Certified party at JavaOne2005, but to stay at the table and answer many questions people had. (I didn't know they used stock photo clips throughout their books.) QUALITY FOLKS--I hope you get the opportunity to meet them sometime.

 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 60
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Congratulations.
Do not worry much about the score.
How much you have learnt from the HFSJ book and forums.

 
Ben Leadholm
Greenhorn
Posts: 6
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I would say that 95% of what I learned was from HFSJ. Another 2% was from another book from Manning press, and 3% from these forums. I might add that I would have scored better if I had monitored these forums more often, but I learned enough to handle some tricky questions nicely.
 
pie sneak
Posts: 4727
Mac VI Editor Ruby
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Thanks for these insights, Ben. I appreciate seeing posts like this (my first ever was similar to this one).

Don't forget to also post your results toSun Certification Results. Normally I'd move results related threads there but I'd like to keep this one here to help everyone out.
 
Greenhorn
Posts: 16
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Congratulations Don't be disappoint, implement all your lessons in the next certification and then tell yourself that you are not behind. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
 
It is an experimental device that will make my mind that most powerful force on earth! More powerful than this tiny ad!
a bit of art, as a gift, the permaculture playing cards
https://gardener-gift.com
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic