SCJA beta exam was so much fun ;p.

I really enjoyed the beta exam, it was so much fun

. Some of the questions were really funny while others were confusing. The beta exam touches only the surface of SCWCD, SCBCD, and SCDJWS with minimal scratches. The exam did ask questions similar to the SCJP but they were much simpler. I can't comment on topics related to mobile development since I am not familiar with it. Topics related to algorithms, web development, and UML were easy and straight away. According to Sun, the result will be available within 6-8 weeks. I didn't prepare for the exam :roll: and I encourage anyone who has experience to take it without any preparation.

Edit: I forgot to mention one important poit
I agree, 100%, with Bert Bate in that SCJP shouldn't take SCJA exam once it's officially available. Otherwise, SCJA certification will lose its value.
[ June 20, 2005: Message edited by: Mark Cave ]

I encourage anyone who has experience to take it without any preparation.

This might be true, but not a good approach.

At least, you should spend some time on those topics that you are not familiar, like J2ME, etc.

Nick

At least, you should spend some time on those topics that you are not familiar, like J2ME, etc.

If I want to learn about J2ME then I will do so to acquire knowledge and not for the sake of the exam. Moreover, the exam won't ask you about J2ME in details. Currently, I am busy and I don't have time to learn about J2ME and any other new topics.

I would say, getting a certificate without learning anything is not worth. Certificate means nothing while Knowledge means something.

If you just want to get a certificate, I would say it will not be that difficult, but if you want to get knowledge, you have to put in reasonable efforts.

Nick

I would say, getting a certificate without learning anything is not worth. Certificate means nothing while Knowledge means something.

If you just want to get a certificate, I would say it will not be that difficult, but if you want to get knowledge, you have to put in reasonable efforts.

100% agree with you.

I agree, 100%, with Bert Bate in that SCJP shouldn't take SCJA exam once it's officially available. Otherwise, SCJA certification will lose its value.

Actually what Bert Bates said was they shouldn't take the Beta version, so as not to affect the passing grade setting.

Mark

Originally posted by Mark Cave:
I really enjoyed the beta exam, it was so much fun [ June 20, 2005: Message edited by: Mark Cave ]

Since you were one of the first persons to take the exam i have the following Q's?
It would be helpful for me (as well for others) to get an idea of the exam.

How were the Q's distributed ? In terms of % wise of each section.
how many drag & drops did you get?
were there any exhibits? which needs bigger monitor !!!
any programming Q's?i mean involving code
which versions of j2ee, j2me ,j2se,uml do you think were asked?
which ver of ejb(2.1 or 3.0),servlet,jsp,jms e.t.c.
any other helpful note would be helpful.

How were the Q's distributed ? In terms of % wise of each section.
The focus was on J2SE and UML. Otherwise balanced.

how many drag & drops did you get?
Only one.

were there any exhibits? which needs bigger monitor !!!
Many exhibits but there isn't a need for a big monitor.

any programming Q's?i mean involving code
Yes, a lot. Don't worry, you don't need to know any API.

which versions of j2ee, j2me ,j2se,uml do you think were asked?
Question for UML, J2EE and J2ME were generic. J2SE 5.0, you've got to pay special attention to enum. I got 7-8 questions on enum.

which ver of ejb(2.1 or 3.0),servlet,jsp,jms e.t.c.
All the question were about the purpose of the technologies and where they fit in the big picture.

any other helpful note would be helpful.
Don't waste your time on the details except for J2SE( NOT to the level of SCJP). Have fun

[ June 20, 2005: Message edited by: Mark Cave ]

Originally posted by Mark Spritzler:

Actually what Bert Bates said was they shouldn't take the Beta version, so as not to affect the passing grade setting.

Mark

That's right, thus I decided not to take it

regards,
MZ

since you've taken this already would my analysis of this exams target audience being those fresh out of college just entering the workforce or someone with no programming background at all be correct?

This forum should pick up in the coming days I think. Probably more so after the 1st I'd wager.

At any rate thanks for your account.

since you've taken this already would my analysis of this exams target audience being those fresh out of college just entering the workforce or someone with no programming background at all be correct?

I would say fresh out of college just entering the workforce. The exam tries to figure out whether you really know Java or you just had a course once and never used Java again. Definitly it is targeting fresh graduated students with a high level understanding of Java and OO design.

hello,

after I took the exam I ran to the computer in the test center to write the first report on Javaranch - and I was too late already (16:00 GMT).

I am SCJP 1.4, SCWCD 1.4 and SCJD. This is my impression from the important topics to study for SCJA:

The topics in the official objectives.

The SCJP-like questions are very hard, harder than SCJP 1.4. Often you have to recognize that a certain method (e. g. from String) does NOT exist and that thus there will be a compile time error. So you better know all overloaded methods, especially from String, that are mentioned in the objectives: charAt, indexOf, trim, substring, replace, length, startsWith, and endsWith. I made my SCJP with 96 %, and that was 1 1/2 years ago, but for the J2SE questions in this exam I'll be lucky with far less.

The UML questions were very detailed. Know all kinds of arrows that could be related to the exam objectives, and know the quantifiers that can be written next to them on both sides: 1..2, 1, +, * and so on. Also recognize invalid notations!

About Webservices Chapter 5 of "Mastering EJB", Third Edition, covers most of it (free PDF).

About EJB "Part One" of the same book covers most, but that's quite a lot to read.

Bye

Kai
[ June 20, 2005: Message edited by: Kai Witte ]

# The SCJP-like questions are very hard, harder than SCJP 1.4. Often you have to recognize that a certain method (e. g. from String) does NOT exist and that thus there will be a compile time error. So you better know all overloaded methods, especially from String, that are mentioned in the objectives: charAt, indexOf, trim, substring, replace, length, startsWith, and endsWith. I made my SCJP with 96 %, and that was 1 1/2 years ago, but for the J2SE questions in this exam I'll be lucky with far less.
# The UML questions were very detailed. Know all kinds of arrows that could be related to the exam objectives, and know the quantifiers that can be written next to them on both sides: 1..2, 1, +, * and so on. Also recognize invalid notations!

I got many questions related to methods in the String class but not a single question for a method that does NOT exist. UML relationships were very detailed for me as well. For UML, the focus was on the different kind of relationships and multiplicity rather than on the different kind of diagrams. I think Kai post covers everything I got related to String class and UML so nothing much to add.

I took the test yesterday , i have to agree the test was fun

, by no means i am a java wiz , just a soon to graduate college kid with a special place in his heart for java.

i did not study for this test , and i gotta say it didnt seem that hard.
as for the topic you dont understand that well ( i.e: J2ME ) you really dont need anymore knowledge then you already have . this test just wants to know if you know what the stuff is and where would you use it.

what this test wants to know is , do you know what java is and how to use it.
alot simpler then the SCJP . so it was perfect for me ,working in pre sales its been a while since ive gotten down and dirty with java.

just a soon to graduate college kid with a special place in his heart for java.

Wish you all the best from the bottom of my heart. When I see people like you I just feel happy.

Hi all,

I am fresher, I was preparing for scjp1.4 from khalid mughal,
and I got news about scja so I registered.

What I want to know is what and how much to read what to focus on while
reading for topics like Servlets, jsp, ejb which are so vast.
I have material but it is vast so pls you expert guys help me
tell me on what stuff to focus for section 8 objectives.

Also pls tell me any material source for section 6 and 7.

bye.

What I want to know is what and how much to read what to focus on while
reading for topics like Servlets, jsp, ejb which are so vast.
I have material but it is vast so pls you expert guys help me
tell me on what stuff to focus for section 8 objectives.

I made a few remarks on
this thread regarding your request.

...Ariel