1.3 vs. 1.4

[Darryl Failla]

I took the Java 1.3 exam 18 months ago. I understand the exam has gotten more difficult and the passing score lowered. But is there much difference in the material being tested between the two exams?

[Corey McGlone]

As far as I know, Java 1.3 was never covered by an exam. The old exam covered Java 1.2 and the new exam covers Java 1.4. You can take a look at the exam objectives here. If you're already certified in Java 1.2, I don't think there is much point in becoming certified again in Java 1.4 - the technology is not that dramatically different. If you know enough about Java to become certified, I'm sure most people would be confident that you're smart enough to pick up the new things in Java 1.4.
Corey

[Jessica Sant]

Check out this thread about the upgrade exam. Hopefully it'll clear up some of your questions.
If you already have the 1.2 certification, and decide you want to upgrade, you should simply take the upgrade exam. There's no need for you to take the full 1.4 exam. But make sure you check out this thread, it discusses the value of taking the upgrade exam: Anyone taken the upgrade exam yet???
(basically... it might be a better idea to take the SCJD exam instead of upgrading to 1.4 ....)