how old is SCJP 6 (or even Java SE 6?)

Hey all,

I am starting my self-study for the SCJP 6 exam. At the same time i was going to start studying for the A+ Exam that ive been meaning to get for the past 10 years

when looking up information about the A+ i noticed that CompTIA had just come out with a new exam for 2009. This got me thinking; how old is the SCJP 6 exam? How frequently does Sun turn out new JRE's? In other words, by the time i study and take the SCJP 6 exam will the certification be "valid" for a few years or will sun come out with a newer version?

i say "valid" with quotations becuase i know the SCJP Cert is valid forever but ultimately it becomes out dated. I dont want to study my butt off only to have to go redo everything when a new cert comes out. I think i read something on here about an Oracle Certified Java Programmer (OCJP) cert or a SCJP+ cert that might replace the SCJP but there has been no official word from the company.

Rob, I see SCJP as the first step into Sun certifications. You can't give SCWCD or SCBCD etc if you are not SCJP. And its almost certain that new versions of SCJP will come with each new version of Java (if the programmer plus certification doesn't replace it).

I dont want to study my butt off only to have to go redo everything when a new cert comes out.

There are two benefits of a certification. Its a way to tell others that you have decent knowledge of a topic and you learn a LOT from your preparation. Even if a new version of SCJP or the programmer plus certification are launched, still you'll have enough time to give your exam (when Sun declared the programmer plus certification, they declared that they'll only discontinue SCJP 3 months after the new certification is actually launched). So your efforts will not go in vain...

Rob Poulos wrote:How frequently does Sun turn out new JRE's? In other words, by the time i study and take the SCJP 6 exam will the certification be "valid" for a few years or will sun come out with a newer version?

There has been a new version of Sun Java roughly every 18 to 24 months (see Java version history). The next version of Java should be coming out sometime next year, Sun mentioned March 2010 at the JavaOne conference last June. It might come later than March 2010, and it will take at least 3 to 6 months before there is a new version of SCJP. But with all the turbulence of Oracle taking over Sun, it's not clear what's going to happen. It looks like Sun is working on a new certification called Sun Java Programmer Plus (see this topic, for example).

In my opinion, you can just go ahead and do SCJP 6 now, the certificate for that will be valid for years to come. It's too unclear what's going to happen in the future (and when) with regard to new certifications. You probably don't want to wait a year...

excellent, thank you for all this information!

I agree with Jesper and I'd like to add:

Not all new versions of Java have the same importance. Java 5 was a HUGE new version - so the difference between a Java 1.4 certification and a Java 5 certification is equally HUGE!

On the other hand, from my perspective Java 6 was a relatively small step forward - so to me the difference between a Java 5 and a Java 6 certification is small.

At this point I'm leaning towards thinking that Java 7 will be another small step, so given everything I don't see much value in waiting.

hth,

Bert

At this point I'm leaning towards thinking that Java 7 will be another small step

I agree on that. Looking at the JDK changes that have been approved, it looks like a very small change to the Collections / generics and flow control chapters is the only possibility.

JDK 7 is going to be more than just library changes; there are also going to be some minor language changes, for example you'll be able to use strings in switch statements, there will be binary integer literals, for example:

and there will be ways to write Sets and Lists in a more compact way:

See Project Coin if you want to know details.

Jesper Young wrote:JDK 7 is going to be more than just library changes; there are also going to be some minor language changes, for example you'll be able to use strings in switch statements, there will be binary integer literals, for example:
int a = 0b1011010011101; // the number 5789
and there will be ways to write Sets and Lists in a more compact way:
final List<Integer> piDigits = [3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9, 2, 6, 5, 3, 5, 9]; final Set<Integer> primes = { 2, 7, 31, 127, 8191, 131071, 524287 };

See Project Coin if you want to know details.

Plus the syntax that uses the '<>' without types to instantiate Collections and generics.

Project coin also mentions other enhancements that were rejected if you are interested.