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I'm sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place or it has been asked before.

I am a CSE fresher from INDIA and I'm currently unemployed.
I want to give the SCJP certification exam soon and after a lot of reading across various forums I decided upon buying Kathy Sierra and
Bert Bates book.
But before that I wanted to ask..

1.Should I join a training institute for learning for the SCJP ? (They dont charge much and its a two months course.)

Since I was a computer science engineering student I basically have a good idea about JAVA but its been 3months since I have opened any book or done any programming so I wanted to know if

2.This Kathy Sierra book jumps directly into the deeper topics or it brushes up the basics...?

3. I am pretty jobless these days so I've decided to devote a whole month to SCJP preparation and I wanted to know if its gonna be enough for a person like me ( CSE background ) to do well...
I'm planning to devote almost 3-4 hours a day to it... and keep programming.... So is 1 month good enough ...?
 
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1 month for scjp ? Yes why not.Exam is very easy you have choices just select correct answer, if you know that this is correct answer otherwise at least you can guess an answer as we do in GK exams and attempt all questions and probably you will get a nice good looking certificate.but sorry don't waste time here.
 
Dhruv Arora
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saloni jhanwar wrote:1 month for scjp ? Yes why not.Exam is very easy you have choices and select correct if you know that this is correct otherwise at least you can guess and attempt questions,and probably you will get a nice good looking certificate.but sorry don't waste time.



Could you be more precise...?
Ok, I got the point that 1 month is not enough... How long do you think will it take for me to realize that YES ! Now I can give the exam...!
I know silly question but I just want to know approx how long should I give it... I need to fix a time and then start preparing.
 
saloni jhanwar
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First thing i would like to say here wait for new java7 book, which is out there in market but not in stock yet.So think about ocjp 7 instead of ocjp 6.and believe me ocjp 7 is not easy as ocjp 6.I can't say exactly but ocjp 7 may take 4-5 months.
 
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i agree with saloni. since you are starting for certifications go for the latest which is java se 7. and yes java se 7 certification is tougher than java 6 and one month time and 3-4 hours a day is like mocking the exam

if you are ready to put 3-4 hours a day then i say 3-5 months would be required depending upon how fast you grasp concepts and your current knowledge. also if you want to go for java se 7 programmer certification known as ocpjp 7 then keep in mind for that first you have to clear associate exam i.e. ocaj 7. after that you can go for programmer exam which is the real thing. however same does not hold for ocpjp 6. you can directly appear for ocpjp 6 and later upgrade your certification to java se 7.
 
Dhruv Arora
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gurpeet singh wrote:i agree with saloni. since you are starting for certifications go for the latest which is java se 7. and yes java se 7 certification is tougher than java 6 and one month time and 3-4 hours a day is like mocking the exam

if you are ready to put 3-4 hours a day then i say 3-5 months would be required depending upon how fast you grasp concepts and your current knowledge. also if you want to go for java se 7 programmer certification known as ocpjp 7 then keep in mind for that first you have to clear associate exam i.e. ocaj 7. after that you can go for programmer exam which is the real thing. however same does not hold for ocpjp 6. you can directly appear for ocpjp 6 and later upgrade your certification to java se 7.



I feel so embarrassed now... :P
Thank you people...
Btw how do these training institutes give you training for 2 months and teach only 1 hour a day...! Listening to that I assumed it wont be that tough.
 
saloni jhanwar
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And i would like to supplement here even if anyone can read book 24 hours and grab the concept in one month but it will be useless because until you don't spend more and more or at least some good amount of time, you cant catch tricky things and it comes only with time, when you do lots of code and get errors everywhere.
 
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If you already have practical experience programming in Java, then a month might be enough. For an average fresher, one month is not enough. If you are already familiar with OOP concepts, you might be able to do it faster than average. However, if you aren't familiar with OOP concepts, it will take as long as your brain needs to "get" it. Having a good understanding of OOP make everything else easy. If you don;t get OOP, you will spent most of the time figuring out why things are done a certain way. OOP is something that has to be learnt beyond the book. The book will present concepts, but your brain has to internalize it. Not just learn it....internalize it. Some people get it in 30 minutes, some people take months, some people never get it.

I was programming for 3 years in Java (and 4 years in C++ before that) before I got my sun certification (this was like 10 years ago, and the exam was simpler back then.. I think). I went through the head first series in a month or so, and passed the exam. However, remember, I had plenty of practical experience. I already knew Java, and didn't have to learn new concepts (although the books were useful in brushing up concepts). Seriously, with all that experience, it took me a month to go through the books and the practice exams

The training institutes In India follow the "ratta" system. They throw lot of practice questions at you, and ask you to memorize them. You might pass the exam, but you won't be able to code. If your aim is to become a professional programmer, you need to "learn" java, not just memorize the questions.
 
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saloni jhanwar wrote:1 month for scjp ? Yes why not.Exam is very easy you have choices just select correct answer, if you know that this is correct answer otherwise at least you can guess an answer as we do in GK exams and attempt all questions and probably you will get a nice good looking certificate.but sorry don't waste time here.



Not to grouse over this particular post, but please be a little considerate towards first time posters. Not everyone will take comments like these in their stride and they usually tend to shy away from posting again.

As for the query in the OP, first step would be to find a apt answer for this question - why should I take up the certification?. Next, this certification checks the nittigrittys of Java rather than the high-level knowledge thats taught in engineering colleges here(in India), so things take some time to seep in. I'm not telling you that with a month's study you can't sit for an examination, but what you study might slip out of your mind very easily. Have a plan accordingly. If the exam is not gonna add value, I'd rather suggest that you pick a Java programming book(you can start with Head First Java) and start going through.

To enhance your studying experience, you should get yourself involved in forums like JavaRanch. Follow the forum guidelines and experts here will be more than happy to provide some of their time in clearing all the doubts you have. Welcome to the Ranch and all the best!
 
saloni jhanwar
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Sorry Praveen Kumar M K, if i made you shy i haven't such intention.
 
Dhruv Arora
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Thanks a lot people... TBH I was rushing into the certification thing just to make my resume look better (Unemployed Fresher).
But now I think its foolishness to try to mug it all up and give it in a month.
I will start preparing and give it atleast a good 3-4months time and go for the exam only when I'm confident...
Thank you all once again...
 
Praveen Kumar M K
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saloni jhanwar wrote:Sorry Praveen Kumar M K, if i made you shy i haven't such intention.



 
saloni jhanwar
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Dhruv Arora wrote:Thanks a lot people... TBH I was rushing into the certification thing just to make my resume look better (Unemployed Fresher).
But now I think its foolishness to try to mug it all up and give it in a month.
I will start preparing and give it atleast a good 3-4months time and go for the exam only when I'm confident...
Thank you all once again...


Although OCJP will help you but as you are fresher so cracking an interview is a different task, where they will test your knowledge regarding data structure,os,oop concepts,c,c++ and aptitude test .They wont ask you that tell us about java else we wont hire you. So i think you should work priority wise.When your professional life will start then you will get everything, java is not a big deal.But your first target should be to get a job.
 
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hello frndz....
im also preparing for ocjp exam , i referd "head first java(k&b)" .And now diving in scjp book by k&b....
how many day it should to clear my all concepts..
 
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