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the Java SE 8 Programmer 1 beta is now open

 
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Taking the beta is $50. The exam topics are here. It's similar to the OCA 7 with two new topics: Java 8 Date/Time basics and Lambda basics.
 
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What's the passing percentage for beta exam and also there are so many questions then normal exam, what are the pros/cons for taking beta exam?.
I have never taken any beta exam , it will be nice if someone can shed light/ or share there experience.
Thanks
 
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Number of Questions: 150-225
Duration: 2.5-3.5 hours


also interest what will be result of passing beta?
and may be differ also in topic interface because of default method.
 
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hamada yam wrote:What's the passing percentage for beta exam and also there are so many questions then normal exam, what are the pros/cons for taking beta exam?.
I have never taken any beta exam , it will be nice if someone can shed light/ or share there experience.
Thanks


I took the beta for the OCPJP 7 and wrote about my experiences.. The passing score isn't known yet. That is one of the things Oracle uses the beta for - to determine what passing should be. Also, your score won't be a simple percentage of questions you got right. Oracle will formally score the beta exams at the end based ont eh questions that wound up in the set for the exam. So if everyone and their brother got a certain question wrong, it won't be included in your percentage.

Pros:
  • It's a lot cheaper
  • You get to provide feedback to Oracle if you find a question confusing


  • Cons:
  • Less study materials are available as books/mocks/etc haven't been update yet
  • It's a long time to sit there answering questions
  • You don't find out your score for months


  • Sergej Smoljanov wrote:also interest what will be result of passing beta?
    and may be differ also in topic interface because of default method.


    If you pass the beta, you get credit for passing the real exam. And yes, default methods were added too.
     
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    Will this make the OCAJP 7 "outdated" and not as desirable? How long before the Java 8 exam(s) will be ready for prime time?
     
    Jeanne Boyarsky
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    Blake Edward wrote:Will this make the OCAJP 7 "outdated" and not as desirable?


    No. The OCJP 6 is still alive and kicking.

    Blake Edward wrote:How long before the Java 8 exam(s) will be ready for prime time?


    I"m guessing a few months for the OCAJP 8. (They haven't even posted when the beta ends yet.) They haven't even announced objectives for the OCPJP 8 so that one is even further out.
     
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    Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:(...)
    I"m guessing a few months for the OCAJP 8. (They haven't even posted when the beta ends yet.) They haven't even announced objectives for the OCPJP 8 so that one is even further out.



    Actually, on New and Upcoming Releases page, the OCAJP 8 beta ends on November 15th, but this date may change.
     
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    Wow, some book authors are still working on a study guide for OCAJP7 (and OCPJP7) and Oracle have already released the beta of OCAJP8. That means no holidays this year for the book authors

    So we should probably encourage people when posting specific OCAJP8 related questions (default methods, basic lambdas, few date & time api classes) to mention it in the title. Otherwise ranchers preparing for the OCAJP7 might freak out if they spot such a question 2 days before taking the exam
     
    Jeanne Boyarsky
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    Silviu Burcea wrote:Actually, on New and Upcoming Releases page, the OCAJP 8 beta ends on November 15th, but this date may change.


    Good find. Have a cow.
     
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    I m thinking of taking the OCA 8 exam mostly because it's cheap and 150 questions will do me good + the off chance(hope decent) i might pass . But i have some questions first. I understand you will find out the score 11 weeeks after the end of the beta , does that mean you will find out if you passes at the same time or only the score will be showed then ? Can you still take OCA 7 after beta OCA 8 (even if they did not inform you of pass or fail ) ? Third question is concerning the number of questions and the time , and this question is mostly directed at Jeanne. OCA 8 has about double the current number of questions and a reduced time of 60 sec per question. To be honest there is no way i can answer 20+ lines of code questions in less then 1 min , i lack the experience to go trough code that fast . Do you think the format has changed too for those questions making them less time intensive then OCA 7 ?

    Also i looked more carefully at the OCA exam topics and more then 2 new sections(Write a simple Lambda ... / Create and manipulate calendar data using classes from java.time... ) have been added and/or changed :

    -Compare and contrast the features and components of Java such as: platform independence, object orientation, encapsulation, etc.
    -Use call methods on user-created wrapper class objects
    -Describe the hierarchy of implementing inheritance
     
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    Hi Marius,

    I have managed to achieve a pace of 100 questions per hour before taking the OCAJP. This is 36 sec per question. You may want to practice just a little more just to increase your pace. You will get better, trust me. I have taken the Enthuware tests, but there are a lot of free mock exams out there too.
     
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    Tiberius Marius wrote:, does that mean you will find out if you passes at the same time or only the score will be showed then ?


    No, you find out if you pass at the same time you find out your score (11 weeks after the beta ends.) The reason for this is that Oracle doesn't KNOW if some people passed. They grade you based on which questions they end up choosing. For example, imagine they have a poorly balanced question and everyone gets 50% of the beta questions right. Oracle would fix many of them or throw some of them out. Raising you to passing. If they told you that you failed the day of the beta, it would be inaccurate.

    Tiberius Marius wrote: Third question is concerning the number of questions and the time , and this question is mostly directed at Jeanne. OCA 8 has about double the current number of questions and a reduced time of 60 sec per question. To be honest there is no way i can answer 20+ lines of code questions in less then 1 min , i lack the experience to go trough code that fast . Do you think the format has changed too for those questions making them less time intensive then OCA 7 ?


    Only the longest questions have 20+ lines of code. Most are far shorter and some of none. I agree with Silviu that you get faster with practice. After a while, you know what to look for and see it faster. That said, I do find the beta more tiring because it is longer. You have to sit still and keep your focus for a longer period of time.

    Tiberius Marius wrote: -Describe the hierarchy of implementing inheritance


    There used to be one called "Implementing inheritance" so I wouldn't say this is new.
     
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    Thanks for sharing java 8 certification details. I shall try to work on this cert.

    Keeping that Cert is out now, please suggest any good books [ or online resources] on Java 8 to read for cert topics [ like interface, lambda and data api etc].
     
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    Interface is there since like forever ... You mean default methods or functional interface. You will be surprised that these additions are rather minor. Any OCAJP 7 book will do just fine. You may want to study the Java 8 features directly on the Oracle website, where you can find lots of tutorials, most of them being lambda tutorials. That's the new big thing in Java 8, right? Date API is also covered.
     
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    Silviu Burcea wrote:That's the new big thing in Java 8, right? Date API is also covered.


    Yes, lambdas is the next big thing. It's the generics from Java 5, so to speak And Date API is of course also new; that's the enum of Java 5
     
    Jeanne Boyarsky
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    The Oracle tutorials are good. I prefer books. I recommend
    "Java SE 8 for the Really Impatient." It has lots of examples and exercises for practice. The book covers way more than the exam, but is still good to have.
     
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    Currently there are three books for preparation in which the first two I am currently reading at the moment:-
    Beginning Java 8 Fundamentals
    Beginning Java 8 Language Features
    Beginning Java 8 APIs, Extensions and Libraries

    They are actually quite good...
     
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    Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:Taking the beta is $50. The exam topics are here. It's similar to the OCA 7 with two new topics: Java 8 Date/Time basics and Lambda basics.



    are we confident it doesn't include Java 8 Streams?
     
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    Guillermo Ishi wrote:

    Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:Taking the beta is $50. The exam topics are here. It's similar to the OCA 7 with two new topics: Java 8 Date/Time basics and Lambda basics.



    are we confident it doesn't include Java 8 Streams?


    Yes, very confident as it's not in the official exam objectives.
     
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    Roel De Nijs wrote:Yes, very confident as it's not in the official exam objectives.


    Right! I took the exam on Friday and wrote up a brief commentary. We aren't allowed to disclose about the questions, but I can say that the objectives and exam go with each other. They didn't throw in off topic things like Streams without telling anyone .

    Streams being out of scope makes sense as most collections are on the OCP (not the OCA) as is concurrency.
     
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    How long did the exam take?
     
    Jeanne Boyarsky
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    I was alloted 2 hours and 30 minutes for the beta to answer 120 questions. It took me just over two hours to go through the questions and review the ones I wanted to go back to. I didn't check my work after due to lack of time.
     
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    For anyone planning on studying for it " Java Complete reference " was also released ( updated for java 8) . And I dont think Oracle is going to retire OCA 7 exams soon. They just published OCA/OCP Java SE 7 Programmer I & II Study Guide( Kindle version available , I started reading) and 5/6 exams are still available. So 7 has a long way to go .
     
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    Anyone have experience with Oracle chaning the Beta Exam Close Dates?

    For 1Z1-808 Java SE 8 Programmer I, it says: (Beta end dates are tentative and subject to change without notice.)

    Is this mean the exam can be closed earlier than November 15, 2014?
    What if I scedule and exam for example at November 10, and they decide the close date is a week earlier? Is it possible?

     
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    Hi Maki,

    First of all, a warm welcome to the CodeRanch!

    Maki Fej wrote:Is this mean the exam can be closed earlier than November 15, 2014?
    What if I scedule and exam for example at November 10, and they decide the close date is a week earlier? Is it possible?


    That's always a possibility, but I never heard Oracle closing the beta earlier. Sometimes the beta was extended (as you can read here). And that's also important if you have taken (or plan to take) the beta exam, because it means you'll have to wait longer to get your score and thus know if you passed (or failed).

    If it would happen and you have paid, I assume you'll get a refund.

    Kind regards,
    Roel
     
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    For those who have taken the Java 8 exam, what were your impressions on difficulty level compared to the Java 7 exam? I am re-familiarizing myself with new Java 8 features this weekend and planning on writing the exam on Monday.
    I remember the OCJA 7 (beta) exam I wrote looked like a straightforward test of knowledge, no real trick questions (which surprised me. There were trick questions on my OCJP 7).

    Jeanne - I tried the link to objectives comparison on the blog link about your experiences you posted earlier (blog entry Oct 4). The "objective title/number" link in this sentence - "There is a mapping by objective title/number on CodeRanch" gives me a 401 unauthorized error.
     
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    Tina Smith wrote:Jeanne - I tried the link to objectives comparison on the blog link about your experiences you posted earlier (blog entry Oct 4). The "objective title/number" link in this sentence - "There is a mapping by objective title/number on CodeRanch" gives me a 401 unauthorized error.


    Thanks for reporting the issue. (A gave you a cow.) I accidentally make that page private (Moderator Only) so it worked fine when I clicked on it. But that clearly wasn't my intent. Fixed.
     
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    Tina Smith wrote:For those who have taken the Java 8 exam, what were your impressions on difficulty level compared to the Java 7 exam? I am re-familiarizing myself with new Java 8 features this weekend and planning on writing the exam on Monday.
    I remember the OCJA 7 (beta) exam I wrote looked like a straightforward test of knowledge, no real trick questions (which surprised me. There were trick questions on my OCJP 7).


    Same level of difficulty between OCA 7 and OCA 8. The OCA continues to be much easier than the OCP.

    If one doesn't know Java well, I think it could be tricky. But that's one of the things the study guides are for. To train you to look for things like if statements with two elses.
     
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    Awesome. Thanks for the cow.
    Sounds like I shouldn't have problems then, I didn't mind the OCA exam at all.
     
    Guillermo Ishi
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    Thanks, Jeanne. Now I'm curious how much loop unraveling you had to do in 8, or was it mostly topical? Was it similar to the 7 you probably took several years ago?
     
    Tina Smith
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    Based on what I found when I wrote the exam earlier this week I would say that you would do very, very well to study code unraveling in general. I found that the exam was very practical and had a high ratio of "interpret the code" questions to theory.
     
    Roel De Nijs
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    According to the New and Upcoming Releases page, the end date for the OCAJP 8 beta is still November 15th. So for those thinking about giving this beta a try, they have to decide quickly. Just 1 week (*) left!

    (*) 1 week = 7 days = 168 hours = 10080 minutes = 604800 seconds
     
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    How many seconds now, boss!!

    I dread this like everything. I've been way busy and haven't written anything but Python for the last two months. I'll review my notes and do a couple Enthuwares in the next few days. What I dread most is the boredom combined with horror of being stuck to a chair for two hours without a break unworking a bunch of stupid puzzles. WIth empty pockets and a dry erase board. I wish like hell I was going to the dentist instead.
     
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    The Java SE 8 Programmer I (1Z1-808) beta is closed!

    It's now an Upcoming Production Exam, release date is to be determined.
     
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    Important message for those who took the Java SE 8 Programmer 1 beta!

    According to the official certification webpage:

    Java SE 8 Programmer I webpage wrote:Beta exam score reports will be available in CertView approximately January 26, 2015.


     
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    And the exam is now officially released!
     
    Maki Fej
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    Despite the exam results are expected for Jan 26, I have just checked my beta exam Score Report on certview.oracle.com and the result is visible!!

    The exam itself doesn't show up in certification yet, but if you go 'Certification Activity -> Exam Results' menu, you can see the Exam Status. Click on the 'view' under Score Report tab.

    Btw, thank you everyone of you for helping and contribruting in the preparation for the beta exam! Looking forward to take OCPJP 8 beta with you guys, when it's available
     
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    Maki Fej wrote: Looking forward to take OCPJP 8 beta with you guys, when it's available


    It's available. I registered to take it in early March. (I mentor on a FIRST robotics team making February a very busy month.)

    I got a 91% on the beta. I didn't get any questions wrong on Java 8 (lambdas and dates.) I did get a question wrong about wrapper classes which was added to the exam. I knew I got that one wrong though the day of the exam. I hadn't reviewed wrapper classes because I didn't know they were on the test. Oracle had a mangled objective for that at the time.

    Interestingly, I got a 98% on the non-beta OCAJP 7 when I took it. I think it is harder to concentrate for the length of the beta. That or it is statistical variation. Only 7% different. The score wasn't important though. It was the experience that mattered.
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