Yesterday I took the
test and passed with 59 correct answers!!
Here's how I went about....
1. A year ago, decided to get into IT/
Java, so I got Deitel's Java How to Program book. Excellent introduction for absolute beginners like me. I spent about 4 to 5 months with it and did a good part of the 1500+ pages/ 24 chapters. I recommend this to anyone who isn't a programmer and wants to learn Java basics.
2. Got the KB book. Needed about 5 months to really get everything. Some chapters I read up to 5 times, like the chapters on Threads and API, and did lots of experimenting with the code.
3. Got Whizlabs simulator. Very good extra training material. I felt however that Whizlabs overdid it a little, throwing in too much off topic stuff that won't appear on the exam. This doesn't necessarily make you more prepared to take the exam, nor does it make the mock more difficult...
4. After reading positive things about Enthuware, got that one as well. I bought it two months before taking the exam and took 7 of the 10 tests, including the final test. Scored 63% on the final test. You really don't need Whizlabs if you do Enthuware. Also, Enthuware has a look and feel that is very similar to the real test, Whizlabs doesn't.
5. Saved the master exam of the KB book for last. These exams are difficult!! Took it 3 days before the real test and scored 59%.
My real exam was about 50% easy vs 50% moderately difficult. The questions in the KB book are a lot more difficult! I had 14 drag and drop questions, mostly API related, and about 10
thread questions, which in my opinion are the hardest questions. Got 100% on API and 75% on threads. The subject I got the lowest score on was OO, 50%, suprisingly.
I'd like to thank Bert and Kathy for their excellent book and showing the way, this forum for the support and the guys at Whizlabs and Enthuware for doing a great job.
Rgds,
Jan
[ April 14, 2007: Message edited by: jan ter avest ]