Pass Part 2 and 3 with100% - my experience

[kok how]

Hi,
I have passed SCEA recently. I took part 3 exam on 2 May and the result is out on 30 May, which is less than a month. I received my certificate on 11 June.
Here's my result from Certmanager:
Grade: P
Score: 100
Comment: This report shows the total points that could have been awarded in each section and the actual amount of points you were awarded. This information is provided in order to give you feedback on your relative strengths on a section basis. The maximum number of points you could have received is 100, minimum to pass is 70.
Class Diagram (44 maximum) .......................... 44

Component Diagram (44 maximum) ...................... 44
Sequence/Colloboration Diagrams (12 maximum) ........ 12

I have submitted 12 class diagrams, 6 sequence diagrams and 1 component diagram.
I have posted my experience in other discussion boards, and some people were really troubled to see me submitting so many diagrams. My advice is, don't worry about it. As long as you can show your design in a clear and well-presented manner, you should have no problem passing. I have submitted a very detailed solution, but I guess it's not really necessary. There are people who passed with much fewer classes than I do... don't ask me how many classes I have, it is not helpful to you anyway!!
My design is similar to the the Pet Store example by Sun, but much more simplified. I spend about a month study through the Pet Store example, testing it with the J2EE SDK. You really need to spend quite a bit of time to "play" with it if you have no J2EE experience. I print out the source code, digest them, do some highlighting, and then try to figure out how to use some of the design pattern in my assignment. I would say, Pet Store is the base of my design. I would recommend Pet Store 1.0.1 to start with, and if you have understood the overall picture, go for 1.1.1 and 1.1.2. Please, you don't have to understand every single line of code! Once you get the idea, you should start thinking about your assignment. Try to see if you can use any idea from Pet Store... obviously there are many! Of course, it's not a MUST to follow Pet Store, there are others who have passed without reference to Pet Store.
I also spent many hours reading through the SCEA specs, thoroughly. Initially I was very concerned about the level of details, especially those given in the sequence diagram. And in the end, I have to make some assumptions in my design to make life easier, you must list them out in your documentation. Try to visualize the flow in HTML, what form elements you have etc...
I expanded the domain model given by Sun. Although I ended up with a class diagram which is quite different from the domain model, but I still maintain the multiplicity as stated in the domain model diagram. So, it is more or less "equivalent", except that I have renamed some of the classes.
Overall, I would think doing SCEA is a really good experience. It "forces" you to read UML, design patterns, and then apply them. You will be surprised how much you have learnt from this certification.
Good luck to everyone!
Kok How
[ June 13, 2002: Message edited by: kok how ]

[Ramesh Babu]

Hi Kok,
Congratulations. Enjoy the result.
Your experience is very helpful for the beginers. Yes...It force us to learn UML, Design Patterns and apply them.
Once again congratulations and wishing you best of luck for the future.
Cheers
Ramesh

[Ian B Anderson]

Congratulations Kok!
100% Fantastic score!
Good luck in the future
Ian

[Rahul Mahindrakar]

kok how

Congrats on your dream score!!!.

[Robin Zhang]

I have some questions about part2.
How many class, sequence and component diagram did you submit for the assignemnt? Did you give the detail about JSP ?

[Sanjay Raghavan]

All,
Knowledge of Petstore would indeed be very helpful for Part 2. There was a web cast by Carol from Sun in which she discussed the Petstore Archietcture in depth.
The series is also available as a set of PDF files. I went through a couple of them and there was a lot of info.
If you're interested, you may download the PDF files from SUN. They are also available at my e-group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scea_prep/files/
Do check them out.

[Alexander Yanuar Koentjara]

Hi!
I am getting curious ... from your point of distribution:
Class Diagram (44 Maximum) .......................... 44
Component Diagram (44 maximum) ...................... 44
Sequence/Colloboration Diagrams (12 maximum) ........ 12
All are about diagrams? There is nothing about code or documentation?
Sorry, I just finished with my SCJD2, and it was all about programming and documentation. Now, after reading your post it seems that SCEA part II doesn't involve java code at all. Or, I miss something here? But, if there is coding involved, I want to know what EJB server you use, and do you upload the container's deployment descriptor too.
Thanks!

[Sanjay Raghavan]

SCEA does not involve code. Part 1 tests architecture and J2EE concepts. Part 2 tests if you can apply your knowledge to come up with an architecture and design that would satisfy functional and non-functional requirements. Part 3 is to ensure that you are conversant with the design you uploaded.
HTH.

[Srini Admala]

Congratulations on your perfect Score!!
Srini

[bill lubx]

Wow, that was a great score. Congratulations Kok. I am going through petstore now, and I find out 1.3 have some more pretty functions other than other versions, and I agree that petStore is very useful prototype both the part II test and the job too.
Cheers

/bill

[Franky Cheung]

Hi kok,
Congratulation for the exciting score.
I would have some questions and see whether you have the same approach. You have got 6 sequence diagrams in your assignment, did that mean you have got 6 functions and hence containing 12 class diagrams? Besides, for each functions (or for each use case), you generate some correspond Activity Diagrams, and after you explore all the related Class, you generate the Sequence Diagrams as well.
Morever, anythings must be highlighed during the whole design process?
Thanks/Franky

[shailesh sonavadekar]

congratulations. that is great news. all the very best for the future. help other ranchers with your great exp. further also.
Shailesh.

[kok how]

Hi All,
Part 2 does not involve any coding. But, it would be good to provide some documentation.
Here are the topics in my documentation:
1. Assumptions.
2. Links to each UML diagrams (as required by Sun).
3. Short description of my choice of J2EE technology used and their
purposes.
4. Explain certain parts of my design (parts which are not easily
understand by anyone who look at it for the first time).
5. Describe how user requirements are supported in my design.
6. Design patterns used.
As you can see, some of the topics are additional to those listed by Sun, I am not saying you must have them in your documentation, but at least write something that will help the marker understand your design.
Try to put all your explaination in Part 2 documentation, because it's likely that you won't get any chance to explain them in Part 3. The questions in Part 3 caught me by surprise when I saw them! As some had said, it's better to go through all questions first before answering them, I totally agree with that!
Kok How

[kok how]

Hi All,
I did not generate any Activity diagrams, as they are not required and neither did I highlight my design process in the documentation. The way I handle this project is that, I started working with the class diagrams, followed by the component diagram, and finally the sequence diagrams... I find it easier to keep track of the overall picture in this way. These are the only 3 types of diagrams I submitted. BTW, I am using Rational Rose 2000 to draw them.
There's no relationship between the number of class diagrams and sequence diagrams that I have. My sequence diagrams covers all the required use cases, and some of my class diagrams are there to show expanded details. Do spend more effort in your class and component diagrams, both will determine your passing score greatly.
Kok How
[ June 16, 2002: Message edited by: kok how ]
[ June 16, 2002: Message edited by: kok how ]

[Vivek Viswanathan]

Hi

I have uploaded my assignemet and I have the Part III exam on this comming Thu, is there anyting that I have to read through for this essay based exam.
Vivek

[Byron Estes]

Kok How,
Great score!
Thank you for sharing your experience, I for one really appreciate it.
I'm looking forward to the exam. I've been designing applications in java for about 5 years. I've been in IT for about 15 years doing everything from mainframe to wireless (i.e. cell phones, PDA's) and used about every programming language out there.
I've never been that driven to obtain certification, but I believe this one (SCEA) to worthwhile.
Again, congratulations and thanks for your insight!
Byron Estes

[faisal mahmood]

I only submitted total of 6 diagrams (1 component, 1 class, 4 usecases) and scored 100% too. My 6 diagrams very simple, easily understandable and covers everything needed (especially component and class diagrams). My class diagram had about 14 classes and component diagram having about 12 components.
So long as you can show everything needed 6 diagrams are enough. After all it is an architecture document, not a exhaustive implementation document for a programmer. My suggestion is to give the architecture (especially common architecture learnt in part 1 of SCEA) more importance over implementation. At the end you want to be an architect.
Faisal
[ July 13, 2002: Message edited by: faisal mahmood ]

[Nicky Moelholm]

Wow! Incredibble score. Good to see that it is possible to get the maximum score. . Congratulations.

[Phil M]

Hi,
I just have a quick question regarding the level of detail used in sequence diagrams. Did you specify actual method names or just use text such as "get all itinineraries" which might be more descriptive.
Small point, I know, but as you got 100% I wondered what you did.
Cheers
Phil

[kok how]

Hi all,
If you have any private questions regarding SCEA, you are welcome to send me an email. I am not following this thread anymore.
Regards,
Kok How

[Emil Kirschner]

100% is not a score you see very often - congratulations!

[Bhuvan mehra]

Congratulations !
u proved that "nothing is impossible".
thanks for ur detailed input.
best regards,
bhuvan mehra.