New version of SCBCD?

[Arun Subramanian]

Hi-
Now that the new version of SCWCD (SCWCD covering JSP 2.0 and Servlets 2.4) is out, will there be a similar such drive to get SCBCD based on J2EE 1.4 quickly? I know there needs to be a beta before the actual exam but the total time from beta through actual release of the SCWCD exam took only about 2-3 months.
This is from somebody who wants to decide b/w preparing for SCBCD vs SCWCD 1.4. To give you a background, I had started preparing for SCWCD 1.3 (from the Deskmukh book) but am now a little uncertain whether I should take the SCWCD 1.4 w/o the guidance of a true SCWCD 1.4 book like Head First Servlets and JSP by Kathy and Bert.
Thanks,
Arun.
P.S. I know I shouldn't be tremendously worried about just the version of an exam (sply, now that a particulat version of the exam doesn't expire) but don't want to end up with the same confusion for SCBCD (if I decide to take it first) that I have for SCWCD.

[Kathy Sierra]

Howdy -- I completely understand your concerns, and you make a good point. But you can relax... we have NO plans right now to update SCBCD, so it will be probably at LEAST nine months or longer before a new exam is released. Sun's customers are less likely to migrate to J2EE 1.4 for their EJB's then they are to update to the new Servlets and JSP specs, so the SCBCD exam will stay more current with what people are actually USING for EJB, rather than the J2EE/EJB spec version that is out. In other words, once a critical mass of real enterprise developers are actually *using* EJB 2.1, then we'll update the exam.
Another reason is that the changes between EJB 2.0 and 2.1 are very few, and mostly related to Web Services, and the Web Services-specific EJB 2.1 issues will be covered in the new Web Services exam that goes into beta in a month or two.
And actually, it *usually* takes at least 4-5 months from the time we first start working on an exam until you see the final release, although the time from beta to final is usually around 3 months or less. But there's a long process in developing the objectives, doing survey (here on javaranch and other places) about the objectives, then creating the exam, then finally the beta.
So you would have at LEAST six months advance notice when we have scheduled to revise the SCBCD, before the exam actually releases. And right now, it is not even on our schedule at all. So you're safe with the current version.
And the new Servlets exam isn't officially out yet either, although it's coming soon.
cheers,
Kathy

[Arun Subramanian]

Kathy-
Thanks very much for allaying my fears about a new exam. I think I will dive right in into the SCBCD exam. I simply loved your SCJP book and though I know the Head First books are a little different in terms of their presentation, I am sure I would extract the same benefits out of them too.
Just as an FYI, the new SCWCD exam 1.4 has been officially relased today.

[Nileesha Bojjawar]

Hi Arun,
Thanks for this post.Really helped resolve my doubts as well.I had almost started preparing for SCWCD when this new version thing sprung up and i gave up my preperation.
Now till HF servlets & JSP is release i think i too will work on SCBCD.
Thanks Kathy.
Nileesha

[jq zhu]

Originally posted by Kathy Sierra:
Howdy -- I completely understand your concerns, and you make a good point. But you can relax... we have NO plans right now to update SCBCD, so it will be probably at LEAST nine months or longer before a new exam is released. Sun's customers are less likely to migrate to J2EE 1.4 for their EJB's then they are to update to the new Servlets and JSP specs, so the SCBCD exam will stay more current with what people are actually USING for EJB, rather than the J2EE/EJB spec version that is out. In other words, once a critical mass of real enterprise developers are actually *using* EJB 2.1, then we'll update the exam.
Another reason is that the changes between EJB 2.0 and 2.1 are very few, and mostly related to Web Services, and the Web Services-specific EJB 2.1 issues will be covered in the new Web Services exam that goes into beta in a month or two.
And actually, it *usually* takes at least 4-5 months from the time we first start working on an exam until you see the final release, although the time from beta to final is usually around 3 months or less. But there's a long process in developing the objectives, doing survey (here on javaranch and other places) about the objectives, then creating the exam, then finally the beta.
So you would have at LEAST six months advance notice when we have scheduled to revise the SCBCD, before the exam actually releases. And right now, it is not even on our schedule at all. So you're safe with the current version.
And the new Servlets exam isn't officially out yet either, although it's coming soon.
cheers,
Kathy

can you explain the web service beta exam? is it for java? when will it start? thanks.

[Ko Ko Naing]

Originally posted by jq zhu:

can you explain the web service beta exam? is it for java? when will it start? thanks.

I hope this thread might be helpful for you to know about the Web Services Developer Exam...

[jq zhu]

Originally posted by Ko Ko Naing:

I hope this thread might be helpful for you to know about the Web Services Developer Exam...

tnaks!