Is going Head First Enough ?

[Dean Fredericks]

Hi there

1.Im almost finished reading head first EJB. But I really doubt im ready for the exam. Does head first ejb go into enough detail ??

2. The book mentions 'the spec'. Do i need to read this spec ?? Its almost 600 pages... Freak and it looks scary.

3. Is buying that whizlab thing really neccesary ? or is the ejbcertificate.com place enough ?

thanks guys.
Any adivce anyone has on what to study, how to study, would be great

[Dean Fredericks]

I forgot to ask ? Im trying to ask like, what is the whizlab thing. Once u pay for it, do u download it immediatly, or do they send u like a boxed product with a cd, manual, etc.

[Terry McKee]

Hi Dean,
I just passed the exam yesterday. Here's how I did it:

1) Read Head First EJB book all the way through once.
2) Skimmed through entire Head First EJB Book again (just solidifying any points you might have missed).
3) Skimmed through the EJB Spec. (You don't have to read the entire spec!)
4) Use ejbcertificate.com (Watch out for ambiguous questions and wrong answers. Even with some shortcomings it is a really great FREE tool.)

-- If you don't feel ready for the test, move your exam date back some. I moved my date back a month. The night before the exam I was still studying like crazy (freakin out!), but I knew that I was ready to take the eam.

The most important thing for me was to skim through the Head First EJB book a second time. The book is much easier to read then the spec, but it still is sooooo much information. Everything came together the second time around.

[Dilip Gamage]

Hi i Think It better to have relevent parts of the SPEC pls refer valtines Cheat sheat. Try http://www.valoxo.ch/jr/SCBCD_Links.html

That will help you to identify relevent places. The exam on SPEC. I don't think Whizlabs is must. I think level of whizlabs question not such difficult as much as HFE final exam. It doesn't have such spec related trickey things.

I bought whizlabs because i had limited time to study.
But it didn't give me lot on as i expected comparing with price. But whizlabs give very good pratice on Drag N drop questions and also help me to manage the time.

Whizlabs size about 6.0MB. mmm.. it will take time me to purchase about less than 6 hrs.It gives very good revision tips. Improve your applicable knoledge.
mmm..

pls refer the site.

[Dean Fredericks]

Thanks for your replys guys - much appricated.

I will give the book a second skim through. and the the ejbcertificate site

[Victor Barcan]

Hi Dean,


Frankly, I had the same felling once I finish HFEJB. Here is what I did:
1 Needed more code experience so :
1.1 Downloaded free Ed Rodman�s Masterring EJB
1.2 Did all the exercises in the book
1.3 Developed the exercises, and code every other scenario that make sense
1.4 Add some more exercises
2 Read HFEJB again (second time)
3 Read several times Valentin Crettaz's cheat sheets
4 Did ejbCertificate
5 Did all the mocks from EJB+, some of them twice
6 Read the quicl prep section of EJB+
7 Passed with 95%

Hope that will help you. Good Luck!

[Michael Fitzmaurice]

Hi Dean

I passed the SCBCD today with 97%, and I can tell you that HFEJB was the cornerstone of my preparation. I also used 'Enterprise Java Beans' by Richard Monson-Haefel (which is excellent), the EJB spec, and the Enthuware 'EJBPlus' test engine.

I would estimate that my overall study time was divided thus:

- HFEJB (70% of my study time, from start of study right to the very end - a fantastic learning resource. I read it cover to cover in detail first, then booked the exam and starting cramming)
- EJBPlus (15%, all in the final 5 days before the test - good for exam cramming, but quite a lot of ambiguous questions, a few errors, and a couple of bugs, especially with the marking of drag n drop questions. Much harder than the real exam, partly due to bugs & ambiguity - I never scored more than 85% on one of their tests, and I took a fair few)
- Monson-Haefel (10%, from start of study to finish - dipped in when I needed more detail or another perspective on topics I had read in HFEJB. A very good book which I will continue to use)
- EJB 2.0 Spec (5%, mostly during the final 5 days, whenever I needed absolute authority on something, or when I wanted an alternative explanation. Get a hard copy - it's dry reading in some places, but a pretty valuable resource to have handy)

I found the references to particular pages in the spec that you see in the answers to the 'Coffee Cram' exams in HFEJB to be invaluable. Use these where you got an answer wrong - it's like a signpost to the parts of the spec that you really need to check out.

Good luck with the exam

Michael

P.S. Make sure you attempt all the exercises in HFEJB - they really do help you to understand and remember. Also, follow all the study hints at the start of the book (e.g. take regular breaks, change location, drink water, etc.)

[Tonio Morelli]

Hi Dean!

I passed the SCBCD yesterday with a score of 88%. I only used the Head First book with no other resources. I got a 70% on the practice exam at the end of the book the day before I took the real test.

I hope this helps.

[Tonio Morelli]

Also, here is the link for how I studied.