New SCWCD Study Guide - Author Introduction

[Dan Jepp]

Hi Everybody,
Just thought I'd introduce myself and my co-author Sam Dalton who have just finished work on a new SCWCD study guide from Wrox Press, Professional Java Web Component Developer Certification which is due for publication next month (Nov 2002). Hopefully the study guide will provide you with all the information you need to gain an examination pass and become a Certified Web Component Developer.
We have intentionally structured the book into chapters that focus explicitly on a specific examination objective. Each chapter hopefully provides just the right amount of background information and real-world examples to enable the reader to gain a complete understanding of each objective in a manageable chunk.
Also provided at the end of each chapter is a handy revision sheet that can be used to ensure you are comfortable with all the topics introduced in each chapter. It is intended that readers with more experience may choose to
base their study around the revision sheets, and delve into the chapters when necessary.
As mentioned, the book is full of real-world code examples (which are available to the reader via a web application) and also ships with the popular SCWCD test harness from
WhizLabs to provide everything the reader needs to pass the exam!
Although primarily a study guide for the SCWCD examination, we have ensured that the book is still a geat resource once you successfuly obtain certified status. For this reason we have included a real-world case study web application that builds on the knowledge and understanding obtained from the examination and demonstrates best practices and useful tips for putting your knowledge to good use in the real world.
Both Sam and myself made great use of this forum when originally studying for the exam and many of the books technical reviewers were obtained here. Therefore we will be happy to frequently drop by and hopefully pass on some useful info to help you pass the exam.
We hope that you will find the book a great help in your quest for certification - Good Luck!
Dan Jepp
Sam Dalton
[ October 15, 2002: Message edited by: Thomas Paul ]

[Sam Dalton]

Hi there, I am Sam Dalton, co-author of the SCWCD book that is coming from Wrox. To fix Dan's paste error above, the URL to find out more information about the book is :
Professional Java Web Component Developer
I hope that we can help some of you to get through the certification with our book, and I also extend the offer to answer queries here on JavaRanch whenever I can (whether about the book, or about Java in general)
Cheers
Sam
[ October 15, 2002: Message edited by: Sam Dalton ]

[Barry Gaunt]

Hi Dan and Sam, Welcome.
Has the book been proofread and beta-tested by potential exam takers?. Been bitten too many times lately when it comes to certification books (big red thick J2EE books as well).
-Barry
[ October 15, 2002: Message edited by: Barry Gaunt ]

[Rachel White]

HI Dan & Sam,
Its great to hear about you and the upcoming book. Nice knowing that the author of one of my favorite books (Prof Servlets) is coming up a book for certification (although its not of direct use for me as I've pased the exam long time back).
Still I would like to have the book. Can you plz elabarote on the use of the book for someone like me.. who is alwayz looking for good JSP/Serlvets resources.
Thank
Rachel

[Dave Vick]

Dan and Sam
Glad to hear the book is on track on due out next month!! I'll let the powers that be know about it and hopefully we can arrange a book giveaway here in this forum for it. I'm sure the other ranchers wiil also be glad to know that you'll be around to answer questions and help them out too.
Barry:
As one of the technical reviewers for the book I got to check out most of the chapters during the production phase and I must say that they are well written and packed full of details. I've not taken the exam myself so I can't say how well it prepares you for it (we all know that the actuall tests are sometimes very different from their stated objectives - now if Dan and Sam, or Wrox, wants to pay for it, I'd be happy to take and let everyone know ) but all of the objectives are covered in detail and almost all of them have some sort of code example to help out the learning process.
The whizlabs software packed with it makes it an even better value too!!
Hopefully, if Dan and Sam aren't around at some point, I can provide some assistance with questions. To review it I had to double check all of the details in the chapters I got, so I'm fairly familiar with the details and the can shed some light on things if need be.
Happy studying to all....

[George King]

Thanks Dave. Glad to know that you are one of the technical reviewers.
Sam/Dan: Does the book contain any real life excercise or something similar to case-study? Such real time excercises/examples makes life much easier.
Regards
George

[Dan Jepp]

Hi Everybody - thanks for the feedback and encouragement.
I'll try and answer your questions all at once...
Barry - Yes the book has been through several stages of technical review by potential exam takers. In fact the majority of the reviewrs were sourced from this very forum via an advert placed a while back!
Rachel - Whilst the primary reason for writing the book is of course a certification guide we were keen to ensure that the book has some value after you pass the exam. I think we all have far too many books at home that never see the light of day any more! To help with these problems we have firstly tried to give real-world examples where possible and the later stages of the book illustrates a step by step case study that builds on the objectives learnt previously. The book also contains a chapter of material that is not directly covered by the exam objectives (filters for example) as we feel that they will be part of the exam at some point and makes the book more complete.

Dave - Thanks for your reviews and kind words! - I believe the wheels are already in motion for a book giveaway or something similar - watch this space! I believe we will also shortly have some example chapters that we hope to add to the SCWCD links page!
George - Yes the book does contain an indepth case study that builds on the examination objectives illustrated earlier in the book. Most objectives (where possible) also have a coded example that is available in the form of an examples web application we have put together.
Thanks for the posts people!
Dan

[Sam Dalton]

Well it seems that Dan beat me to answering your questions.
Just to reiterate re: the case study. We have provided a very in depth case study that uses pieces from all of the other chapters to create a fully functional system, that could be used in the real world.
We hope that this book is not only useful in preparing for the certification exam, and that people 'dip back into it' once they have passed the exam to be refreshed on the subjects.
Thanks for all of your questions (and kind words)
Cheers
Sam

[Rachel White]

Thankyou ppl. Looking forward to the release of your book.
PS: Seems to be some problem with the Wrox link. Some site changes at wrox it seems.

[Ashik Uzzaman]

Very good step! Is it the first Wrox book on Online certifiaction exam? Please pardon my ignorance.

[George King]

Yes, it would be nice to have this book for Giveaway and the sample chapters.
Regards
George

[George King]

To Sam and Dan: Can you please throw some light on the importance and acceptance of SCWCD Certification?
Many people are looking for an answer to this question.
Regards
George

[Sam Dalton]

Hi there.
I will reply to all of your questions at once.
This is indeed the first Wrox certification book. This is not an area that Wrox have pursued before, but we hope that this will convince them to do many more
With regards to the relevance of the certification, this is covered in teh intro to our book. I will try and get a sample chapter or 2 to post here, perhaps one could be this introduction.
My personal opinion is that the SCWCD is a very valuable certification to have, as it shows knowledge in a very important area of Java technology. Working for an Enterprise Solutions provider as I do, we look for people with proven knowledge (and experience) in this area. The certification is a very good way to stand out from the crowd.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Sam

[Manish Hatwalne]

Will it be available in India? We (south asians) usually have to wait a little longer for all these books.
- Manish

[Dan Jepp]

Hi Manish,
Im not entirely sure exactly when the book will be available in India (I'm sure it will be). I have asked the people at Wrox for a publish date and price for you and will let you know when i get a response.
I suppose you could always order it internationally if you cant wait that long!
I will let you know my findings shortly
Dan

[Matthew Moodie]

Hi Everyone,
I am the Lead Technical Editor on Dan and Sam's book. Just to confirm what Dan says about the Indian reprint: it is indeed going to be published on the subcontinent. It won't be published simultaneously with the US edition, but it won't be far behind.
Matt

[George King]

Matt,
Have you (i.e. Wrox) planned for JavaRanch Giveaway? Also when can you make available sample chapters of the book?
Regards
George

[Matthew Moodie]

Hi George,
We are planning a JavaRanch giveaway for when the book is published (Nov 26th) and sample chapters will be available next week.
Matt

[Dan Jepp]

Manish,
I have just heard that the Indian version of the book should be available about a month after the US release (Nov) so you should be able to get it for Christmas
Dan

[Manish Hatwalne]

Originally posted by Dan Jepp:
Manish,
I have just heard that the Indian version of the book should be available about a month after the US release (Nov) so you should be able to get it for Christmas
Dan

That's great!!!
Looking forawrd to it...
- Manish

[Rachel White]

What about the availablily of the book in UK?
Thanks
Rachel

[Sam Dalton]

Originally posted by Rachel White:
What about the availablily of the book in UK?
Thanks
Rachel

Rachel,
The book will be avaliable in the UK soon after the US launch. Wrox books usually take a bit longer to appear in the UK as the printing etc is carried out in the US.
Cheers
Sam

[Rony Donald]

Wow! New books coming up for this exam tells that this exam is gaining importance and many people are pursuing it, for the publishers to percieve a market for the book.
I am also seeing new books coming for SCEA Exam. Is that exam also popular?? I know for sure that it has a value in the Industry.
How do you guys rate the popularity of 4 Sun Java Exams?
Cheers
Rony

[Dan Jepp]

Hi Rony,
Yes indeed the exams seem to be becoming more popular. Possibly a reson for this is the current state of the job market which (in the UK) is certainly slower than it has been for some time. Maybe a certification or two gives you a slight advantage at an interview - it certainly cant hurt
I have done the SCJP, SCJD and SCWCD and im thinking about the SCEA....
I have found all three exams pitched at about the right level and have enjoyed taking all three.
Dan

[Rachel White]

I agree with Dan but not completely. In my opinion SCEA is the most prestigious and toughest of all Sun Java certifications.
SCJP is very common today and I would call it "for masses" and SCEA "for classes"
SCWCD and SCJD comes in between. SCWCD is comparatively easier although the objectives covered are very much used and appreiciated in the Industry.
Anyone with opinion on Sun ONe Server certifications??

[Sam Dalton]

Originally posted by Rachel White:
I agree with Dan but not completely. In my opinion SCEA is the most prestigious and toughest of all Sun Java certifications.
SCJP is very common today and I would call it "for masses" and SCEA "for classes"
SCWCD and SCJD comes in between. SCWCD is comparatively easier although the objectives covered are very much used and appreiciated in the Industry.
Anyone with opinion on Sun ONe Server certifications??

I agree that SCEA is the most prestigious certification, but I am not sure that it is the most useful. The objectives of the SCEA are at such a high level (I have done part one and part 2 already) that they do not test an in depth knowledge of the technologies involved. It is more an exam about concepts rather than details. I think that there is space for another exam, perhaps along the lines of the SCWCD but focusing on the business tier of applications (EJB/JMS/JCA etc).
What do you think?

Cheers
Sam

[Rachel White]

Sam,
Its true that SCEA is concept based and probably thats the best part of it from the perspective of an Architect.
Any idea on Sun One certifications?
Cheers
Rachel

[Jacques Rodes]

Hi Rachel: NAS to iPlanet to SunONE, I would advice either of WebLogic/WebSphere than SunONE till the time.. when it (SunONE) takes siginificant presence.
Either of WebLogic/WebSphere is good. Depends on your experience/kind of work
Yes, SCEA is highly worth it. It teaches you a lot more than SCJP/SCWCD.
Regards
JR
[ October 26, 2002: Message edited by: Jacques Rodes ]

[George King]

Is this book available anywhere in Bay area? If yes then where? If not then when?
Any sample chapters available?
Regards
George