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Failed OCAJP 8 on first attempt

 
Greenhorn
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Hello,
since stalking this forum for the last 3 weeks on and off I thought, since there are not too many "failed my oca exam" posts here, I'm gonna share my story.
So a little bit about my background: complete Java rookie with no real prior coding experience. So how did I end up attempting the OCA?
I made this html / css / js course. I got an offer from a company as a Java developer, which I accepted. I got offered to do the OCA soon afterwards.
After a few days in learning I realised this is gonna be pretty though. So I canceled my already scheduled exam - not really knowing when I have to actually take it. I kept learning for 3+ more weeks - mostly using Guptas study guide and doing some enthuware mock exams. Lately also started using Texteditor and javac + java for my code snippets, which really helped improve my understanding. So today was the day - I finally took the exam (ofc I was a bit under pressure to already take it since I was studying during work time all day - I was feeling bad already). I sadly miserably failed with only getting 52% :/. I just ordered another study guide (from Jeanne & Scott something ...) in hope of getting some more input to get a better grasp of Java and the OO concepts. Anyways tips are always appreciated!

Greetings
 
author & internet detective
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Simon,
Welcome to CodeRanch! Thanks for sharing. Experiences are useful whether positive or not.

The Java certifications are not easy (as you noticed.) I find that having a second certification book is helpful. It lets you look at the topic from different perspectives and one of them usually clicks.

Tip for my book: After studying each chapter, do the review questions multiple times until you do well on them. Seriously. It will train your brain to spot tricks. Only once you can do that well, go on to the online practice exams that come with the book. That way they are fresh.
 
Rancher
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Hi Simon,

I'm sorry to hear that you didn't pass your OCA exam. My background is similar to yours. I am also a complete rookie (little to no programming experience). I started learning Java on my own until I was confident enough to pass the hiring technical interview. I recently obtained my OCA certification. In my case, it took me 2-3 months of studying before I felt ready.

I used the following resources:
- a Udemy video tutorial when I was learning the basics of Java

And for the exam specifically:
- Jeanne's and Scott's book, which I highly recommend. I started off with Gupta's book but quickly switched to the other one because I felt that the explanations were a lot clearer.
- the enthuware mock exams
- the kind advice of the people here on CodeRanch

I was told that once I was able to score >=80% on the Enthuware exams, that I would be ready for the real exam. Try to aim for that as well. When you do exercises (be it from a book or elsewhere) also study the answers really well, even if you got it right. You still learn a lot from that.

All the best!!!  
 
Don't get me started about those stupid light bulbs.
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