The Sun Certified Java Programmer 6.0 (SCJP 6) Certification Exam

Introduction:

The Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP) exam is the entry level Java exam and is a prerequisite to a number of the other Java-related certifications. SCJP 6.0, designated CX-310-065, was released in December 2007, the latest certification exam from Sun Microsystems, Inc, is for programmers experienced using the Java programming language. SCJP 6.0 is aimed at the JDK 6.0 release of Java. It introduces new topics of Console, NavigableSet, and NavigableMap,etc,.

This article will help you understand the objectives, preparation requirements and resources available for this certification by Sun Microsystems.

SCJP 6.0 Certification Exam:

Exam Info:

*As per the day of this article.

• Exam Number - CX-310-065

• Prerequisites - None

• Type of Questions - The type of questions asked in the exam are multiple-choice(single response and multiple response), and drag-n-drop. Again, if a multiple-choice question has more than one correct choice, it is explicitly stated in the question.

• Time - The time allowed to complete this exam is 210 minutes, which is sufficient. You are allowed to go back to earlier questions during the exam, but take care that you are able to review only the marked questions, once all questions are filled in.

• Passing % - You need to obtain at least 65% to be successful. The exam asks you 72 questions and you need to correctly answer at least 47. Note: sometimes one additional question is added for testing purposes. This additional question is not used for the passing score.

• Cost - US $ 300 (or locally priced)

• Related exams - Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform, Standard Edition 6 Upgrade Exam (CX-310-066) for candidates who have already successfully certified on a previous version of SCJP.

Exam Objectives:

The objectives of SCJP 6.0 are almost same as SCJP 5.0 except few changes which introduce new topics like Console (API Contents), NavigableSet, and NavigableMap (Collections/Generics) and removed the overridden methods and constructor from "OO Concepts".

Objectives - The seven categories of objectives for the exam are as follows:

• Declarations, initialization, and scoping  

• Flow control  

• API contents  

• Concurrency  

• Object-oriented concepts  

• Collections/generics  

• Fundamentals 

For detailed information refer to the complete exam objectives for the SCJP 6.0 exam, by Sun Microsystems.

Benefits of SCJP certification:

• SCJP certification proves your expertise on the Sun Java products and technologies.

• Professionals holding the SCJP certification are preferred by the employers and they also get preference in promotions.

• SCJP certification is helpful for professionals who want to upgrade their credentials and get recognition from the industry.

• SCJP Certified professional can find appropriate jobs easily and get paid more.

Preparing For The Exam:

Preparation options

You can prepare for certification in many ways. For those into self-study, there is the typical buy-a-book approach. Be sure to consider the "used" market, too, as many people don't feel the need to keep these books after they've passed the test. Another self-directed option is the online exam simulators, free or otherwise. Here you get to try out the typical exam format in the comfort of your own home. If you're looking for someone to study with, consider participating in online study groups and forums or in-person groups from your local Java User Group (JUG).

In addition to the fact that the material in the newly added topics is vast, the questions in the exam can be rather challenging and often require you to carefully think through the problem. So, make sure that you get plenty of practice with problems involving the new features. Once you have adequate practice under your belt, you will be able to handle the questions in the exam.

Useful Resources

• Books - Preparatory books are a valuable asset for any IT Certification preparation. Here are some recommended books for the exam:
  

• Scjp Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5: Exam (310-055)
  by Kathy Sierra (Author)
  

• SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide
  by Sierra and Bert Bates
  

• SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Practice Exams
  by Katherine Sierra (Author), Bert Bates (Author)
  

• SCJP Exam for J2SE 5: A Concise and Comprehensive Study Guide for The Sun Certified Java Programmer Exam
  by Paul Sanghera (Author)
  

• Fast Track to Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP) 5.0 Upgrade Exam
  by Ka, Iok Tong (Author)
  




• References

  • Download the JSR from here.

  • Get a quick overview with J2SE 6.0 release notes.

  • Read J2SE 5.0 in a nutshell

  • Read about the new Language Features

  • Test yourself with Tiger Quiz

  
  

• Documentation on enhancments in J2SE 5.0 (also for 6.0)

  • Generics

  • The For-Each Loop

  • Autoboxing

  • Typesafe Enums

  • Variable Arguments

  • Static Imports




• Tutorials and Articles - There are numerous tutorials freely available on the web. The most reliable and recommended of these are by Sun. Following is a list of some highly useful tutorials and articles for the exam:
  

  • The Generics tutorial by Sun.

  • Taming Tiger archives: Read about 5.0 features in the Taming Tiger archives at developerWorks.

  • Taming Tiger, Part 1 By Tarak Modi, JavaWorld.com

  
  

• Mock Exams - Fulfill the need to practice for the exam.
  

  • Osman Mrzljak's mock exam

  • Marcus Green 's mock exam

  • Mock exam

  
  

• Web Sites

  • http://www.lanw.com/java/javacert/default.htm

  • http://www.aniyog.com/java/certification.htm

  • http://www.javaranch.com/mock.jsp

  • http://www.javaranch.com/maha/_Mock_Exams/_mock_exams.html

  • http://www.javaranch.com/mock.html

  • http://www.certification.about.com/od/freequestions/

  • http://www.michael-thomas.com/tech/java/java_info.htm

  • http://www.jchq.net/mockexams/exam2.htm

  • http://www.jchq.net/mockexams/exam1.htm

  • http://www.levteck.com/

  • http://www.akgupta.com/Java/mock_exam.htm

  • http://www.javaprepare.com/faq.html

  • http://www.jdiscuss.com/

  • http://www.java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/second_edition/html/j.title.doc.html

  
  

• Preparation Kit

  • Whizlabs Preparation Kit

  
  Tips and Tricks

  • Try to get a group together to study with, it makes it easier.
    

  • As you progress through your study you will begin to get a ‘feeling’ for what the question is asking.
    

  • Read, practice, sit practice exams and discuss with colleagues over and over again.
    

  • If you buy a certification book (recommended) be prepared to read your chosen study book 3 times.
    

  • In the Drag and Drop type questions, the answer gets reset if you try to review it. So, always complete and double check your answer before moving away from a Drag and Drop question.
    

  • It would be helpful to solve Drag and Drop questions on a sheet of paper before actually attempting them in the test.
    

  • The revised exam has more performance-based questions than knowledge-based questions requiring memorization of API details. So spend more time on hands-on practice, especially of commonly used methods, and avoid trying to memorize each and every API detail simply by reading.
    

  • Be clear about the classes implementing the Collection types like List, Set, and Map. Be aware of which of these types support sorting, which allow duplicates, which give the best performance, and so on.
    

  • Remember that immutable string objects are returned by the String class. StringBuilder and StringBufffer both return mutable strings; the only difference between them is that StringBuffer is thread-safe, while the other is not.
    

  • When you see the usage of varargs in a method, ensure that the ellipsis is appearing as the last argument to the method.
    

  • Remember that the super type of generic Collection objects is Collection<?> and not Collection <Object>.
    

  • Remember that since the wildcard (?) stands for an unknown type, you cannot add to generic types using wildcards.
    

  • Know the distinction between Comparable and Comparator and the methods defined by these interfaces.
    

  • Ask your employer to pay for the exam. They may pay or reimburse you if you pass the exam?

Courtesy : developersbook.com