Im Bona fide!
I passed the SCJP 1.5 (Sun Certified Java Programmer) test today.
Yippee!
It is THE certification for the Java language. (At least java1.5) Not sure yet if that alone will help me in my job search, but I do feel that it was worth the effort. I have been programming in Java for 8 years and there were still a few things that I had never come across before researching all the required objectives.
The hardest part is that a majority of the test seems to be on Java syntax and API knowledge. At work, I use Eclipse as an IDE. This is sort of like using Microsoft Word to write a paper. You don’t have to worry as much about grammar and spelling when the computer can check it for you. With the right plugins and hotkeys, the code almost seems to write itself . The engineer in me just puts a best effort at what I want the code to do and the computer fills in the blanks with suggested API calls and compiler error fixes. The futurist in me says its only going to get BETTER.
So much nicer than the days where you wrote in VI on a terminal and it took the compiler 2 minutes to tell you that you forgot a semicolon!!!
Study hints:
mnemonics! HashMap <-> put (); Flashcards!!!
Also….copy the code to you computer and run it over and over. Particularly the thread stuff.
To practice notifyAll(), I made an example involving ELVIS. Guess what I called the method that invoked notifyAll(). Ok…it was hasLeftTheBuilding(); Again…this stuff pretty much writes itself. As good code should.
Seriously, rerun all code examples on your computer and go over them with a fine tooth comb. The probability that a code snippet that you run across on the internet is ACTUALLY on the test is higher than you think. Some of the snippets looked REALLY familiar.
Write code…threads, regex and generics. Do it! If you dont do it..you didn’t do it.
What does it mean? It does look good on a resume. The most important part is that I can communicate my ideas better using the actual terms for things rather than technically incorrect terms like “doohickey”, “thingamabob” and “foo”.
(my spell checker says that doohicky is really doohickey. Pbbbt!)
I also can use the Sun Logo on my blog and resume…after I get permission. Best 300 bucks ever spent.
I suppose I’ll have to wait to post it though because you need to login/register blah blah blah.
In the meantime, Ill use this as my “I’m Bona Fide” logo.
I have prospects. Im a keeper!