Although I've already mentioned my result in another
thread, I thought I'd share my experiences here in case they're useful to others..... Here goes:
I didn't have much of a background in
Java (other than a sub-standard module on class design in an academic course), but had read a few books, followed a decent amount of Stanford's CS106a course, and watched a number of Derek Banas' (and similar) youtube videos. I'd built a few basic programs, and knew most of what you'd find, say in a book like headfirst java. The basics, basically! I only mention this because I've seen people asking before, and......
it's no where near enough!
Resources
K&B 7 certification guide
Mala Gupta's certification guide
Enthuware
Roelpiler (coderanch)
K&B & Mala Gupta
I would
strongly recommend reading these books several times over. I've two A4 pads full of notes from my first read through, and they are pretty poor - yet I *thought* I knew the topics. I actually ended up reading K&B 3 times - The difference in speed and understanding the final time through the book was quite amazing: and that's what you need in the exam!
More generally, I felt K&B excelled at end of chapter questions, and brevity/accuracy, but potentially assumed slightly more prior knowledge, where as Mala expanded on more complicated areas, possibly falling down slightly with regards the mock exam and errata. I would 100% read both though if I had to do it again, and my feelings could be tainted by the order in which I read them!
The books aren't really enough (Enthuware & this site)
They ARE enough to pass. Definitely. But they aren't enough to understand the topics inside and out - something I wanted to do.
Asking questions here made me frequently realise I didnt' know the topic(s) as well as I thought I did/Roel. This is unsurprising given the latter is clearly the first step toward a compiler/human hybrid . Regardless, this forum has been one of the best ways to solidify any doubts I had. More importantly, I often didn't know I had doubts. Reading other's posts and asking way too many questions definitely helped, so a big thanks to all that helped!
Finally, Enthuware's exams are spot on. I did one mock per day, and went through the answers in the run up to the exam. The ability to then browse the forum is great. Enough can't be said about this software, it would be (and should have been) my top recommendation. It really, really, made me feel comfortable with a couple of the more difficult questions that I would've struggled with.
Exams
Mala Gupta : 91% (fractionally easier than the exam)
Enthu 1 : 77%
Enthu 2 : 87%
Enthu 3 : 89%
Enthu 4 : 80% (this one kicked my a**!)
Enthu 5 : 80%
K&B 1 : 88%
K&B 2 : 82%
Enthu 6 : 90%
Last Day
Test : 81% (again - I felt broken by this exam, especially time wise!)
Anyway, what i did, in order:
- Read the books twice
- Made lots of threads here
- 2 weeks before the exam - re-read K&B (made over 200 flash
cards)
- took Mala's mock exam, K&B's two mocks, and all the enthuware
- sat the exam
- drank beligian beer.
in that order. that's how you pass
The Exam
The exam software is nicer, presentation wise, than enthuware and the K&B mocks. And that's a good thing, because you want to prepare for the worst. I really didn't see any particularly bad formatting. It's also easier. Not always, but on average. I'd say it has a few *sneaky* questions, but it's not unrelenting in it's quest to trick you, like Enthuware or Roel . Also, I've seen complaints on enthuware's site about 'vague' questions with difficult to interpret wording - I got one in the exam, not as bad as some of the enthuware ones, but they do exist. Also, although I'm sure people say this often, I'm 99% sure there was a mistake in one of my questions - a mis-named array. No mention of array's in my mistakes summary.
Anyway, I ran out of time - because I have a habit of writing things down - even before realising the question is easy. Something to bare in mind - don't make the mistake I did: learn to work straight off the screen!! (You also CAN'T highlight the code on screen unfortunately! - maybe worth removing the ability in enthuware Paul?) I had about a minute per question for the last 8 or 9, and about 15 seconds for the last one! - again, something enthuware had prepared me well for!
Anyway, most of this post feels a little narcissistic, even though it isn't intended to be that way, so I'll stop there, but hopefully that helps someone!
Right:
Apologies Roel if you're from Bruges! It was the only one I could find that wasn't like 8%+ !!
(sorry if the picture's too big!)
Nick