Hello,
For past 8 months coderanch stories of passing Oracle SE exams were inspiration and both source of information. Thus I wanted to share my own experience for future readers.
OCA. Material:
- OCA Study Guide Jeanne Boyarsky and Scott Selikoff (Big shout out to them, great material)
- Enthuware mock exams (Great mock exams)
I started preparing for OCA during 2017 spring, and it took me about 3-4 months to both finish studying (making notes and memorizing) and practice Enthuware exams. I did not finish all of them, because I wanted to have some left just in case I fail OCA. The results of Enthuware were always between 70% and 80%. I was a bit worried, but most of you here, in coderanch, said that they were harder than the real OCA exam, so I took my shot.
Result: 82%.
OCP. Material:
- OCP Study Guide. Jeanne Boyarsky and Scott Selikoff
- Enthuware mock exams.
After I finished OCA, I started to prepare for OCP right away. It took me 5-6 months to read the book and start Enthuware exams. This time around, my results were always between 60 and 70%. I took the same strategy and left few behind just to make sure I would have something to practice if I failed the exam. Enthuware mocks really showed where I lack knowledge and I was able to improve on those points. However, this time I was really worried as my results were not great.
Result of OCP: 87%.
I can conclude that Enthuware is pretty close to OCA, but when it comes to OCP, its really harder compared to the real exam. And its a good thing, it makes you push even harder. At one time during OCP exam I thought that maybe I bought the wrong
test as it seemed so easy.
Also, if somebody is doubting whether there is any use of certs - don't. Firstly and most importantly, preparation for them will give you a solid ground for more complex technologies (Spring, JavaEE). I have worked and talked with other
Java developers and it really shows. Secondly, streams are awesome. Really understand them, memorize them, because they will help you in your daily programming life. And thirdly, most of the companies appreciate the effort and certs so it will be way easier for you to find your first job.
Next stop I believe will be Java EE (OCEJWCD), Spring 4.3 Programmer Cert and (OCEJPAD).
By the way, does anybody know if Jakarta EE will have their own certification?