Mosey on in and pull up a stool. The JavaRanch Big Moose Saloon is the place to get your Java questions answered. Our bartenders keep the peace, and folks are pretty friendly anyways, so don't be shy!
Over in the Programmer Certification (SCJP) forum, visiting author Khalid A. Mughal opened a bottle of worms with this thread starter:
Would you vote for a sheriff that had practiced horse-riding only on a rocking horse?
People can pass the Programmer Certification exam without having written any code. Is this what the present Programmer Certification exam encourages? Emphasizing theory and no practice? Should the exam be changed? Do employers know or care that they are getting "theoretical" programmers?
In a similar vain, one could ask the following questions:
Would you feel safe if people, who had only read the driving manual and never driven a real car, were unleased onto the unsuspecting rush-hour down-town traffic?
Would you vote for a sheriff that had practiced horse-riding only on a rocking horse? (I know at least which horse to bet on.) [Disclaimer: No innuendos to the sheriffs that go galloping on this site.]
What do you think?
Now, mosey on o'er, see what folks are saying and chime in with some thoughts of your own.