First download the JDK from Sun then get a copy of Texpad from Textpad.com. (I'm assuming here you're a Windows user). Textpad is a nice editor and has built in features for Java such as keyword highlighting and compilation of source files with simple menu selections or function keys. You can get a trial version for free. I like it a lot.

Then download Thinking in Java from BruceEckel.com. His explanations are clear and thorough. For certification specific training the standard seems to be The Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide by Roberts, Heller and Ernest. I've looked over this book, it seems reasonable enough for getting started but the last half of the book is not necessary for the purposes of this certification. The book is well written and easy to understand and makes a good starting point but I think more in depth understanding should be sought. Once you have basic understanding of the concepts you might want to try A Programmer's Guide to Java Certification by Mughal and Rasmussen. This book is much harder than the Roberts and Heller book but getting through it will leave you well grounded in understanding the concepts required to pass the exam with a good margin to spare.

Use the JDK and your editor to compile and run the exercises in the books and to test anything that needs further understanding.

Hopefully at this point your clear on the exam objectives and have a firm grasp of the concepts. Now its time for the last minute (or in my case last 2 months) cram. Mosey on over to Tony Alicea's site (http://www.geocities.com/~tony-alicea/JavaCert.html). He has links to some really good last minute preparation materials, Carl Desborough and Dylan Walsh's notes are all really excellent. I also recommend Bill Brogden's Java Exam Cram 2.

Once you've gotten through this you're probably ready to start taking some mock exams. Make careful notes of questions answered in error and test them yourself if possible. (Sometimes the mock tests are wrong which has generated some good discussion on this and Marcus's site.)

And of course make liberal use of this and Marcus's site. Please search past posts before posting any new questions. There's a high probability your question has already been answered in a prior post.

Finally I would like to thank Tony Alicea, Jim Yingst and especially to Paul Wheaton for running such a great site. Java rules and this site rocks! (but boy that moose is ugly)

And I always thought that the blushing moose must have been created by a "girl" [JOKE]

I found this test really hard, I only scored about 65%. Jamie Jaworski's test is also very hard, I scored around 65% on his test as well. Same for the test in the Mughal/Rasmussem book. Personally, I'd rather fail a hard mock exam and work to get a better grasp of the concepts than to pass an easier test and develop a false sense of confidence.

Actually what I liked most were mock exam questions that were incorrect in their choice of valid answers. Investing the time into digging through it to determine the correct answer was a real learning experience which then became well established in my mind.

Some of the questions on the real exam were shamefully easy. Others seemed so easy that I had to reread them several times to make sure I wasn't missing some subtle point (which maybe I still did since I answered 6 questions incorrectly).

One thing that was annoying, a few of the questions required scrolling up and down the page to get back and forth between the code sample and the answers. This seemed to be the hardest part of some of the questions.

I don't think you will get any questions about CardLayout or the paint methods in the AWT. I did get a few questions on the IO package.

In general, I think your score on the real test is likely to be comparable to the easier mock exams, but please don't hold me to that.

One thing, don't let your nerves get in your way when you sit for the exam, it will only make it harder on yourself. If you've got a good understanding of the basics you can be confident that when you walk out of the testing center you will be a newly minted Sun Java Certified Programmer. Regards, Joe

P.S. to Paul: Acutally the moose reminds of the Rugrats cartoon show that my daughter likes. In my opinion those characters are really ugly but she thinks they're cute. I guess it just takes me a while to warm up to them. So now that I've gotten used to your blushing moose you're going to change it on me? sheesh....

[This message has been edited by Tony Alicea (edited March 11, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Joe Java (edited March 11, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Joe Java (edited March 12, 2000).]

Thanks for taking the time to help folks out. This is how all the newbies learn - when the guys who have taken the test can help guide us in the areas of Java that need to be studied.

The only thing you need to be careful of is posting real questions. Sun has made it clear that while they encourage study groups, they'll get ugly if they find real questions. I'm not sure what flavor of ugly they might get, but better safe than sorry.

Tony thought he saw some real life questions in your post, so he jumped in and used his "bartender" authority to take those out so Sun won't be coming here to demonstrate "ugly". I'm sure you don't mind.

In java.io what and all we have to study?? How was your preparation in io and awt.

Thanx in advance

Divakar

yeah, isn't Textpad great? I relied on it quite heavily and without it there is no way I would have passed the test.

As far as the AWT package goes I got a few questions in this area. Just remember what listeners are associated with what events, which is pretty easy really and get familiar with what flowlayout, borderlayout, gridlayout and gridbaglayout do and how they are used. Everybody says you should know what the getId method does and I can confirm that.

Your views & tips are very useful. I checked the above exam. I think it is pretty tough like you mentioned. But i think some of the answers are incorrect. Can anyone check / clarify the following ?

1) Is strictfp a valid keyword. The answer is Yes ???

2) Is cardLayout covered in SCJP2. There is a question from cardLayout

3)System.out.println(null + null). The answer is correct. But I get a compile time error.

4)System.out.println(true + null); The answer is correct. But I get a compile time error.

5)Default layout manager for window is BorderLayout True/False

Thanks.

ex. strictfp class Test {
          strictfp static class StaticInnerclass {}
          strictfp class Innerclass {}
          strictfp static void m1() {}
          strictfp  void m2() {}
       }

2) I am not sure if cardLayout is covered in SCJP2.

3) System.out.println(null + null). I also get compile error.

This is with JDK1.2.2. What is done with this kind of statement is , the '+' operator is overloaded in Java. It can be applied to numeric operands and objects(atleaset one operand MUST be String object). For numbers it is just arithmetic addition. For objects to be added using '+' operand, one of the operands MUST be a String object for this operation to be successful. In this case , the other object's toString() method is called these 2 String are concatenated. If one operand is String and the other is a numeric type then the corresponding Wrapper objects are created and their toString() method is called and the returned String is added.

Since here in System.out.println(null+null); neither of the operand is a String object, the '+' operation goes for arithmetic addition and binary numeric promotion takes place.Applying the rules, it tries to convert 'null' literal to int, since null/true/false CAN NOT be converted to int , the compiler complains.
But I am not sure what happens in JDK 1.3.

4)System.out.println(true + null);
Same expln. as given in ans 3)

5)Default layout manager for window is BorderLayout . True

Apparently strictfp IS a reserved word, so say Bill Brogden in his Java 2 Exam Cram, and I think Dylan Walsh's notes say the same thing. Odds are though you won't run into it on the real exam.

I don't think CardLayout is covered at all. Nobody has ever metntioned seeing it on the exam.

Yeah, i got the same error when I attempted to compile null + null and true + null. But if I put a String literal in the println call then I did get null and true printed out. I thought that was really interesting. Apparently Chris, the author of the test, said that on his Visual Age development environment it worked okay but not when he tried it out on a Sun 1.2 VM, which is probably what most of us use.

I think he's right about BorderLayout being the default layout for a Window. We know that BorderLayout is the default for Frame and since Frame descends from Window it would follow that BorderLayout is the dafault for a Window.

I think I saw one other question in error in his exam, I don't remember what number it was but there was a blank final specified as a local variable in a method. The question covered what variables may be passed to an inner local class. I haven't tested it out myself yet but I don't think thats legal. ( I got that question marked wrong.)

Well, I just tested it and he's right, you can even assign a value to final variable defined inside a method. I guess the idea of not allowing final values to be changed applies only to variable defined as instance or static class members?

Also on a few questions he had multiple public classes specified within a single file. That threw me a little because thats not really legal either. I guess we should assume he was referring to multiple files or just ignore it in the context of the question.

Now that I've bashed him a little, I'd like to say that overall though his test was very good and the applet that he created to deliver the test was the best I've seen. Lets hope he keeps it up.

I also agree that most of the questions were very testing & also the applet was one of the best.