Sun Educational Services offers many types of certification exams for Java. More information can be found here:

The focus of this book is on the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform Standard Edition 6 exam (SCJP 1.6), which is a prerequisite for taking many of the certification exams for the Java technology.

The goal of the programmer exam is to test practical knowledge of the Java language. The exam tests for thorough understanding of both the syntax and semantics of the Java programming language.

The exam covers a wide variety of topics, as defined in the objectives for the programmer exam (see Appendix B, p. 857). It covers everything from the basic syntax of the language to detailed knowledge of threading and the core APIs, such as the java.lang package and the collections framework.

The need for real-world experience for this exam cannot be stressed enough. It is next to impossible to pass the test without having some actual experience programming in Java. Simply reading straight through this book is not recommended. Readers should take time to try out what they have learned every step of the way. Readers are encouraged to test their newly acquired knowledge using the review questions provided after every major topic.

Experimenting with the examples and working through the programming exercises in the book will serve to give the reader a much better chance of passing the test. The exam is considered to be difficult, and requires a fair amount of studying on the part of the candidate.

When the reader feels ready for the exam, she should test her skills on the sample exam that is provided in the back of the book (Appendix F). This will give an indication of how well the reader is prepared for the exam, and which topics need further study. The structure of the book should make it easy for the reader to focus on single topics, if necessary.

Even seasoned Java programmers should invest some time in preparing for the exam. Simply having real-world experience is also not enough to pass the exam.

The exam is administered through Authorized Worldwide Prometric Testing Centers. They provide computer-based testing services for a wide variety of clients. Prometric has more than 3,000 testing centers located around the world. The test is paid for through the purchase of vouchers. An exam voucher must be obtained before signing up for the test at a local testing center.

Exam vouchers are sold by Sun. Some testing centers may be able to help in obtaining a voucher for the exam.

Be sure to obtain the correct voucher for the programmer exam. The test number for the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform, Standard Edition 6 is CX-310-065. Sun will need credit card information to arrange payment. The cost of the voucher vary, depending on the country you live in. For US residents, it costs $300.

Sun will send the voucher as soon as the credit information has been verified. The voucher is sent by FedEx, and will normally arrive within one business day.

It is important to take good care of the voucher, since it is needed to sign up for the test at Prometric. Note that your voucher has an expiration date, usually in 6 to 12 months. Neither Sun nor Prometric will replace lost or expired vouchers, nor will they offer refunds for unused vouchers.

After obtaining the exam voucher, Prometric can be contacted to sign up for the test by making an appointment at one of the local testing centers.

Both Sun and Prometric have offices and associates around the world that can provide information about the exam. They can be contacted to purchase a voucher or sign up for the test.

The best way to find contact information and local testing centers is to visit their Web sites at:

http://www.sun.com/training/catalog/courses/CX-310-065.xml

http://www.prometric.com/Candidates/default.htm

Those passing the exam will immediately receive a temporary certificate. Exam results are sent electronically by the test center to Sun, and Sun will send a permanent certificate by mail, which should arrive within a few weeks.

Exam type: Multiple choice and drag and drop
Number of questions: 72
Pass score: 65% (47 of 72 questions)
Time limit: 210 minutes

When a candidate shows up at the local testing center at the appointed time, she will be escorted to her own little cubicle with a desktop computer. The test will be conducted in this cubicle, using a testing program on the computer. The program will ask questions, record answers, and tabulate scores.

Candidates will not be allowed to bring personal belongings or food with them to the cubicle. During the exam, candidates will be allowed to make notes on a single piece of paper, but they will not be allowed to take these notes with them after the exam. Quite often the exam area is fitted with security cameras.

The exam consists of 72 questions, which must be answered within 3 hours and 30 minutes. The questions vary in difficulty. Some are easy and some are difficult. With less than 3 minutes to answer each question, the candidate cannot afford to get stuck on the hard questions. If the answer does not become apparent within a reasonable time, it is advisable to move on to the next question. Time permitting, it is possible to return to the unanswered questions later.

An experienced Java programmer used to taking exams should be able to complete the exam well within the allotted time. Any remaining time is best used in reviewing the answers.

The computer program used to conduct the exam will select a set of questions at random, and present them through a graphical user interface. The interface is designed in such a way that candidates are able to move back and forth through the questions for reviewing purposes. Questions can be temporarily left unanswered, and the candidate can return to them later. Before the exam starts, the candidate is allowed a test run with the computer program. A demo test that has nothing to do with the Java exam is used. Its sole purpose is to allow the candidate to get acquainted with the program being used to conduct the exam.

Immediately after the completion of the exam, the program will present the candidate with the following information:

The program will not divulge which questions were answered correctly.

Most of the questions follow some common form that requires candidates to apply their knowledge in a special way.

When analyzing program code, it is useful to try to apply the same rules as the compiler: examining the exact syntax used, rather than making assumptions on what the code tries to accomplish.

The wording of the questions is precise, and expects the responses selected in multiple-choice questions to be precise. This often causes the test to be perceived as fastidious. Close attention should be paid to the wording of the responses in a multiple-choice question.

None of the questions are intentionally meant to be trick questions. Exam questions have been reviewed by both Java experts and language experts to remove as much ambiguity from the wording of the questions as possible.

Since the program used in the exam will select and present the questions in a random fashion, there is no point in trying to guess the form of the questions. The order of the answers in multiple choice questions has been randomized and, thus, has no significance.

The majority of the questions are multiple choice. The correct number of alternatives to select is designated in the question, and must be selected for the question as a whole to be considered correctly answered.

Another form of question expects the candidate to drag and drop code fragments into appropriate places where the code is missing in a program in order to make the whole program work correctly.

There should be no problem identifying which form of answer each question requires. The wording of the questions will indicate this, and the software used will present the candidate with an input method corresponding to the form of answer expected.

For multiple-choice questions, the program will ask the candidate to select a specific number of answers from a list. Where a single correct answer is expected, radio buttons will allow the selection of only one of the answers. The most appropriate response should be selected.

In questions where all appropriate responses should be selected, checkboxes will allow the selection of each response individually. In this case, all choices should be considered on their own merits. They should not be weighed against each other. It can be helpful to think of each of the choices for the question as an individual true–false question.

Topics covered by the exam are basically derived from the set of objectives defined by Sun for the programmer exam. These objectives are included in Appendix B. All the major topics are covered extensively in the relevant chapters of the book.

The ultimate goal of the exam is to differentiate experienced Java programmers from the rest. Some of the questions are, therefore, aimed at topics that new Java programmers usually find difficult. Such topics include:

Knowledge obtained from studying other languages such as C++ should be used with care. Some of the questions often seem to lead astray C++ programmers who have not grasped the many differences between C++ and Java. Those with a C++ background should pay special attention to the following Java topics:

Some of the questions may require intimate knowledge of the core APIs. This book covers the most important classes and methods of the API, but it does not go as far as listing every member of every class. The Java API reference documentation for the JDK should be consulted. It is essential that readers familiarize themselves with the relevant parts of the API documentation. There are API references readily available from many sources.

Those passing the programmer exam may want to move on to other exams in Java technology. All exams except the first one in the following list requires the SCJP 1.6 exam as a prerequisite:

Up-to-date information on the exams can be obtained by following the URL at the beginning of this appendix.