Now that I have completed the Sun Certified Java Associate and am studying for the Sun Certified Java Programmer exam, I thought it would be a good time to post a mini-review of the SCJA exam. Don't get your hopes up, I'm not going to reveal to you what you need to know to pass it because Sun did actually get that part entirely right when they wrote up the exam objectives and provided the list of reference materials.

The exam wasn't hard, but it was not easy either. It is a very, very nit-picky exam and it is very important that you read each question very thoroughly and take the time to look at all of the answers because it is a real stickler for detail. Read what it is asking, not what you think and you should be fine. The average question is just like the practice exam questions, so if you do fine there then chances are it will be easy for you.

If you get the practice exam, which I did because it was going to be paid for as part of my continuing training, then you will get to see what the exam is like in most areas. However, it will in no way prepare you for the sometimes extremely asinine programming questions. I got almost all of them right without any problems, but if you are not like me, and don't have some real programming experience and/or a Computer Science degree, they may be what fails you. Anyone who can make it thorugh the freshman year of a Computer Science program should be able to fully grok thse questions and get most of them right. This is primarily a stumbling block for the ITT Tech types who want to just buy an education and get a few flashy certs.

The exam is good for teaching you the basic style that Sun uses and the potential disparities between the practice material and the actual exams with future certifications. Beyond that, this certification is basically a weed out exam that proves that you have some idea of what different Java technologies are for, which is a much needed skill. Too many people want to overly complicate Java development, and this exam at least marks you as someone who has a strong idea of what most major Java technologies were good for according to Sun and its partners in the JCP.

Certifications like this are good for people with professional programming experience and those looking to get started, but it should go without saying that you need to have additional credentials. Just because you can pass one of these exams doesn't mean you know how to write a good EJB, it just means that you know what an EJB is and how to write one. At best, think of these as a wedge that can be used to prop open the door for you, but in practice be a little cynical and treat them as nothing more than a supplement to a full four year degree in Computer Science or a related degree.