Don’t Panic: Oracle announces new Java OCP 11 Exam!

Update (11/05/2020): Read The 1Z0-819 Exam page to learn how you can easily our Java 11 Study Guides to prepare for Oracle’s 1Z0-819 Exam, as well as the 1Z0-817 Upgrade Exam.

Oracle has announced a new Java SE 11 Developer 1Z0-819 exam. In doing so, they are also retiring the 1Z0-815 and 1Z0-816 exams, effective October 1st, 2020. Don’t panic! The new exam is basically a combined version of the 1Z0-815 and 1Z0-816 exams.

In fact, Jeanne and I worked with Oracle staff to help design the objective set for the new 1Z0-819 exam. For example, we’re responsible for removing CallableStatement‘s and assertions. You’re welcome!

This means our existing study guides are perfectly suited to help you pass this new exam. We recommend studying for the new exam with one of the following two options:

Is the new exam easier?

Not really. The new 1Z0-819 exam covers a broad range of material. And you have to know it all on the same day instead of split across two different exams.

What are the benefits of the new 1Z0-819 exam?

To begin with, it costs less. One exam instead of two. Additionally, there are less questions.

The breadth of material does have an advantage: if you don’t do well on one topic, it is likely to be less points on the exam.That said, you only have 90 minutes on the new exam, as opposed to 180 minutes on the old exams, but you have less questions to answer.

What about the Upgrade Exam?

Oracle is keeping the Upgrade OCP Java 11 1Z0-817 exam. Like the new 1Z0-819 exam, our Complete Study Guide can be used for the upgrade exam. You also just use the Programmer II book, as we added an Upgrade Appendix just for this exam.

What don’t I need to study?

You need to know almost everything that was on the 1Z0-815 and 1Z0-816 exams for the 1Z0-819 exam. There are a few topics that you no longer need to worry about for the exam:

  • Characteristics of Java (platform independence, backwards compatibility, etc)
  • Running a basic program from the command line (except modules)
  • Java Assertions
  • JDBC CallableStatement

How do the new objectives map to our Java 11 Study guides?

We created a helpful mapping so you know what to study for the new exam.

1Z0-819 ObjectivesProgrammer I (1Z0-815) ChapterProgrammer II (1Z0-816) ChapterComplete Study Guide Chapter
Working with Java data types3 – Operators
4 – Making Decisions
5 – Core Java APIs
6 – Lambdas and Functional Interfaces
1 – Java Fundamentals3 – Operators
4 – Making Decisions
5 – Core Java APIs
6 – Lambdas and Functional Interfaces
12 – Java Fundamentals
Controlling Program Flow4 – Making Decisions4 – Making Decisions
Java Object-Oriented Approach2 – Java Building Blocks
7 – Methods and Encapsulation
8 – Class Design
9 – Advanced Class Design
1 – Java Fundamentals2 – Java Building Blocks
7 – Methods and Encapsulation
8 – Class Design
9 – Advanced Class Design
12 – Java Fundamentals
Exception Handling10 – Exceptions5 – Exceptions, Assertions, and Localization10 – Exceptions
16 – Exceptions, Assertions, and Localization
Working with Arrays and Collections5 – Core Java APIs3 – Generics and Collections5 – Core Java APIs
14 – Generics and Collections
Working with Streams and Lambda expressions6 – Lambdas and Functional Interfaces4 – Functional Programming
7 – Concurrency
6 – Lambdas and Functional Interfaces
15 – Functional Programming
18 – Concurrency
Java Platform Module System11 – Modules6 – Modular Applications11 – Modules
17 – Modular Applications
Concurrency7 – Concurrency18 – Concurrency
Java I/O API8 – I/O
9 – NIO.2
19 – I/O
20 – NIO.2
Secure Coding in Java SE Application11 – Security22 – Security
Database Applications with JDBC10 – JDBC21 – JDBC
Localization5 – Exceptions, Assertions, and Localization16 – Exceptions, Assertions, and Localization
Annotations2 – Annotations13 – Annotations

OCP Java 11 Book(s) pictures!

Books! How tall are 30 books (ten of each). Almost 4 feet!

And as scale, the difference in size between one book may not be obvious, but it is when you compound ten times!

Finally, I thought it would be fun to lay them all out in as a path:

Assembling a mock exam

I like assembling the mock exams. I find it relaxing. I got a question yesterday about my process so writing it down

Question generation

  • Scott and I meet and decide how many mock questions will cover the material for each chapter. For example, we have an 80 question mock exam in our practice exams book. There are 12 chapters. This means some chapters have 6 questions and some have 7.
  • As we write each chapter, we both write mock exam questions for that chapter in a separate file.

Determining the order

  • I create a spreadsheet including the source chapter #, source question # and difficulty.
  • Create a column for mock exam question #
  • Fill it with =RAND().
  • Sort by the random number column.
  • Replace the random numbers by actual question numbers for the mock chapters
  • Fiddle with the list by trading question numbers so that there aren’t more than two questions in a row from the same chapter or same difficulty. (ideally not more than one from the same chapter in a row)

Assemble the questions

  • Copy/paste the questions from each chapter into a new file using the new order generated above. I find it fastest to copy all the questions that go with chapter 1, then 2, etc.
  • Proofread.
  • Run the program we wrote to check styles to make sure I didn’t mess them up on copy/paste.