Tag Archives: certification

OCA/OCP 8 Programmer Practice Tests AVAILABLE NOW!

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Jeanne and I are really excited to announce that our new book OCA / OCP Practice Tests: Exam 1Z0-808 and Exam 1Z0-809 is now shipping. In fact, we just received our copies today! The book is available in both print and digital formats from Amazon and other major book retailers. In addition, purchasing this book grants the holder access to Sybex’s interactive test bank!

This book serves as worthwhile companion to our previous two books, now available as set, The OCA / OCP Certification Kit. With this book you are really getting two books in one, as Jeanne and I packed over 1000+ questions into this text, covering both the OCA and OCP exams. To better prepare you for test day, we also threw in two simulated OCA/OCP exams. Whether your taking the OCA exam now and thinking about the OCP exam down the road, or taking the OCP exam and need a refresher on the cumulative material, this book has got you covered!

This book covers 100% of all exam objectives in these practice tests, which means you’ll be ready for:

  • Java basics, class design, and data types
  • Using decision and loop constructs
  • Building and using arrays
  • Methods, encapsulation, and inheritance
  • Mastering Java Streams
  • Working with the Date/Time API and Localization
  • Understanding design patterns and principles
  • Writing Lambda expressions and functional interfaces
  • Exceptions and assertions
  • Java File I/O (NIO.2)
  • Concurrency and localization
  • JDBC and database applications

Jeanne and I put a lot of time, energy, and planning into this new book and we really hope our reader enjoy it!

Announcing: Our NEW Java OCA / OCP 8 Practice Test Book!

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Jeanne and I are thrilled and excited to announce that we are nearly done writing a brand new book for the OCA / OCP Java 8 Programmer exams!

The new book, OCA / OCP Java SE 8 Programmer Practice Tests, includes over 1000+ hand-crafted and peer reviewed questions. We’ve also created a new permanent Practice Tests OCA / OCP 8 book page on the blog to keep track of updates and news about the new book.

Jeanne and I wanted to say how thankful we are to our all of our readers of our first two books. Without your invaluable feedback and positive reviews, we never would have been offered this opportunity to expand our OCA and OCP subject matter. We promise to make this next book our best yet!

We are expecting to ship the book in March 2017. Stay tuned for additional news about the book!

how the OCA Java Programmer certification compares to AP Computer Science A

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I gave a presentation to high schoolers about the OCA Java Programmer I certification. I was asked over email how well the AP (Advanced Placement) Computer Science class provides the foundational info for the OCA cert:
My main question is wondering how close within reach the java certification would be and how useful it would be to students.  From what you said, the value of having the cert is very good.  But, I’m still wondering about how much additional work will be required to achieve a good result.  I understand your point about needing study materials etc,-  that’s all a given and something that today’s students are very used to doing (PSAT, SAT, ACT, AP, CLEP, etc.).  But, do you expect that generally an AP Computer Science course would provide the foundational info needed to pass the test, and then the student just needs practice to be proficient and quick?
I took AP Computer Science over 15 years ago. It wasn’t in Java and a lot has changed. So I looked at the College Board’s Computer Science course description to find out. I also learned that AP Computer Science AB no longer exists.
AP Computer Science vs the OCA
The OCA exam is meant to cover the basics. In some ways, the AP exam goes beyond that. For example, the AP exam covers recursion. There are a few things covered on the OCA that don’t appear to be covered on the AP exam:
  • Exceptions – checked exceptions, throw/throws, try/catch block
  • StringBuilder
  • byte, char, float and long
  • Wrapper classes
  • Importing other Java packages
  • Garbage collection
  • Overloaded methods
  • Java 8 date/time
  • Java 8 lambdas/predicates
  • Plus a few things that I’m not clear as to whether they are on the AP
    • Ternary operators
    • Switch statements
    • Break/continue

All of these is easily learned through a study guide so I think a student preparing for the AP exam is in good shape to pick of an OCA certification study guide.

Plus it is likely the student’s class is using a book which was not intended for the narrower scope of the AP exam. Which means the student would have come across some of the above anyway.