This article will again focus on certification. Not so long ago, I talked about the process of obtaining a certificate from Google for Android developers. You can read about it here. In the article, I occasionally made a comparison with the process of obtaining certificates from Oracle. A little thought, I decided to reveal this topic in more detail, since I received the certificate from Oracle six months ago and have not forgotten everything. Naturally, this process has already been described many times in Habré. For example, fairly detailed descriptions can be found here and here. However, these articles were written a few years ago, and affect Java SE 7. I will try to focus on the features of the Java SE 8 exam and, in principle, update the information on the process of obtaining a certificate. Those who are still Interseno, please under the cat.

Certificate Types

So for some reason you decided to become not just a Java developer, but a Java-certified developer. For the certificate, we will naturally go to Oracle. What is something, but they have enough of this stuff. But we are only interested in Java certificates, in particular Java SE 8. What options do we have? You can see them here.

At the time of this writing, there are the following options:


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As you can see, there are 3 levels of certificates:

• Associate
• Professional
• Master

If this is your first Java certificate, then your path will definitely lead you to Java SE 8 Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) certification. This is the easiest exam, but without it (or similar, something a little later) will not get the rest. To obtain this certificate, you only need to pass the exam for the number 1Z0-808. I could not take it, so let's move on.

If you have already received one of the certificates, you can move towards the Oracle Certified Java SE 8 Programmer, which is actually about this article. And here are the following options:

• you have an associate java se 8 certificate
• you have a Programmer Java SE 7 certificate
• you have a Programmer Java SE 6 or below certificate

I want to pay more attention to this moment. On what certificate you have, depends on the choice of the exam that you need to pass. And on what exam will be selected, the questions on this exam will depend.




Finally, the crown of everything, Oracle Certified Master, Java SE 6 Developer. And why 6, you ask, because we are talking about Java SE 8. What is the reason I do not know, but Oracle is not going to pass the Master level exam for the 8th Java. At least in support I was answered that way. Probably the point is the exam content. The Associate and Programmer levels test the knowledge of the corresponding version of the SDK. In the case of Master, you need to write an application. And in this case, it is probably not so important on which particular Java it is written. Master is also the most expensive exam - its cost inexorably sneaks up to $ 1000, since to get it you must pass any of the Oracle training courses without fail.

It so happened that the third option came up to me, since I had a certificate in Java SE 6 on my hands, and I missed the seven, because there weren't very many changes. Everything that will be written further, will relate to obtaining an Oracle Certified Professional Java SE 8 Programmer certificate by improving it from the certificate for the 6th Java.

Training

So, you have decided on what exam you need to pass and are ready to rush into battle. But I do not advise to hurry. Even if you are a Java guru, certification can give you many surprises, mostly unpleasant.

What you need to keep in mind? Certification tests your knowledge of the SDK, and in different ways. Somewhere they are asked to evaluate a piece of code and point out errors. Somewhere you need to mentally run the program and determine its output. Somewhere you need to supplement the code. In general, there are many options, but in all there is one main trick. More precisely, they are two. It is necessary to determine whether the given piece of code will be compiled. In a large number of questions there is a response option, which assumes that the code will not compile. If you use IDE in your work, then there may be difficulties, since it is the IDE that usually takes on this task. It will take some time to start doing it yourself. And this is where the second trick comes in - the test authors are waiting for candidates to have unconditional knowledge of the method signatures. In many issues, compilation does not happen precisely because the number of parameters does not correspond to something, or the return type is wrong, or the method tries to disguise as a method of a similar class.

All of the above can be circumvented in a fairly simple way - spend some time preparing for certification. Not on learning Java, but preparing for certification. And right now I will write, how did I prepare with the test.

Having experience in preparing for certification and knowing what I’ll have to face, I divided the training into 3 parts:

• reading a book and solving a mock task
• study Oracle recommendations
• free art

In preparing for certification for Java 8, the focus should be on the Stream API and lambams. This will be a lot. There will also be a lot of questions about the date, time and related things. NIO2 will also be a lot. If you are upgrading from an old version of Java, there will also be a number of specific questions about things that were not in these old versions. This is especially true of Java 6 and earlier.

The first part is quite simple. We need to find a book that describes the process of preparing for certification with all the details. And such a book exists. They are for different versions of Java and different levels of certification. In my case, I needed the book “Java OCP 8 Programmer II Study Guide” by Jeanne Boyarsky and Scott Selikoff. It is very detailed and well-painted process of preparation. The content is divided into parts, each of which is attached 10-20 verification tasks. Also on a special site, a link to which is at the end of the book, you can pass 3 verification exams.

My training scheme was as follows. I read a book from beginning to end, simultaneously solving problems at the end of each part. After that, I passed the first of three exams, gaining exactly 63%. I was very dissatisfied with the result and read the book again, focusing on those parts in which I scored the least points. Problems at the end of each part, I also resolved again. The second exam was better, in my opinion something is about 70%. After that I switched to the second part of the training.

Go to the page of the selected exam.


There we go to the Exam Topics tab and see a long list of what will be asked on the exam. Take each item and carefully dissect. After reading and understanding this list, you should know how to be aware of almost any tricks from the developers.

The second part smoothly flows into the third. Armed with the knowledge from the book and the knowledge that they will ask, we try to write small pieces of code according to the list. During this process, I discovered five interesting things, two of which I met in the exam. Those. they were not directly mentioned anywhere before. Having played enough with the writing of the code, I passed the third exam and got something about 75%. It should be noted that test questions usually turn out to be more complicated than real ones. Therefore, I found the result to be satisfactory and went on record for the exam.

Registration for certification

As before, Oracle collaborates with certification centers that do all the dirty work of organizing a test for them. Deciding not to look for good from good, I went to the site of the center where I received the first certificate. If you have not been there, you will need to register. After that, most likely, you will need to fill out a profile. I did this 4 years ago, so I don’t remember the details. But with the profile you need to be careful. When I created it, I was in Russia, and indicated the name and surname in the very first transliteration that occurred to me. Since at the first certification I presented a Russian passport, it did not cause any special questions. Having entered the profile this time, I found that the data do not coincide with the data in my passport, which I use because of my stay in another country. In order not to have problems on the day of certification, I decided to update the data. To do this, we had to talk with technical support, send them a scan of the passport and perform a number of gestures. It took it all a few days. So it is better to be more attentive to details.

After completing the profile, you can actually go to the appointment date and place of the test. We are looking for a list of authorized centers in your city and choose the one you like. It is worthwhile to approach the choice thoughtfully, maybe even go and see. In some centers it can be cold, or hot, or noisy, or crowded, or anything. In my case there is only one center in the city, and I was lazy to travel 70 km to another city.

Select the available date and time and go to the payment. On the official Oracle website, the cost of the exam is listed as $ 245, but in fact the price may differ slightly from country to country. In my case, it was 250 euros.

After payment, a handful of letters will have to come in, providing different information. I did not find anything particularly valuable there. You can breathe out and relax, or continue training.

Passing the test

On the appointed day we go to the center of delivery. It is better to come in advance, as it will be necessary to fill out a number of documents and hand over things. In my case, the webcam for some reason refused to recognize my face. Minutes 15 took only to make a photo. At the exam can not take anything from the word at all. Anything that will be revealed to you can be used against you. I was lucky both times that I was alone in the room and no one disturbed me. But in principle, you can have neighbors who will also take something.

The test takes about 2 hours, depending on the version of the exam. Usually manages to handle faster. All questions in the test with multiple choice. If there are several answers, it says how many. During the test, questions can be skipped and answered later. You can immediately cross out the wrong answers to make it easier to choose later. If you do not know the answer at all, choose at least something. Chances to guess are not so small. After all questions are answered, we complete the test. Previously, the result was immediately shown, now we have to wait. We take our things and leave. If the test fails, you will have to pay the full amount for a new attempt.

Upon arrival home, I was already waiting for a letter in which it was reported that I passed the test and scored 86%. Not so bad, considering that 4 years ago I scored 80% and in general I am not a great Java specialist, especially in the 8th part, as I write for Android. The pass rate, as I mentioned, is 63%. Also in the letter it was reported that the certificate will be ready in a few days. Indeed, a few days later a new certificate appeared in the personal account on the Orcale website.


Also attached to the certificate icon (badge) on some third-party site. It looks like this. If you wish, you can order a paper copy, which I did. Looks exactly the same. Came by mail within 2-3 weeks.

After some time, a letter came, offering to get free for the Java Java club. I think attentive readers have already noticed it in the previous screenshots. Who would refuse a free T-shirt? They also sent in 2-3 weeks.

Results

At this certification process can be considered complete. Let's summarize what we need and what we get.

It will take:

• some previous java certification from Oracle
• preparation book
• time to prepare
• about $ 250 for passing the test
• time to pass the test
• a lot of patience to feel like a compiler :)

We get:

• digital certificate in your account
• paper certificate
• digital icon
• T-shirt (hurry, offer is limited)
• Sacred Knowledge of Java SE 8

Anyone who decides on this event, I wish patience and good luck.