Dinesh on Java

After the Oracle acquisition on Sun, now the SCJP certification is known as OCPJP or Oracle Certified Professional Java Programmer Certification. The latest version of this exam is OCPJP8. The OCPJP certification is mainly for those who want to have a promising, proven and long lasting career in Java technology.

To clear the certification exam, one needs to prepare for the exam and he or she must be proficient in theory and practical both. Studying and Practicing are the key factors behind success of this exam, which can be done in a number of ways. You could follow my core java tutorial to take basic understanding about the Java language.

Exam Details

Since the launch of Java7, Oracle has split the exam or certification in two parts:

1. OCAJP
2. OCPJP

For the professional level certifications the Associate Level certification is mandatory and that’s why people still take OCPJP6, and they need not to take OCAJP exam. Well, but you may be asked to get the latest version certification, so it is better to approach for the latest like OCPJP8.

• Certification Name: OCPJP 8
• Exam Code: 1z0-809
• Exam Duration: 150 minutes
• Number of Questions: 85 MCQs
• Passing Score: 65% (50 Correct Questions out of 85)
• Pre-Requisite: OCAJP 8
• Paper Cost: $300

Why O

CPJP8?

Now if you are thinking that how this certification can help you in your career, then there can be a number of reasons, depending on your case, but a few of the most common and beneficial reasons, can be as listed below:

• Can Provide You Complete Knowledge: As the certification exam course is designed in such a way, that it covers all popular and mostly used topics of Java, starting from basic to advanced level, so we can say that it covers all fundamentals of Java and can provide the complete knowledge of Java platform.
• Proof of Skill Set: You may be a Java expert, but in order to proof your skill and Java proficiency, the certification and its score can be a key asset. Moreover at the time of any job interview you can easily convince the interviewer and proof your skill, just by presenting your OCPJP8 marks or certification.
• Can Provide You Promotion and Salary Increment: An Addition of any new skill set or credential in your resume can become credible for you. So if you want to be recognized at your work place or waiting for any increment or promotion, then this certification will surely help you in achieving your dream.

So it is quite obvious that the addition of OCPJP8 Java certification can provide you man benefits, either you are going to start your career as a Java Professional or want to enhance your skill set.

Now let’s see that what are the main topics of Java, covered by this exam or what is the Syllabus of OCPJP8 Certification exam?

Curriculum of OCPJP8 Certification Exam

Following are the topics from which you can find the question sin this certification exam:

1. Java Class Design
2. Advanced Java Class Design
3. Generics and Collections
4. Lambda Built-in Functional Interfaces
5. Exceptions and Assertions
6. Java I/O Fundamentals
7. Java Stream API
8. Use of Java SE 8 Date/Time API
9. Java File I/O
10. Building Database Application with JDBC
11. Localization
12. Java Concurrency

How to Prepare for the Exam?

1. Learn the Certification Paths with Popular Books

Firstly check for the latest version of the certification like for this OCPJP the latest version is “8”. Therefore start with the latest version and check that what is the pre-requisite for the exam and the topics covered in the exam. The details of every exam are listed on the Oracle website, so you can find the detailed syllabus right there. As the syllabus covers both basic and advance level topics, so to demonstrate your knowledge just cover all the topics like Java APIs, JDBC, Java I/O handling and all of the above listed topics. In this way create a proper learning plan or path for your exam and then attempt for the certification exam.

A few good books can help you in exam preparation successfully. A few most recommended books are Kathey Siera and Bert Bates and try to read at least twice this book. Apart from this some eBooks are also there.

2. Know the Latest Version Features of Java
Java keep on releasing the new versions, like so far the latest version of Java was 7, but now Java8 has been released as well. Check out the new features, introduced in Java8, e.g. The version 8 exam of Oracle has following new topics as an additional ones:

• A new API for Date/Time
• Lambda Expressions for Predicate Interface
• Static and Default methods in Interface

3. Solve the Sample Questions
Try to solve the sample questions of the exam and try to find and solve as many sample questions as possible. The site of Oracle itself has much study material for exam preparation and apart from that you can also Google for the best sites for sample questions, many sites have such question sets. Though the exam is of multiple choice questions but for the questions there may be more than one correct options of a single question, which makes the exam more difficult. So practice for such questions and practice for them. At some sites you can find the moc k exams, which are just similar to the main exam, so just look at them and then solve them.

4. Register your Exam Voucher
For any of the Oracle certification exam, including OCPJP8 one need to register on the Oracle site and to buy the exam voucher. The voucher comes with a validity, which can be 6 months and it may cost you $300. Well, one can re register for the exam after 14 days if he fails in first attempt. Then you will also have to find a Prometric exam center in your location. It will be the location, from where you can give your exam.

5. Result
When you will give he exam, within 30 minutes the result will be declared and the score is sent to you via the mail. So you can quickly know the result. e Certificate is also issued within 3-4 days time only.