 |
|
^ click above ^ |
06.09.04
 By
Sivasundaram Umapathy
Exam Background and Its Importance
In March 2004, Sun Microsystems launched a new version of their existing
Sun Certified Web Component Developer 1.3 (SCWCD 1.3) exam, which
tests the web component development according to the latest J2EE 1.4
specification. The old version will co-exist and a separate upgrade
exam will be made available soon.
What's New In SCWCD 1.4?
The SCWCD 1.4 exam adds new objectives such as Expression Language,
JSTL, and Tag files and revamps the existing objectives to test the
new techniques introduced in JSP 2.0 and Servlets 2.4 specifications.
Also some objectives such as SingleThreadedModel, which are deprecated
now, have been removed from the exam, thereby making the exam more
current and at par with the latest trends. The exam as such has changed
in terms of increased toughness, more code-oriented rather than directly
testing the concepts, and adds new types of questions like Drag N
Drop. |
Which
One To Go For: SCWCD 1.3 or SCWCD 1.4?
If this is your first attempt, it's better to go for the SCWCD 1.4
as the increased toughness and testing of latest technologies means
more value addition to your career. If you are already an SCWCD 1.3,
you can either take up the SCWCD 1.4 immediately or wait for the upgrade
exam from Sun, which will be released soon.
This exam will help as an effective measure of your server side Java
skills and hence become increasingly important for developers. If
you want to prove your competency in "Java Web Components," this is
the exam for you. Also, if you are a programmer working in core Java,
taking this exam will provide a definite advancement to your career.
Exam Info
Prerequisites - Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP) Certification.
The first step towards SCWCD is becoming an SCJP (Sun Certified
Java Programmer). Whizlabs offers the SCJP Exam Simulator which
could prepare you well, to become an SCJP, in a short span of time.
Objectives - The SCWCD exam objectives can be classified
under 3 broad topics: Servlets, JSP, and J2EE Patterns. You need
to have a detailed and thorough understanding of issues involving
the design, development, and implementation of various Java web
components. The following are the objectives of the exam specified
by Sun Microsystems:
- The Servlet Technology Model
- The Structure and Deployment of Web Applications
- The Web Container Model
- Session Management
- Web Application Security
- The JavaServer Pages (JSP) Technology Model
- Building JSP Pages Using the Expression Language (EL)
- Building JSP Pages Using Standard Actions
- Building JSP Pages Using Tag Libraries
- Building a Custom Tag Library
- J2EE patterns
- For detailed information refer to the complete
exam objectives for the SCWCD exam, by Sun Microsystems.
Type of Questions - The type of questions asked in the
SCWCD exam are Multiple Choice (with one or more correct choices)
and Drag N Drop. Like the SCJP exam, if a multiple-choice question
has more than one correct choice, it is explicitly stated in the
question.
Time - The time allowed to complete this exam is 135 minutes,
which is sufficient. Once again, like the SCJP, you are allowed
to review the question(s) if you have some extra time towards the
end.
Passing % - You need to score at least 62% to be successful.
The exam asks you 69 questions and you need to correctly answer
at least 43.
Exam Code - When booking the exam with the prometric centres,
the exam code to be used is CX-310-081.
Useful Resources
Books - Preparatory books are a valuable asset for any
IT Certification preparation. Here are some recommended books for
the SCWCD exam:
| Website
Ranking Manager With an extensive set of built in web reporting
tools this is the clear choice for anyone engaged in a web promotion
campaign. >>Free
Trial |
Specifications - It is highly recommended that quality
time be spent going through the JSP
2.0 and Servlets
2.4 for this exam. You will find answers to many questions hidden
in the specifications.
Web Server - Practice is Power if your aim is to get an
in-depth understanding of the objectives as well as scoring high
in the exam; it is important for you to spend a lot of time writing
lines of code focusing on various objectives.
Tomcat Apache Version 5.0 is the best platform to practice on. It
adheres to the latest JSP 2.0 and Servlet 2.4 specifications and it
is absolutely free. You can download it here: Tomcat
5.0.
Tutorials and Articles - There are numerous tutorials freely
available on Java web components. The most reliable and recommended
of these are by Sun. Following is a list of some highly useful tutorials
and articles for the SCWCD exam:
J2EE Training - If you really want to gain expertise in
the J2EE domain, check out the high quality J2EE training provided
by Instructor-led,
Online Training for SCWCD, by Whizlabs Software
Exam Simulators
An exam simulator exercises your brain to make sure you understand
the concepts and can apply them effectively in a given scenario. It
also helps you get the feel of the real exam in terms of types of
questions, toughness, and time management.
Whizlabs
SCWCD Certification Exam Simulator is designed and developed to
suit the above goals, by highly committed, experienced, and certified
professionals. It ensures your success in the exam with its high quality
Mock Tests, Interactive Quiz, and Quick Revision Tips on the latest
pattern of the SCWCD exam.
Tips and Tricks
Practice each concept by writing the relevant code. It is even
better if you conceptualize, develop, deploy, and test an application,
which uses the concepts asked in the exam. A mock application using
HTML, JSP, and Servlets designed using the patterns like MVC should
be of great help in understanding the most common concepts for this
exam.
The time available for the exam is generally sufficient. Try not
to rush and take sufficient time to answer each question.
Remember that there is no negative marking. So don't leave any
question unanswered.
If you really want to obtain a good score, you should spend some
time remembering various Deployment Descriptor elements, including
the parent-child relationships between them. You should also know
which of the elements are mandatory.
The exam requires you to understand the lifecycles of various
components like Servlets, Tags, and JSP. Learn them well.
Discussion Forums and Groups
Even though you have access to all the resources listed above, you
may want to hear about the experiences of other people. There are
places for these too:
JavaRanch's
Discussion Forum for the SCWCD Exam
Marcus Green's Discussion
Forum
Whizlabs
SCWCD Certification Forum
Conclusion
The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), has rapidly established
a new model for developing distributed applications. Today it has
reached a certain level of maturity on which many blue-chip organizations
are relying for their complex enterprise-software-development needs.
With this evolution of the J2EE platform, there has grown the need
for industry-recognized J2EE Certifications. The SCWCD 1.4 is one
of such recognized J2EE Certification exams, which tests your competence
in Java Web Components. Being a Sun Certified Web Component Developer
can help you improve your career potential, gain you more respect,
increase job security, and keep you ahead of others.
Wish you all the best in your preparation.
About the Author:
Sivasundaram Umapathy is presently associated with Sella Synergy India
Limited, India, the software division of Banca Sella, S.p.A., where
he has been designing and developing mission critical banking applications
with the J2EE platform using BEA WebLogic application server for the
past 4.5 yrs. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science
from University of Madras and a Master of Science in Software Systems
from BITS, Pilani. He is also crazy after certifications, with SCJP,
SCBCD, SCWCD, SCEA, OCA, BEA, and IBM Certifications. In his free
time, he can be seen in Apache Geronimo community as well as in Javaranch.
About Whizlabs
Whizlabs (www.whizlabs.com),
an ISO Certified company, is a leading provider of IT skill assessment
and certification exam preparation tools. Whizlabs' suite of offerings
include "IT Certification Exam simulators and Instructor-led, Online
Trainings" for various exams by Sun, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, BEA,
Cisco, and other leading IT vendors and "IT skill Assessment Management
Solution" for Corporations, Training Institutes, and Universities.
In its first 3 years of inception Whizlabs has helped 300,000 software
professionals in realizing their dream of acquiring IT Certifications
of their interest.
Whizlabs offerings have fuelled the career growth of IT professionals
working in 321 Fortune 500 companies spread in 118 countries across
the globe.
Read This Newsletter at:
http://www.itcertificationnews.com/2004/0609.html |
|
| From
the Forum: |
| Strange
referrers keep multiplying |
| First, let me preface by saying I created &
published my site with a web design software program before
I ever learned a thing about HTML, server stats, etc. Still
don't know much but I'm working on it! A year into this little
venture, which began as a showcase for our crafts, I'm struggling
to play catch-up with the most basic technicalities like server
stat analysis, etc. as the site continues to grow! ...
|
 |
|
