XML-based languages can be significantly complex, DocBook or Financial products Markup Language (FpML) for example. Understanding what XML is in terms of a specific vocabulary and having the knowledge, skills and abilities to develop XML processing code are not the same thing. Neither one of them can be "mastered" in one week, in my opinion.

Aside, contractors that support existing COBOL-based business applications "rake in the dough."

I'd say that XML could be mastered within a week, if you understood the underlying concepts and if "XML" just meant the markup language and nothing else.

The eXtensible Markup Language is a meta-"format" for creating markup languages. XML is not a markup language itself and was not properly named. That said, the design skills needed to effectively create XML-based markup languages which are efficient and supportive of related processing technologies cannot be "mastered" in one week, in my opinion.

Aside, knowledge of COBOL, the ability to write, read, modify COBOL programs is an EXTREMELY valuable skill...and is very rare. The number of existing COBOL systems throughout the world make this a very good bet.

But the only drawback here is that you will have to live on the mercy of others by asking them to help you. I was looking for some self study / self learning kind of stuff to get me going.

There are drawbacks in everything. You are trying to alter and improve the way you think. This is not something easily accomplished, and even more difficult when attempted in isolation.

In regards to material to study, here you are still depending upon someone, the author of the material. The only real differences here are that you are not communicating with the author, cannot ask questions, and are gambling with the accuracy level of the author's material.

Either way, it seems like you are off to a good start by identifying your deficiencies. Good luck son!

One of the more important elements of being a software architect is the ability to teach junior programmers and developers. Communication and teachining skills are the critical elements. So, if one wants to learn software design, they should "humbly" ask their architect to teach them. This is how you can improve your software design skills...

There are lots and lots of design patterns of different classification. You've got creational patterns, behavioral patterns, structural patterns etc. Some are documented, some are not (and in turn may not be recognized).

All object-oriented design patterns are documented. Documentation is "the" fundamental element of an object-oriented design pattern, i.e. it is not an object-oriented design pattern if there is no documentation.

How many developers are there in the world today?

A database administrator is an operational position, not a management position. A Data Architect position is not the same as a database administrator. Depending upon the nature of the position, a database administrator may also handle database programming as well as administration. This is still a low-level position, i.e. not tactical or strategic.

Keep in mind that Information Systems and Computer Science are different educational tracks, intended for different experiences and knowledge areas. There are some similarities, but there are key differences as well. Computer programmers come from both tracks, they typically have different skills and abilities.

You basically should start to enjoy testing, development skills are very different.... keep testing and you should be good...

Well, there should be a Business Delegate in the middle of your call to the business methods. Actions objects should never call directly on EJB methods...

Certifications that are controlled by for-profit companies are always geared towards sales revenue. In these situations, the certificates, exams and related training are "products." This is not a personal opinion. This is a widely known fact.

"For the last 5 years I have been running a mobile/telecom space consultancy startup. [...] Last month I decided to call it a day."

Instead of "Founder", you might want to consider using "Principal".

However, if you were the "founder" of the organization, and you abruptly decided to "call it a day." This may create the perception that you were not successful, failed as a business operator, or some other negative interpretation. You should be prepared for this.

For applications for low-level positions, you can use "Principal/Project Manager", "Principal/Business Analyst", etc.

If I mention something like “Project Manager” then at some point in time, especially when they conduct background checks, I will have to come out with the truth which again will put me in a difficult situation.

You are not being dishonest here, or at least it does not seem to be the case. It looks like your imagination is running a bit wild and you should keep it in check...unless the falsehood lies in what you are presenting and you are a bit paranoid.

I have a idea for a web-based startup that I think would provide major time and cost savings to my field, as well as several other verticals.

If you are interested in creating a company, then you should visit a couple of banks and/or other financial institutions to learn how to get financing, i.e. what is expected in your presentation, how to present your business concepts in the best light, etc.

There are a few steps that are needed before starting object-oriented design activity. Many of the posts in this thread are touching upon them in one way or another. Below is the J2EE-based standard approach published by Sun Microsystems.

Use Cases (Narratives and Diagrams)

Business Requirements (based on the Use Cases)

Technical Requirements (based on the Business Requirements)

Object-oriented design (based on the Technical Requirements)

Non-Technical Requirements

Architecture design (based on Non-Technical Requirements)

The bond must have some purpose in this situation. Whether the organization enforces the conditions specified on the bond depend on the organization. It is surely possible that they may want you to "cough up some rupees" if you break the contract. Surely you read the contract before you signed it. Aside, before signing you should ask if you can have a copy. If the answer is "no", then you can decide if you still want to sign the contract.

They may choose to not provide copies to prevent attempts to make false copies to invalidate the true bond. If the bond has a raised seal, then it is harder to make a false copy and they should be less reluctant to providing a copy.

Sounds good! What is the weather like in Sedalia, MO? It sounds cold. Are there any beaches nearby?

If an individual creates a product that sparks the interest of one or more large companies, an organization may want to purchase it and may offer a position in their organization.

Sending a CV or resume is nice. However, if you send a detailed proposal and a sales kit for a product that you own, you may capture their interest a bit more.

"Knowing" things is not enough. You must demonstrate your knowledge and provide real evidence of what you "know." You must "show", not "tell".

Good luck!

The Unified Modeling Language is the visual tool for designing object-oriented software. There are software applications that help humans use the UML in varying degrees. However, the UML is independent from any supporting software application or editor and can certainly be used without such an application, i.e. you can create UML-based diagrams using paper and pencil or on a whiteboard or in MS Word.

The Unified Modeling Language is a tool for designing object-oriented software. In terms of describing Java Server Pages on Class diagrams, these are Servlet classes. You could represent the JSP page as Class. If you are creating an Object diagram, then you could represent the JSP page as an Object.

An example resume entry for a pending certification would be:


CERTIFICATIONS

Candidate for Oracle Certified Java Programmer (OCJP), (Oracle Corporation, September, 2012)

A good tool for storing copies of applications and other code is an external drive. There are various products with significant levels of available storage memory for about $100 - $150 dollars in U.S.A.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/external/desktop/

You would deal with this on a case-by-case basis. There is no single option that meets all situations effectively. You could provide the source code to a client without having to alter package names. This is their code then and they are free to make any changes that they want. If they make any changes to their code, it does not affect you in any way.

If you provide them the source code and rename it to match whatever makes the most sense for the client, then that is fine as well. As long as you are in contract, this should not be a problem for you. When the contract ends, it does not matter to you.

If you think that your code is valuable enough to warrant only providing a JAR file, then that is fine too. You may not be able to use this code with some clients then.

If you make the code Open Source with a GNU-based license, this is most likely the best option.

This is relatively easy to implement in an XML Schema or XML DTD. You just need to start to think about the elements differently. XML languages are hierarchal structures. Every single element has only one parent. The fact that elements may use the same name in a particular design, does not mean that they are the same element. This is something that could easily be avoided in language design, but only if markup language concepts are clearly understood.

A group element when it is a child of a groups parent is different than a group element when it is a child of a root element.

The following are two different elements because they come from different parents. The fact that they share the same name does not mean that they are the same element.

root/group

root/groups/group

In your XML Schema or XML DTD you would simply include only groups as a valid child element. If an XML document violates this rule, then it will be reported when the document is validated against the XML Schema or XML DTD.

How to ensure that a particular child element can only exist under some parent, not alone in xml through xsd?

Do not specifiy that the particular child element is a valid child element. If you specify an element as a valid child the the parser will consider it a valid child. If you do not specify it as a valid child, then the parser will throw an error when it encounters an invalid content model.

The Simple API for XML (SAX) and the Document Object Model (DOM) are not XML parsers, they are programming interfaces. Developers can use these interfaces to create XML data processing applications. SAX integrates with an XML parser and a DOM is the output of a SAX implementation. Neither API is the actual XML parser itself.

Depending upon the complexity and size of the XML Schema, this can be relatively very easy or very difficult. You first should analyze the XML Schema and the requirements for the actual XML document that you need to create. Once you cleary understand the XML document structure that is required, you then would check to see if it is valid according to the provided XML Schema. If it is, then you are ready to write code.

When you write the code to create the XML document, you need to write the code to produce the XML document correctly, i.e. a valid XML document that will conform to the rules in the XML Schema. The one check that you should implement is once [the code] has created the document, [the code] should validate against the XML schema to ensure that the document is valid and has been created correctly.

Loading data from a Properties file is relatively easy. I suggest that you first create a class that will load data from a Properties file. Once this class is created and working properly, then you can start to explore other potential options. Good luck!

A Struts Properties file should be used for Struts-based classes only. Application classes that are not Struts-based should not be using the Struts Properties file. They should use their own Properties file instead.

Yes, i would need to have a web server running on that same PC. That's ok. But, any other thing to be noted

There are thousands of "things" that can be noted. A "question" typically indicates more information to help the recipient formulate a reasonable answer. The question is poorly formed and your confusion is to be expected. Your response was bad as well for different reasons. A poor question will usually generate a poor response.

they asked what if they create a web application(the application will work on just single pc just as swing(non-web) application) instead of swing application.

The "what if" question above is not clear or complete. The only reasonable answer is, "If they create a web application instead of a Swing-based application, then they will have a web application instead of a Swing-based application."

To run a web-based application on a single PC, you would need to have a web server running on that same PC.

Hand-picking APIs while searching for job positions may not be the most effective way to get an interview. Programming experience with Java can be described in many different ways and there are many APIs that are critical to some applications and irrelevant others. "J2EE" is an old acronym that is not used to describe the current set of Java Enterprise APIs. If you find a job advertisement using J2EE, you should take special care to find out why they are using the outdated acronym and if they really are looking for someone with experience in the older APIs, as this may be the case.

"Experience" and job duties are not the same thing

10+ years IT experience which should include architecture experience, programming experience, mentoring and training experience and lead/management experience

Luke, I'm not sure if you are reading my statements properly. In each case above, there are "two" aspects which are considered, not one. The first aspect is the number of years and this is the quantitative aspect. The second aspect is what the experience is in, this is the qualitative aspect. The synergy of these two apsects is what is judged in evalutation.

A senior software architect, aka enterprise architect, typically has more than 10+ years IT experience which should include architecture experience, programming experience, mentoring and training experience and lead/management experience. Having this level of experience with only 10 years is rare and leans towards 15+ years.

As I stated, the rates that I mentioned are Corporation-to-Corporation rates not W2-based employee rates. If you are a contractor then these are the rates that you charge for your services period. This can be to a prime contractor or a clent directly.

A consultant working for a consulting company as a employee being paid an hourly wage is not a "contractor" and is typically not considered an "independent consultant."

An "independent consultant" is an individual that is financially "independent", and an "independent" legal entity. Here you sign contracts for services you provide, not an employment contract.

Those rates above are extremely low. A more realistic average would be technical lead developers at $100 per hour increasing towards a range of $150-200 per hour for senior enterprise architect. These are Corporation-to-Corporation rates not W2-based employee rates.

In regards to computer processing, the terms "bulk" and "batch" are synonymous.

A Struts-based Controller is a "component" consisting of many parts. Custom Action classes are written by application developers. Struts ActionServlet is provided by the framework. A struts-config.xml configuration file is written by application developers. The code that reads this file and creates Action**** objects is provided by the framework. All of these elements together are the "Controller."

For more information about the Struts Action package, see API docs below:

http://struts.apache.org/1.x/apidocs/org/apache/struts/action/package-summary.html

Reading does not equal experience or skill. An individual can read all day and night and it still does not equal skill or ability in the particular subject matter. If an indiviudal feels ridiculed because of what they read on their free time, then the individual should not share what they are reading. However, if an individual is "boasting" or "bragging" about what they are reading that particular day, maybe they should be ridiculed to help stop this behavior as it could be highly disturbing, especially if someone is trying to create the perception that they are "experienced" in the particular technology simply by reading a book or two.