OCA Java 7 - preparing

Hello,
How much time is needed to learn the material for OCA Java 7? What learning materials are available?

Adam Borowski,

It varies from person to person.

You may get rough idea about your preparation here. => http://www.epractizelabs.com/certification-advisor/time-estimator.php?s=16

Good luck for your preparation !!!

Did anyone pass the Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 7 Programmer [exam 1Z0-803 Java SE 7 Programmer I]?

There will be a study guide "OCP Java SE 7 Programmer Study Guide (Certification Press) by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates" but sadly only released 22 Jul 2012.
I wish to take the exam before.



I am learning with "Java, A Beginner's Guide, 5th Edition" from Oracle Press. If I understand this book, will I be able to pass the exam? Is any introductory book enough for passing the exam? Any hints on study guides for beginners?

please name a few study guides

Hi

Have you bought the voucher for OCA Java 7 exam. i am also looking to buy the voucher but not able to find appropriate link. Can you please share any link? I am based in australia.

Thanks

Give me a month or two, and I'll have my book on the shelves too!

Cameron Wallace McKenzie wrote:Give me a month or two, and I'll have my book on the shelves too!

thanks
do you have a website? Is there a newsletter who will notify me when the 1Z0-803 study guide is available?

I was working on a variety of Java 7 articles over at TheServerSide.com, with much of it focused on targeting the objectives of the OCAJP and OCPJP exams. I was posting them a bit in these forums, but I started to feel a bit dirty by doing too much self-promotion, so I'm trying to keep all of my posts and updates in a thread in the JavaRanch "Blatant Advertising" forum. But check it out:

OCAJP: News, Updates, Tutorials and Other Stuff

I also registered ocajp.com, but I haven't planted anything there yet. JavaRanch really is the best place for updates and information.

Ganesan Ponnusamy wrote:Adam Borowski,

It varies from person to person.

You may get rough idea about your preparation here. => http://www.epractizelabs.com/certification-advisor/time-estimator.php?s=16

Good luck for your preparation !!!

I'd look for a different source than epractizelabs for study material for the OCA or OCP, I purchased their
product and found multiple major wrong answers in their material.
Unfortunately, I found this out only days before I took my cert test and lost all confidence because of it.
I contacted them by both email and phone supplying them with screen shots of wrong answers and was
told thanks and that they would refund my money for the software, but I haven’t received my money back
as of yet and it’s been nearly 4 weeks.

Fazile Moser wrote:Did anyone pass the Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 7 Programmer [exam 1Z0-803 Java SE 7 Programmer I]?

There will be a study guide "OCP Java SE 7 Programmer Study Guide (Certification Press) by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates" but sadly only released 22 Jul 2012.
I wish to take the exam before.



I am learning with "Java, A Beginner's Guide, 5th Edition" from Oracle Press. If I understand this book, will I be able to pass the exam? Is any introductory book enough for passing the exam? Any hints on study guides for beginners?

please name a few study guides

I'm using the "Java, A Beginner's Guide, Fith edition" and "Java, The Complete Reference, Eigth Edition" both written by Herbert Schildt.
I highly recomend these books and they should be useful later as reference books as well.

All the Best in your studies!

hi,

i am planning to give this OCA 7 exam next month...... but very confused because no proper material. can anyone help me please?
i had worked in java in my college, tht was before one year.. ...rit now all seems blank and m feeling like "OMG WHR IS THE WAY?"

please help.

Fazile Moser wrote:Did anyone pass the Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 7 Programmer [exam 1Z0-803 Java SE 7 Programmer I]?

There will be a study guide "OCP Java SE 7 Programmer Study Guide (Certification Press) by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates" but sadly only released 22 Jul 2012.
I wish to take the exam before.



I am learning with "Java, A Beginner's Guide, 5th Edition" from Oracle Press. If I understand this book, will I be able to pass the exam? Is any introductory book enough for passing the exam? Any hints on study guides for beginners?

please name a few study guides

me too want to give this exam but before this book releases........... any suggestion for reading material???/ some says ch 1 to 7 from K&B 6 are suffecient...........is it true???

Hi Guys,

Check out the sticky thread at the top of this forum

Bert

Any of the legacy SCJA material (minus the Java EE and UML stuff) will help you prepare for the exam. Btw, all of Cameron McKenzie's exam prep material in particular is excellent.

Allow 2-6 months for studying and you should do just fine. Try to build a lot of programs with an IDE like NetBeans... that should help.

I am developing the Oracle-sponsored OCAJP7 book (http://www.amazon.com/Associate-Study-Guide-Oracle-Press/dp/0071789421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333320006&sr=8-1) that will be out shortly... any questions, please ask.

-- Robert

Hi Guys,

Just to clarify Robert's last post... if you have legacy materials - in other words books or articles or whatever for the old version of the exam, the SCJA - these materials can certainly "help" you study. But they ARE NOT sufficient! The new version of the exam, the OCA, has a lot of objectives that aren't on the old SCJA exam. So, whatever study material you use, new and/or old, make sure to compare that material against Oracle's published objectives.

hth,

Bert

Apart from a change in the course contents, there is also a change in the questions that you will get to attempt in the OCA Java SE 7 Programmer exam. You will get to see more code in the questions.

One of the reasons for having more code in the newer version of this exam is - The OCA Java 7 exam no longer has topics like Client Technologies, Server Technologies, Java Platform and Integeration technologies. The domain of these topics was limited to questioning candidates on the underlying concepts and application, with very little or no code.

This exam is now more aligned to the Java Programmer's exam (OCP Java Programmer), with respect to:
a) Exam Objectives - covering more programming concepts.
b) Pattern of Questions - including more code.

Cheers
Mala

Hi Cameron Wallace McKenzie

when your study guide will be released?

Hi Guys,

This is my 1st time posting here. Please help me if anything seems out of place.

I am in the beginning of studying for the OCAJ 7 exam. I have no prior Java certification and have about a year of Java experience but 5+ years of C. Just found this link from Oracle and wonder if anyone has tried it?http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/extra/certification/javase-7-programmer1.html If so, what you think of it? Helpful?

Thanks in advance!
Joc

Hello i'am very new to javaranch,i'am planing to write OCA 7 in May.
I'am reading SCJP 6 (K&B) - Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates.
Does chapters 1-5 plus the sections on ArrayList, String, StringBuilder, hashCode(), and equals() covers all the objectives of OCA 7?
please do tell if i have to go through any other topic's?


Thanks in advance..

Robert Liguori wrote:Any of the legacy SCJA material (minus the Java EE and UML stuff) will help you prepare for the exam. Btw, all of Cameron McKenzie's exam prep material in particular is excellent.

Allow 2-6 months for studying and you should do just fine. Try to build a lot of programs with an IDE like NetBeans... that should help.

I am developing the Oracle-sponsored OCAJP7 book (http://www.amazon.com/Associate-Study-Guide-Oracle-Press/dp/0071789421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333320006&sr=8-1) that will be out shortly... any questions, please ask.

-- Robert

Hi Robert, I just wanted to say that I am just starting your book but really like it so far.

I just took the exam and scored 96%...which was such a relief!

I've been a Java programmer for about a year now....but this exam can be pretty tricky! They ask you questions about things you would never ever do in code...so you don't even know that they are valid and can be done! Like the fact that this is valid:
for (;;)

I bought Liguori's book to start with, which is a good primer and I like the questions at the end of each chapter. But I think what really did the trick is enthuware, it's excellent!! Neither the book or enthuware teach you HOW to program they just prepare you for what you will be tested on. Enthuware.com costs $9.95 and is worth every single penny. They have superb explanations for each question and not one single mistake in any of their 500 questions. And about half (or more) of the questions on the exam were exactly the same as the ones in enthuware.

I must add though, that I feel the exams in enthuware are harder than the real thing....I took all the Objective Test and Practice Tests, and I didn't pass any of the Standard tests! I was scoring about an average of 70%, until the very last one which I got 79%. Failing all the tests did make we work harder and hence I scored a 96%.

Now onto studying for the OCPJP....

Congrats,Nadia!. Did you see any Drag & Drop questions in the test?

Nadia Jahar wrote:I just took the exam and scored 96%...which was such a relief!

I've been a Java programmer for about a year now....but this exam can be pretty tricky! They ask you questions about things you would never ever do in code...so you don't even know that they are valid and can be done! Like the fact that this is valid:
for (;;)

I bought Liguori's book to start with, which is a good primer and I like the questions at the end of each chapter. But I think what really did the trick is enthuware, it's excellent!! Neither the book or enthuware teach you HOW to program they just prepare you for what you will be tested on. Enthuware.com costs $9.95 and is worth every single penny. They have superb explanations for each question and not one single mistake in any of their 500 questions. And about half (or more) of the questions on the exam were exactly the same as the ones in enthuware.

I must add though, that I feel the exams in enthuware are harder than the real thing....I took all the Objective Test and Practice Tests, and I didn't pass any of the Standard tests! I was scoring about an average of 70%, until the very last one which I got 79%. Failing all the tests did make we work harder and hence I scored a 96%.

Now onto studying for the OCPJP....

Congratulations on passing the exam! Also, thank you for tip on enthuware!

Thanks Kancharia. There weren't any Drag & Drop questions. I would say 75% of the exam is straightforward and the other 25% can be tricky, like the static main method calling an instance method. There were quite a few loop construct questions. Like having a while loop within a do-while loop as well as nested loops. Count on seeing inheritance questions. What I didn't see (not to say that it won't be on your exam) was primitive autoboxing or conversions with primitive wrappers. Nor did I have any questions with local or inner classes.

i recently came across this text and found it very thorough ... for beginners .. i found it very usefull ... good example and excercises

Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive Version - Y. Daniel Liang -

how about this book .. is it worth the crack ?!!
OCA Java SE 7 Programmer I Study Guide (Exam 1Z0-803) (Oracle Press)
Edward Finegan (Author), Robert Liguori
-------------

i hear people talking about this book but its not available yet ..

OCA/OCP Java SE 7 Programmer I & II Study Guide (Exams 1Z0-803 & 1Z0-804) (Certification Press)
Kathy Sierra (Author), Bert Bates (Author)

thanks for your help

Hi

I am planning to give OCA SE 7 Java Programmer Exam 1,

can anyone help me to clarify that the below given book would be good enough for preparation

Name : oracle_certified_associate_java_se_7_programmer_study_guide
Author : Richard M Reese
First published: August 2012
Production Reference: 1160812
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
Livery Place
35 Livery Street
Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-84968-732-4

Did anybody refer this book as part of their preparation for OCAJP exam ??

Regards
Rahul Parakkat

Devika Panchasara wrote:hi,

i am planning to give this OCA 7 exam next month...... but very confused because no proper material. can anyone help me please?
i had worked in java in my college, tht was before one year.. ...rit now all seems blank and m feeling like "OMG WHR IS THE WAY?"

please help.

Hi Devika,

Please follow the link,
Java Resources

Hope you get some good materials.

Post your comments , so that we can improve the blog.

With respect,
Anand

Hi Guys,


I am about to write ,OCAJP certification.By seeing the syllabus .I got few doubts regarding the following topics.


1-->What we need to prepare for Java Structure.?

2-->How far we need to prepare "JDBC" concepts,which he given in the syllabus?

Can some body let me know ,how far we need to prepare them and i just got bit of confusion by seeing them in syllabus.


Thanks in Advance

I don't think that anything about the JDBC API will be on the exam. OCA7 is supposed to be about to the very basics in Java like primitives, objects, abstract classes, interfaces, running Java from the command line, exception handling, etc.

I just finished reading the Robert Liguori/Edward Finegan OCA Java SE 7 guide and am going to purchase Enthuware's OCA 7 practice tests soon. Does anyone know if Enthuware's book tests differ from the computer based ones? Or are they the same?

(EDIT: I found out they are indeed the same!)

Thanks "Robert" your answer given me a clarity!

Anyone working on those Enthuware practice exams? I just took my first one and got a lovely 52% :O Looks like I've got more studying to do than I'd hoped!

I have a question: I have taken various pretests on the OCA SE 7 and I found a lot of "Given .... code .... " then multiple choice. I took the pretest for the Oracle OCA SE 7 Programmer l Study Guide (Exam 1Z0-803) by Edward Finegan and Robert Liquuori and there was not a lot of (not as many compared) these types of code evaluation. - The OCA pretest with book seemed to ask mostly "knowledge" based questions. i.e. "If a ClassA inherits ClassB, and ClassC is an interface....." that sort of thing.

My question is: which is it? Some one(s) who have taken the OCA SE 7, did you encounter a lot of code evaluation questions? I understand that there has to be some like this for inheritance, and polymorphism, and class objects...but other pretests (other than the OCA pretest with book that "claims" it is extremely close to actual exam) seems to ask half the exam at least on these type of questions.

I just do not want to be taken off guard. (I understand the questions come from a large code bank, and every test is different..just thought there would be a possible "standard")

Thanks in advance to all!

I came across this book while browsing the amazon kindle store,seems to be a great book for OCA SE7 Test preparation.
But most of all what interested me was it great value for money,it's attractively priced at $2.99.Yes, it's true for $2.99 you get 3 complete OCA Tests.I bet if anyone can beat that price.Oracle Certified Associate Java SE7 Programmer I (OCAJP) 1Z0-803 Mock Tests

dharam singhania wrote:I bet if anyone can beat that price.

The price is not a paramount attribute. Enthuware offers a great deal too, giving six mock exams for $10, also highly rated by community. I would rather wait for a couple of testimonials on that Amazon exams. I'm preparing now, so I'll check them out if I ever feel I need more questions. Thanks for the link, anyway

Anand Damodaran wrote:
Please follow the link,
Java Resources

Hope you get some good materials.

Post your comments , so that we can improve the blog.

With respect,
Anand

Anand thanks into my favorites

Robert Liguri, Mala Gupta & Enthuware are a great combo.

Can we expect questions from native, strictfp, transient, volatile in Associate Certification (OCAJP 7) ?

-Amit- Sharma wrote: Can we expect questions from native, strictfp, transient, volatile in Associate Certification (OCAJP 7) ?

With respect to valid keywords, yes, but not too much detail.

Thanks Paul

Bert Bates wrote:Hi Guys,

Check out the sticky thread at the top of this forum

Bert

Hi,

I am a newbie. I am planning to give OCA 7 certification exam. Just wanted to know, when can we expect OCA/OCP Java SE 7 Programmer I & II Study Guide (Exams 1Z0-803 & 1Z0-804) by Kathy Sierra, Bert Bates to be released.

Thanks in Advance,
Archiez