Chapter 1

The OCPJP 7 Exam: FAQ

The singular acronym of the OCPJP 7 exam is shorthand for two separate but congruent exams:

•The Java SE 7 Programmer II exam (exam number 1Z0-804)

•The Upgrade to Java SE 7 Programmer exam (exam number 1Z0-805)

These two exams are alternative paths to the same certification. The 1Z0-804 and 1Z0-805 exams both qualify the candidates who pass them for the same credential: Oracle Certified Professional, Java SE 7 Programmer (OCPJP 7). This book prepares you to take the OCPJP 7 exams.

The 1Z0-804 exam syllabus (given in full in Appendix A) consists of twelve topics, mapping to the titles and subjects of Chapters 3–14 of this book. This book serves equally as preparation for the 1Z0-805 exam, whose six topics map to Chapters 5–6 and 9–14 of this book (see Appendix A).

In this preliminary chapter, we address the frequently asked questions (FAQs) that are apt to come to mind when you are preparing for the OCPJP 7 exam. Again, the term “OCPJP 7 exam” should be taken in the sense of encompassing both variants of the exam, the 1Z0-804 and 1Z0-805. The course of study, model questions, and practice tests presented in this book will prepare you equally well to take either one. Which variant of the OCPJP 7 exam you take will depend on your existing credentials, as explained below.

The FAQs we present in this chapter answer concerns such as the placement of OCPJP 7 certification in the suite of Oracle Java certifications, the difficulty level and prerequisites of the OCPJP 7 exam, the scope of the topics on

the OCPJP 7 exam syllabus, the depth of the preparation for it, and the details of registering for and taking the exam. Broadly, this chapter consists of three sections:

•Oracle Java Certifications: Overview: FAQs 1–6 survey Oracle’s various Java exams as they map onto Java certifications. It focuses in particular on the OCAJP 7 exam, because the Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 7 Programmer (OCAJP 7) credential is a prerequisite for OCPJP 7 certification via the 1Z0-804 exam.

•The OCPJP 7 Exam: FAQs 7–15 concern the objectives of the OCPJP 7 exam, the kinds of questions on it, and the details about the preparation for it.

•Taking the OCPJP 7 Exam: FAQs 16, 17, and 18 cover the nuts and bolts of registering for exam, the various things you need to do on the day of the exam, and actually taking the exam.

Oracle Java Certifications: Overview

FAQ 1. What are the different levels of Oracle Java certification exams?

Table 1-1 shows four ascending expertise levels of Oracle exams (Associate, Professional, Expert, and Master) matched with examples of Java certifications at those levels, together with the qualifying exams by name and number.

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Chapter 1 ■The OCPJP 7 Exam: FAQ

Table 1-1.  Oracle Certification Levels with Examples of Corresponding Java Exams (OPCJP 7 exam, in bold)

Pictorially, Java exams offered by Oracle and their path can be observed in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1.  Java certification path offered by Oracle

FAQ 2. Can you compare the specifications of the 1Z0-803, 1Z0-804, and 1Z0-805 exams in relation to OCAJP 7 and OCPJP 7 certification?

Yes, see Table 1-2.

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Building Database

Applications with JDBC

Threads

Concurrency

Localization

Note 1: In the Cost row, the given USD cost of the exams is approximate as actual cost varies with currency of the country in which you take the exam: $300 in US, £202 in UK, Rs. 8,500 in India, etc.

Note 2: The Exam Topics row lists only the top-level topics. Note that the 1Z0-804 and 1Z0-805 exams share certain high-level topic names—such as “Java File I/O (NIO.2),” “Concurrency,” and “Localization”—but that the subtopics are not identical between the two exams. The subtopics of the 1Z0-804 and 1Z0-805 exams are listed in Appendix A.

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Chapter 1 ■The OCPJP 7 Exam: FAQ

FAQ 3. OCAJP 7 certification is a prerequisite for OCPJP 7 certification via the 1Z0-804 exam. Does that mean that I have to take the OCAJP 7 exam before I can take the OCPJP 7 exam?

No, requirements for certification may be met in any order. You may take the OCPJP 7 exam before you take the OCAJP 7 exam, but you will not be granted OCPJP 7 certification until you have passed both the 1Z0-803 exam and the 1Z0-804 exam—unless you are eligible to take and pass the 1Z0-805 exam, for which OCAJP 7 certification is not a prerequisite.

FAQ 4. Is OCPJP 7 prerequisite for other Oracle certification exams?

Yes, OCPJP 7 is prerequisite for many other exams, such as

•Java Enterprise Edition 5 Web Component Developer Certified Professional Exam (1Z0-858)

•Oracle Certified Master, Java SE 6 Developer exam (1Z0-855 and 1Z0-856)

FAQ 5. Should I take the OCPJP 7 or OCPJP 6 exam?

Although you can still take exams for older certifications such as OCPJP 6, OCPJP 7 is the best professional credential to have.

FAQ 6. How does the Oracle OCPJP 7 exam differ from the OCPJP 6 and OCPJP 5 exams (and the previous Sun versions SCJP 6 and SCJP 5)?

Short answer: The OCPJP 7 exam is tougher and covers more topics.

Long answer: Here is a short list of differences between the OCPJP 7 exam (1Z0-804) versus the OCPJP 6 and OCPJP 5 exams (1Z0-851 and 1Z0-853, respectively) and the SCJP 5 and SCJP 6 exams (the former Sun Microsystems versions of the OCPJP 6 and OCPJP 5 exams, leading to Sun Certified Java Programmer 6 and 5 certifications):

•Like the former SCJP 6/SCJP 5 exams, the OCPJP 6 and 5 exams cover language fundamentals and some of the common APIs involving strings, arrays, and so on. At the Java SE 7 level, most of these topics have been moved to the OCAJP 7 exam, which is the prerequisite for OCPJP 7 certification through the 1Z0-804 exam path. Note that some questions in OCAJP 7 have the same difficulty level as OCPJP 7 questions.

•The OCPJP 7 exam covers more topics than the OCPJP 6 and 5 exams and their Sun predecessors, including JDBC, localization, NIO.2, and concurrency APIs.

•OCPJP 7 also covers new features of Java SE 7, including try-with-resources statements, new APIs in JDBC, string-based switches, and binary literals.

•The questions in the OCPJP 7 exam are tougher than those asked in the OCPJP 6 and 5 exams and their Sun predecessors.

•The OCPJP 7 exam has only multiple-choice questions, whereas the retired SCJP exams also had interactive questions (drag-and-drop, match-the-options, etc.).

The differences between the OCPJP 6 and OCPJP 7 exams are summarized in Table 1-3.

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