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
- 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.
Useful Resources
- Head First Servlets and JSP by Bryan Basham, Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates – Expected to be published in June 2004
- SCWCD Exam Study Guide by Hanumant Deshmukh, Jignesh Malavia and Jacquelyn Carter – Although this book is for the SCWCD 1.3 exam, it still helps you to cover most of the basic concepts
- Core J2EE Patterns – 2nd Edition by Deepak Alur
- Core Servlets – 2nd Edition by Marty Hall
- Professional JSP – 3rd Edition by Simon Brown
- Other recommended books
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.
- JSP by Sun
- Servlets by Sun
- J2EE by Sun
- Design Patterns by Sun
- Custom Tags by Sun
- JSTL 1.1 reference
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
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:
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.
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.
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