Way for SJCP certification

There're many people trying to prepare themself for the SCJP. That's a good idea to put yourself to the test although the problem is where to find resources. If you've decided to make (and even pass) SCJP 5 you'll find that there is only limited number of mock exams, user experience and so on.
For this purpose here is my list of sites, tools and tutorials which are worth to take or just explore. Remember - every mock test you pass, everything you try to program, everything what you read - it counts ! Finally bear in mind - reading is NOT enough - you need hands on experience as most of the questions troubleshoot java code.
SCJP 5 is dedicated to Java 5 and basically is more defficult then SCJP 1.4.
First step you definitely must take is visiting Sun's Java certification site. Read carefully certification objectives and try to prepare only for objectives mentioned there - stay focused on a target and everything will be all right !
Next, read this PDF - it contains a lot of useful information on the test - but until you feel you're ready don't complete questions. Save them for last week before assesment and be noticed that many of questions indicates wrong number if correct answers so it's better to find correct answer by compiling given code.
There is a list of useful links to many mock exams on Javaranch Almost all of them are very easy even if their authors claim them to be tough !
A huge community is around Java black belt site. Worth to take some question specifically some from SCJP section. Note that these question are mantained by volunteer so the quality of questions (except for my question) differ from one another !
It's good to take some questions at Examulator. After your correct answer on question of the day, you can take comprehensive test of 60 more questions. But they're quite easy ...
And that's all folks. If you want to score high and willing to spend some money ($59) download exam simulator from Whizlab. Many questions are buggy but the difficulty level is very close to the real test ! It's good to make at least 80%.
So, let's get certified :-)

I'm certified :-)

At last, I'm certified. It took me almost two months, lot of dreamless nights, weekends in front of computer etc. but finally it paid off. And what to do next ? On friday I'll give a presetantion on Java EE 5 (specificaly EJB3 and beyond).
And my next challanges ?
1)Wicket - as I said before, I really like it and want to get more and more from this fantastic framework.
2)OCA - I'd like to achieve Oracle certified associate. Hopefuly I'll be certified in three to four months (at june/july).
For now on - there is Java EE 5 and then Wicket. Means lot of work and no time for boring :-)

Now I'm running 80% ! And more on my progress with Wicket ...

Yes, it's been a week you don't listen from me. But now the waiting is over .-) I'm still prepering for SJCP5 certification test and as a sideeffect I've recently gained Java yellow belt - After all the misery with Whizlab's test suite I'm passing on roughly 80 % - it could quarantee 90% at real tests, but who knows. I know, I have my weaknesses though hopefully I'll pass the test. Anyway, the JavaBlackBelt initiative is quite impressive - check it out at http://www.javablackbelt.org/! I'm sure you'll find many interesting issues you don't even know about Java language !
Now for the Wicket framework. It's really what I want. I'm definitely surprised - those guys doing things the way I would do. Of course - to learn a new framerk as Wicket is painful and means to spend a lot of night sleepless but the result is fantastic. I'll keep on learning and I'll surely post some code snippets from my application. If you want to know more on Wicket proceed here.
So enough for today, I'll keep the rest for tomorrow :-)

Still running on 50 %

Mock test. These from Whizlab are tough one. I don't know why, but I can pass any test, but this. The questeions are difficult and what's more - they're artificialy difficult. Most of the questions are poorly formated so even to recognize code take a lot of time. That's why I hate them and why I hope that the real question will be better to understand and if they will even harder then the hardnest will be managed by clearer approach - no fog over the code. For example take a look at this snippet:

interface Counter {
  private int countToFive () 
   {
  int a;   
  for (a = 1;a<5;a++)
  System.out.printf("counting" + a);
}

   }
class Beta 
{
public static void main (String ... args)
Counter c = new Counter () {
public countToFive () {
  for (int a = 0;a<6;a++)
  System.out.printf("counting" + a);
}
}; c.countToFive();
      }}

What a mess !

Preparing for certification

Sometimes you may consider yourself as a good programmer. So as I. And that was the reason why I have desided to put myself to the test. But after three crucial weeks of preparation I realize how hard is to answer all the qestions. of course, I'm using mock question from all over the globe (mostly located on JavaRanch) and for "close to reality" or even "harder then reality" I'm using mock question provided by Whizlab. Thay give a 150% pass certification garantee - it's only trick. When you ask people "god like difficult" question you can be sure, that those who will pass the test for them the real test will be a child game :-) Now I know my weaknesses (generics, formatters & scanners, exceptions) and I'm learning. And I'll be ready for test two weeks later hopefully ... :-) Till that - good bye Wicket, bye bye EJB3 !