update my Java certification

I ordered Kathy Sierra’s “Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide”. It’s one of those big thick computer books that includes a CD. It’s the “NEW EDITION from the co-creators of the exam”, but it’s a little daunting. The study guide I used for the Java 1.2 exam was a quarter of the size, but it prepared me fairly well (along with taking a few sample tests). But scanning the book should be useful, and taking the test exams will be essential. Perhaps a target date for taking the exam by Sep 1 will fit in with everything else.

.. back in 2002. I had been comfortable looking things up and using templates when I wrote my Java code, taking the certification has made it possible to write code without an IDE if necessary. And there were corners of the language that I never investigated that have been useful. A great deal has changed since 2002, especially in Java 5. Taking the latest exam would be useful to be fluent in the use of the new features.