Prove What?

Grrrrr. That exam was annoying. Well, I should have known. Some of the rants:
1. There were no objectives at all.
I had no idea what topics the exam included. Only after the exam did the friggin app tell me what the topics were.

2. GUI !?!?! I/O ?!?!
GUI is fine, I guess. But AWT? Who still uses awt? You better port your programs or else….
I/O? Heehee. Good thing I still remember some.

*edit: Only after writing this blog did I realize I was tested for Java 1.2. Ugh. Hello. Java 6 is already on Beta 2 and your ‘latest’ exam is on Java 1.2

3. The code snippets were not aligned!
Goodness. The SCJP exam had their code samples properly aligned. The code samples in this exam were in jpg/bmp format, so you couldn’t blame the html/browser for the misalignment. Was it deliberate or they don’t know the coding standards? I managed to take some screenshots:

and

wouldn’t your eyes hurt after seeing code like those?

4. Typos, Missing Curlies (Curly Braces) and such.
There were so much typos, I couldn’t distinguish which ones were typos and which ones were deliberate. I just depended on the choices, on whether to consider it as a real typo or ‘deliberate’ typo.

5. You cannot review your answers.
When you proceed to the next question, you cannot come back to the previous ones. If there’s a question that you’re trying to remember the answer, you can’t skip it. It’s either you guess right now or take gazzillions of years trying to remember the answer. They suggested guessing the answer.

6. Questions that are incorrect/vague/weird.
This is by far the most annoying part. Here are some of the questions I managed to take snapshots of.

A. two buttons, with “Metal” and “Java” Labels
B. two overlapping buttons, the last with “Java” Label
C. two buttons, with “Java” and “Java” labels
D. only one button, with “Java” Label

* Hello. This would result in compiler error. Duh. Anyway, if you fixed the code so it would compile fine, what do you mean by “result of the code fragment”? Is it the logical result or the physical result? Basically, it still depends. Logically, it will just create 1 button with a “Java” label. However, if you simply add it into a component without setting the layout first (defaults to Border) then B is correct. If you add the components properly, then your gui should show two buttons, with “Java” and “Java” labels.

So I answered C. Okay, I might have overthought it. I think I should have answered D.

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*question is “With the following code, is it possible to create a class A object with the title member inited to null?” (Pic got cropped)
A. Yes, but only if the default constructor were added to this class
B. No, because this class has no default constructor
C. Yes, and only if “title” is not initialized in the bodies of either the provided constructors.
D. Yes
* If this were fill in the blanks, I would have answered “No. Because it lacks a curly brace”. But then again, it’s not one of the answers. Can someone help me with this? I honestly don’t understand. Did they mean:private String title = null;What’s the issue with the default constructors, then? You can create an object of A anytime you like. Well, assuming you invoke the right constructors.A a = new A (“whatever”);
A a2 = new A(“whatever”, 0);

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A. Prints “a and b are different” because a and b point to strings which are different for letter casing and Java is case-sensitive
B. Prints “a and b are the same” because the “==” operator is overridden in the String class
C. Prints “a and b are different”, and it should do the same with any value
D. Prints “a and b are the same”, and it should do the same with any value
* I answered C, but it should be “with any value inside the new String(“xxx”)”. a==b will result to true if String a = “John” and String b = “John”

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* All of them. Hello. Not one of those will throw an EXCEPTION… because all of them won’t compile at all (Except the first one – it’s fine).

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Fine, fine. I might have overthought some of the questions.It went fine, I guess. I got 35/38 == 92%. The global average of this certain exam is 68%. Not bad.* Might I say I still dislike wordpress for stripping off my line breaks? Annoying! I keep on editing the text on WYSIWYG and HTML but it keeps stripping off the line breaks!!!*

What’s better than a Sun Certification for Java? [notice the sarcasm]

Apparently, proveit.com (At least for some recruiter). One recruiter asked me to answer one of the tests on the said site.

I told her, I’m already Sun Certified. [I thought: Is there any other certification better than the maker of Java which certifies I know Java?]

Then she goes blah, blah, blah, we need to find a perfect match, blah, blah, blah. She was nice and all, but I just can’t help but to get somewhat annoyed.

Actually, I might be just concerned that I won’t get a high score on that exam. The annoying part is that there are no objectives/topics. Gosh. FIle I/O? Networking? Uh-oh… It’s been years since I last used those. The exam just says “Java 2″. Uhmm… well… ok.
Oh well, let’s see tomorrow.

So now you decide to appear….

Grrr… a day after I ordered my stuff from Amazon, that a9 pi/2 discount appeared. I checked their FAQ and it said:

“Once you join and use A9.com for at least eight days each month you will automatically be eligible for the A9 Instant Reward.”

Hello? According to my history on a9, it’s my tenth day already. Would have saved around $2.50. Haha.
Oh yeah, before I forget, I hate you Ozzie for letting me borrow your Amazon Prime… grrr… makes me want to order a lot of stuff. Bad, bad, bad! (I need to go outside and go to the real stores you know. Teehee)

Head First into shallow waters…

I recently bought 3 books from Amazon. These books are the Servlets and JSP, EJB and Design Patterns from the Head First Series. My Ozzie introduced me to Kathy Sierra & Bert Bates’ books by letting me borrow his Sun Certified Programmer and Developer 2 [I got a great score, btw] and then the Head First books.
What I love about the Head First Series is that it introduces you to topics in a fun and entertaining way – through a conversational tone and lots of pictures.
What I dislike about the HF books is that if you’re already experienced and only trying to review on the concepts — it will take you some time to get to the point. I’ve also read the Head First Java and quite honestly, when I read it, it wasn’t that good. (Contents are great, but the structure is not that good. The Sun Certified Programmer and Developer 2 or SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide is better, IMHO [same authors])

Right now I’m *trying* to review for the SCWCD (using HF Servlets and JSP), but I can’t. The book somewhat annoys me. I need straight-to-the-point answers. It was great when I read it the first time, but now when I’m just trying to review concepts, I’m better off with another book.
HF books are really great for beginners. But if you’re experienced, it might annoy you, like it does to me.

There’s a new book coming out in September. So, am I going to buy it? Yep, I’m already contemplating on whether or not to preorder it.

Why? Because HF books are also great bedtime books! (Hello?!? Who doesn’t read on EJBs, Servlets & JSP and Design Patterns before they go to sleep? It’s so… exciting!)

I just wish they’d create a new one: Head First Java Security. It’s such a boring, dry topic. No, please don’t get me started.

How not to apply for a job…

I applied for a Java/J2EE Developer position from Dice.com and Monster.com. After so and so years of experience (hmmm…6-7 years in Java, but not all in the industry) recruiters wanted to hire me for mid-level to senior-level positions. I have been getting calls from a lot of recruiters. Even the ones I didn’t apply for (someone wanted to hire me for EDI — I really wanted to forget EDI… and SAP!)

The problem? I’m not ready yet. I’ve been here for roughly 2 weeks. I applied last Wednesday, expecting to get calls next week. I am so dead wrong. I got calls right after I submitted my profile. I’m still on vacation mode. ^_^ Give me another day!
It is soooo different from applying for jobs in the Philippines. Leave them a message now and if you’re lucky, you’ll get a call in a week or so.

Java developers are very in demand here, but you have to have prior experience. So far, recruiters are liking my resume. I knew SA and webteam work will come in handy. (Because you know, part-time/intern work here is also crucial)

I don’t answer the calls yet, I let them leave a message on my voicemail. I will call back on Monday. I hope the opportunities they present will still be available next week.
So there, never post your resume when you’re not ready yet.

Jet Lag is Good for Me

I arrived here in Texas Last July 6. Since then I’ve been sleeping at around 11pm-12mn and waking up at around 6-7am… without an alarm clock! I don’t do the “5 minutes” snooz anymore.

Nice.

(Well, actually it’s maybe because I look forward to chatting with my Ozzie every day. I miss him.)

Fickle-minded

Okay, I changed my mind. I’m going to blog here instead. I don’t know why, I’m happy with blogger. I just woke up and said, I’ll use wordpress instead.