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J2EE (484) Certification Primer |
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| Pursuing IBM Enterprise Connectivity (000-484) Exam |
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Seema Manivannan ( )
Author, Whizlabs J2EE (484) Certification Preparation Kit
Demand for Enterprise Java development skills has been growing over the years. Numerous companies are taking advantage of the stability and robustness of the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) architecture. The IBM Enterprise Developer certification offering targets enterprise developers responsible for designing, creating and maintaining Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) 1.3 components, deploying and configuring these components, and supporting the development of application clients that access them. The IBM 484 Enterprise Connectivity exam is one of the four exams to be cleared before you can become an IBM Certified Enterprise Developer. |
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This exam is suitable for you if you belong to any of these categories:
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An enterprise developer, developing and configuring the existing applications or a part of the team designing new applications. |
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You are an aspiring programmer trying to upgrade yourself to the latest cutting edge technologies. |
You need to possess a solid understanding of the important elements of the J2EE architecture, and how to develop complex multi-tier business applications using sound coding techniques and best design strategies.
The knowledge domain covered by this exam is very vast. You should possess thorough knowledge of the EJB, JSP and Servlets technologies. You also need to have basic knowledge of the J2EE Connectivity technologies including JMS, JDBC, JCA, JAXP and JAAS. Apart from the technical details, the candidate is expected to be well versed in the best practices, design patterns and pitfalls of designing and developing a J2EE application. |
The test consists of 56 Multiple Choice Questions to be completed in 90 minutes. The required passing score is 63%.
The main test objectives are summarized as:
Section 1 - Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) Architecture (18%)
Section 2 - Web Component Development (19.5%)
Section 3 - Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) Development (27%)
Section 4 - Client Development (9%)
Section 5 - Connectivity Services (19.5%)
Section 6 - Assembly and Deployment (7%)
For a detailed listing <click here> |
As part of your work, you might have worked with a few of the J2EE technologies. However, very few people will be experts in all the technologies, which are tested by this exam. So you will need to put in some extra effort for this exam, as compared to exams that focus on a single technology.
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The first objective expects you to have experience in designing and implementing complex distributed applications. You should know when to apply appropriate best practices and design patterns. Given a problem definition, you must be able to choose the suitable pattern and technologies that can attain the desired results. The best way to prepare for this section is by reading the following books. Designing Enterprise Applications with the J2EE Platform (see Resources) Core J2EE Patterns: Best Practices and Design Strategies (see Resources) |
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The second objective deals with Web Component Development - here you need to know everything about components present in the Web Tier e.g. Servlet and JSP. If you have cleared the Sun Certified Web Component Developer exam, then this section would not be difficult for you. Make sure you know the purpose of the Model-View-Controller architecture and how it works. Pay particular attention to the various event listener types, filters and session handling techniques.
The following books are recommended for preparation.
More Servlets and JavaServer Pages by Marty Hall (see Resources)
Java Servlet Programming (2nd Edition) By Jason hunter (see Resources) |
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The third objective is the most important in the sense that, in the exam, the percentage of questions from this objective is the highest (27%). If you have cleared the Sun Certified Business Component Developer exam, then tackling these questions would be a cakewalk for you. The questions are less complex and focused on the basic concepts. Be clear about how exception handling and transactional behavior is implemented in Enterprise Java Beans.
For beginners, the best book would be 'Head First EJB' by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates.
For more advanced concepts, check out 'Enterprise Java Beans Third Edition' by Richard Monson Haefel and 'Mastering Enterprise Java Beans Second Edition' by Ed Roman. |
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For the fourth objective, you have to be experienced in implementing the client tier of enterprise applications. You should be aware of the concepts and syntax in order to use JNDI for looking up enterprise beans, environment entries, resource factories and administered objects.
You can get relevant information from the third chapter of "Designing Enterprise Applications with the J2EE Platform". Refer to the 6th and 9th chapters of the EJB 2.0 Specifications to learn about the client view of enterprise beans. |
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The fifth objective takes the most preparation time in the sense that it covers a set of J2EE Connectivity technologies. There will not be more than 2-3 questions about each technology, and the questions are quite straightforward and mostly focus on the basic concepts. You can find lots of useful links on the net for JAAS, JAXP and JMS. However, there are very few resources available for JCA and the JDBC 2.0 standard extension features. Check out the resources section below for the best preparation material available on the net for each of the topics. |
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The sixth objective concerns all the packaging and deploying aspects of J2EE applications. You need to know where to place the various components used by the modules of an EAR file, how to provide the configuration information of the application in the deployment descriptor and so on. You can refer to the seventh chapter of the book "Designing Enterprise Applications with the J2EE Platform" for a detailed discussion of this topic.
Unlike other certification exams, there are very few study notes and mock exams available for the Enterprise Connectivity exam. IBM provides a sample Test for 484 that is available from http://ibmtesting.prime.prometric.com. The sample exam used to be free for all, till recently.
Whizlabs Software will be releasing the Preparation Kit Software for the exam, you can
download the free trial version here. Here you can find some sample questions from the simulator. |
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Question 1
Which of the following statements are true?
Choices:
A. HttpServletResponse provides a method to send a temporary redirect response to the client.
B. HttpServletRequest provides a method to check if session state is maintained using cookies.
C. HttpSession provides a method to unbind all the objects bounded to it, without ending the session.
D. HttpServletContext provides a method to return a RequestDispatcher object for a resource located in a particular path.
E. ServletConfig returns a reference to the corresponding user session.
Correct Choice:
Choices A and B are the correct answers.
Explanation:
The HttpServletResponse provides the sendRedirect() method, which sends a temporary redirect response to the client using the specified redirect location URL. So choice A is correct. Choice B is also correct because the HttpServletRequest defines the isRequestedSessionIdFromCookie() method, which checks whether the requested session ID came in as a cookie. If this method returns true, it means that the session is being maintained using the session id cookie. HttpSession does not provide any method to unbind all the objects bound to it, without ending the session. The invalidate() method of HttpSession invalidates the session and unbinds the bound objects. So choice C is incorrect. Choice D is incorrect because there is no interface named HttpServletContext. The ServletContext does provide the getRequestDispatcher() method, which returns the RequestDispatcher object. Choice E is incorrect because ServletConfig does not provide any method to get a reference to the session.
Question 2
Your application needs to support customers searching for a list of books based on some information entered in a JSP page. The matching result set can be quite large. Which of the following is the best way to return the query results to the client?
Choices:
A. Invoking finder methods of remote entity beans
B. Using a session facade to get the data from remote entity beans
C. Implementing a Value List Handler pattern which uses a Data Access Object
D. Implementing a Value List Handler pattern which uses JDBC
E. Invoking the EJB select methods of remote entity beans
Correct Choice:
Choice C is the correct answer
Explanation:
The Value List Handler pattern is used when we want to provide the clients with an efficient search and iterate mechanism over a large result set. A small quantity of data is returned multiple times iteratively rather than returning large amount of data at once to the client. So, if the client displays the first few results and then abandons the query, the network bandwidth is not wasted, since the data is cached on the server side and never sent to the client as a whole. Application performance can often be improved by caching value lists. Data Access Object encapsulates the JDBC access logic. Value List Handler caches list of Value objects that are retrieved through DAO. So choice C is correct and choice D is incorrect. The practice of getting a list of values represented in entity beans by calling an ejbFind method which returns a collection of remote objects, then calling each entity bean to get the value is very network expensive and considered a bad practice. So choice A is incorrect. Though using a session bean as a facade to entity beans is usually done, it would still cause bulk data to be sent to the client without caching on the server. So it is not the best option here, which makes choice B also incorrect. EJB select methods allow the entity bean to use the select query internally to search for dependent objects, values, and other related entity beans. The results of a select query are available to the entity bean for its own use and are not exposed to the clients. So choice E is also incorrect. While the Value List Handler pattern was originally created to maximize performance in remote architectures, it is appropriate for local architectures as well. For more information <click here> |
The job market is seeking qualified, expert professionals for handling mission critical Enterprise Java applications. Certification provides an industry recognized proof that the individual is competent enough to handle the responsibilities in the concerned area. This IBM exam, designed to validate your skill and proficiency in the Enterprise Connectivity technologies, can help you stay ahead in the game.
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Seema Manivannan has a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical and Electronics and a PG in Advanced Computing from C-DAC. Her work experience of over six years includes software development, teaching and content development in Java and related technologies. She holds IBM 484, SCJP, SCWCD and SCBCD certifications. She is the author of the Whizlabs IBM 484 Preparation Kit and the co-author of the Sun certification exam simulators. She is an experienced corporate trainer and conducts Instructor-led online trainings for the SCJP, SCWCD and SCBCD exams for Whizlabs.
You can reach her at .
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