SCWCD 5.0 Tutorial: Certification Premier

SCWCD Certification Primer 

J2EE Certifications

J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) technology, unveiled by Sun Microsystems in 1999, has been widely accepted for its unmatched server side capabilities. Many vendors, such as IBM and BEA Systems, have come up with products for the J2EE platform. J2EE vendors represent nearly 90% of the application server market.

With the advancement and increasing presence of J2EE technologies, J2EE Certifications have also started evolving and adding great value to the careers of programmers, developers, and architects. The domain of J2EE Certifications has grown substantially, which is evident by a growing number of certification exams, increasing support by blue chip organizations like SUN, IBM, BEA and the increasing number of people pursuing these certifications.

Sun Certified Web Component Developer is one of most popular and valuable certifications in the domain of J2EE. This article will help you understand the objectives, preparation requirements, and resources available for this prestigious certification by Sun Microsystems.

Sun Certified Web Component Developer (SCWCD) Certification Exam

Exam background and its importance

Launched in August 2001 by Sun Microsystems, the Sun Certified Web Component Developer (SCWCD) Certification Exam has occupied a place of its own in the Web Components (especially JSP and Servlets) Developer Community. An effective measure of server side Java skills, this exam is becoming increasingly important for developers.

If you want to prove your competence 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 in your career.

Exam Info

Prerequisites - The first step towards SCWCD is SCJP (Sun Certified Java Programmer) Certification, which is the pre-requisite for this exam. You need to have a detailed and thorough understanding of issues involving the design, development, and implementation of various Java web components.

Objectives - The SCWCD exam tests your knowledge on various aspects of Java web components, especially JSPs, Servlets and JavaBeans. You need to have a detailed and thorough understanding of issues involving the design, development and implementation of various Java web components. The following are the objectives of the exam specified by Sun Microsystems:

1. Web application and HTTP basics
2. The Servlet Model
3. The Structure and Deployment of Modern Servlet Web Applications
4. The Servlet Container Model
5. Designing and Developing Servlets to Handle Server-side Exceptions
6. Designing and Developing Servlets Using Session Management
7. Designing and Developing Secure Web Applications
8. Designing and Developing Thread-safe Servlets
9. Session Management
10. The Java Server Pages (JSP) Technology Model
11. Designing and Developing Reusable Web Components
12. Creating JSP with EL (Expression Language)
13. Designing and Developing JSP pages Using JavaBean Components
14. Designing and Developing JSP pages Using Custom Tags
15. Designing and Developing a Custom Tag Library
16. Design Patterns
     .

Type of Questions - Like the SCJP Exam, the types of questions asked in the SCWCD exam are multiple choice (with one or more correct choices), fill in the blanks (also called short answer), and drag-n-drop (occasionally asked). Again, like the SCJP, if a multiple-choice question has more than one correct choice, it is explicitly stated in the question.

Time - The time allowed to complete this exam is 135 minutes, which is sufficient. Once again, like the SCJP, you are allowed to review the question(s) if you have some extra time towards the end.

Passing Score - You need to obtain at least 62% to be successful. The exam asks you 69 questions and you need to correctly answer at least 43.

Useful Resources

• Books - Preparatory books are valuable asset for any IT Certification preparation. Here are some recommended books for the SCWCD exam:
  • SCWCD Exam Study Guide by Wrox
  • SCWCD Exam Study Guide by Manning
  • Core Servlets by Marty Hall
  • Professional JSP by Wrox
  • Other recommended books
    
    
• Specifications - It is highly recommended that quality time be spent going through the JSP 1.2 and Servlets 2.3 specifications for this exam. You will find answers to many questions hidden in the specifications.
   
  
  
• WebServer - "Practice is Power" If your aim is to get an in-depth understanding of the objectives as well as scoring high on the exam, it is important for you to spend a lot of time writing lines of code focusing on various objectives.
  
  But where do I practice? Tomcat Apache Version 4.0 is the best platform to practice on. It adheres to the latest JSP 1.2 and Servlet 2.3 specifications and it is absolutely free. You can download it here: Tomcat 4.0
  
  
• Tutorials and Articles - There are numerous tutorials freely available on Java web components. The most reliable and recommended are those by Sun. Following is a list of some highly useful tutorials and articles for the SCWCD Exam:
  • JSP by Sun
  • Servlets by Sun
  • J2EE by Sun
  • Design Patterns by Sun
  • Web Component by Sun
  • Custom Tags by Sun
  • Taglibs by Jakarta
  • Listeners article by On Java
    
    
• Notes - Many people have contributed by sharing their preparation strategies and exam experience in the form of concise notes. Some of these useful notes are listed below:
  • Notes by Ken Zrobok
  • Exam Review by Marty Hall
  • Deployment Descriptor Tree by Ersin Eser
    
    
• J2EE Training - If you really want to gain expertise in the J2EE domain, check out the high quality J2EE training offered by The Middleware Company. You can also take a look at the Live, Instructor-led, Online Training for SCWCD, by Whizlabs Software.
  
  
• Mock Exams - After you have prepared with the appropriate books, browsed through the specifications, read the tutorials, articles and notes, you need to practice for the exam. What can be better than taking a mock exam? Unlike the SCJP, for which there are plenty of good mock exams available, there are only a handful of mock exams for the SCWCD Exam:
  • JavaRanch's mock exam
  • Eduardo Cobian's mock exam
  • Anand Chawla's mock exam
  • Mika Hirvasoja's mock exam
    
    
• Exam Simulator - Whizlabs offers SCWCD Exam Simulator to help prepare with less efforts and time. 
  
  
  

Yes, a Certification Test Simulator, which simulates the exam environment and gives you the best practice you can have before you appear for the exam.

SCWCD Certification Exam Simulator from Whizlabs Software, designed and developed by highly committed, experienced, and certified professionals, ensures your success in the exam with its High Quality Mock Tests, Interactive Quizzes, and Quick Revision Tips on the latest pattern of the SCWCD exam.

Tips and Tricks

• Practice each concept by writing the relevant code. It is even better if you conceptualize, develop, deploy, and test an application, which uses the concepts asked in the exam. A mock application using HTML, JSP, and Servlets designed using the patterns such as MVC should be of great help in understanding the most common concepts for this exam.
• The time available for the exam is generally sufficient. Try not to rush and devote sufficient time to each question.
• If you really want to obtain a good score, you should spend some time remembering various Deployment Descriptor elements, including the parent-child relationships between them. You should also know which of the elements are mandatory.
• Thread safety is considered to be one of the difficult areas for this exam. You must spend some valuable time and have thorough understanding of it.
• Although not mentioned in the exam objectives, you should have the basic understanding of the following design patterns:
  
  • Factory
  • Façade
  • Singleton
    
    

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:

• JavaRanch's Discussion Forum for the SCWCD Exam
• Marcus Green's Discussion Forum
  
  

About the Author

Pradeep Chopra is the co-founder of Whizlabs Software, an e-Learning organization focusing on IT Certification Exam Simulators. A graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Pradeep has been a consultant for IT Certifications and authored numerous IT Certification exam simulators, articles in J2EE certifications domain. You may find the following J2EE Certification Exam Simulators by Whizlabs of your interest: You can reach him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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