I started studying in September, spent over 30 hours doing practice exams until I was consistently getting over 90% scores, then took the test. I was quite surprised at how the test seemed harder than the practice exams I purcahsed from Sun. I had 3 different 70 question exams to practice over an over. It's possible that I started memorizing answers after doing each one several times but I can't possibly remember the answer to all 210 questions. My final score was lower than what I had hoped for, but I'm still happy that I passed it. This opens me up to several certification paths.

So what's the plan for 2007? Lets start in Dec 2006.

Dec 2006 Read as much of my Java Connector Architecture book necessary to write a JCA resource adapter for a system at work. JCA resource adapters are the standard way to integrate with an enterprise information system in J2EE. I have the interface written, but it is not wrapped in the standard JCA way. This may spill into January
Jan 2007 Start reading my book on object oriented analysis and design, and the unified process. This book will teach me formal procedures for requirements analysis and documentation, and the entire planning phase of a new system. No more spending a few hours or days partially planning then diving into the code.
Mid-late Feb 2007 Read my J2ME book for developing mobile applications (cell phones and PDAs). This is more of a fun thing, but it's possible I'll be using this knowledge at work in 2007. I don't expect to master it, just touch on it so when I come back to it a second time I have some clue on what to do. I'll be using NetBeans' mobility pack.
Mid-late March 2007 Read a rather short book on the Sun Certified Java Developer exam and aim to start the SCJD certification process by May.
May 2007 An updated version of the Sun Certified Enterprise Architect exam will be out, or at least a book on the new version. Once I'm done with SCJD, get this book and start studying. I will likely be ready for the exam by the end of August. This exam overlaps other books I've read and put into practice already such as EJB 3.0, and the OOA/D/UML book.
Sep 2007 Buy myself a Sun Ultra 20 workstation with Solaris 10 (UNIX). Read through the Sun Certified Solaris Administrator book. This time I don't really need the certification, but it's one of few books out there for Solaris 10. From my SCJP experience, the study guides are much more thorough than the usual books. (800 pages vs maybe 400-600 pages). If I'm capable enough, I'll take the exam before Christmas. Taking this exam is not a priority.

It's an agressive plan. These are the goals I've set for myself to become the Java guru I want to be. If I accomplish everything I set out to do then I will have had 2 full years of full time enterprise java experience, will have several certificates from Sun, and Solaris experience. This will pave the way for an awesome 2008. In 2008 I can focus all of my efforts on programming projects at home -- the things I've been wanting to write for years.

Tonight I did the same practice exam a second time after studying my mistakes from my last attempt. This time I got 81% but I am still quite dissapointed. I wrote down all of my mistakes and noticed that 7 of them were "stupid mistakes" from not paying full attention to detail. If I was paying more attention I could have gotten 91%! That's a huge improvement over my original attempt that scored 74%.

I'll study my notes tomorrow and the day after I'll try out the second practice exam. I suspect it will be harder than the first. I'll study my mistakes from it, do it again, then study my mistakes before the end of the week. I'll move onto the third practice exam doing the same for the week, then I'll be ready for the real test. This is exciting! It just sucks doing a 2.5 hour exam twice a week for 3 weeks, then having to do it again for the real test. Now I'm back to having a goal of 90% or better.

Today NetBeans 5.5 final version was released. This version gives you Java 1.5, EJB 3.0, enterprise pack, visual web pack, and a number of other enhancements. What's really exciting is that Visual Web Pack was released today as a Technical Preview. It hasn't been available for download until today. It is the visual web features of Sun Creator Studio turned into a NetBeans addon. Sun Creator Studio is a really neat web-tier visual JSF design tool built on top of NetBeans 4. By moving it into Visual Web Pack you get to use the same features but in the NetBeans 5.5 (java 1.5, ejb 3.0, etc) and you now have one IDE for everything. With 5.5 Sun has also moved the enterprise features from their Sun Enterprise Studio into a NetBeans addon. This gives you BPEL, visual XML schema designer, UML tools, and a couple more things. I really love this -- everything in a single IDE now.

Recently I purchased the SCJP practice exam from Sun. I get 180 days of unlimited usage. Tonight I tried it for the first time and got 74%. I'm dissapointed but this is the first time out of many many practice exams I'll do before the real one in a few weeks. This is encouraging to me because it means I would have passed. There are three practice exams you get to work with. If you do the same exam multiple times, it's always the same questions. I completed the first one. I wonder if they get progressively harder?

It took two months to get through the heavy 800 page book. Every page was full of information and every quiz question was a trick question. This is going to be a hard exam. The book comes with 2 free practice exams on CD, but after 2 it expires. I'm going to have to buy Sun's online practice exam for $99. Unlimited use for 90 days. I hope I can practice for 3 weeks and take the test on the 4th, before going on vacation on the 5th week.

In other news, we are FINALLY going to go live with the housekeeping module in one of our products with a client tomorrow. Well I install the new version tomorrow and configure it, and they go live the following day. I have been waiting 5 years for this very moment. Maybe it's been 6 now? The project fell victim to endless project creep, so much that it turned into a preventative maintenance system and housekeeping got put off for years. Once this works well, the product will no longer be beta. I wonder if we've broken a world record for longest product development/beta cycle? hahah

400 pages into my 800 page Sun Certified Java Programmer study guide. I think it's time go go back to the start and do all the self tests again to make sure I remember everything. It's simple and hard at the same time. It's weird. It's mostly stuff I know already, plus all the weird things you might not know. It's all very intesting. After I complete the book I'll get the practice exams right away, then do the real exam right after that before I forget anything :/

In other news, I've decided to take a vacation. I reached rock bottom burnout last week, though I've recovered a bit since. It would still be nice to take a vacation. I might go to a resort in the sun for a week.. like in the Caribbean. My mom is getting re-married Oct 9 in Jamaica. A while back I told her that I won't be going, and now just weeks later I'll be in that area too :/ I feel bad, but this wasn't planned. This burnout was the worst yet and I really need to get away for a while.

I haven't chosen a resort yet. It's going to be weird going by myself since I'm single. Unless I meet some girl down there, I'll be by myself the whole time. Oh well, the point is to relax and do nothing at all. Well, I'll swim in the ocean, snorkel, maybe scuba dive, read non-computer books, eat, drink, eat, eat and eat of course... it's all inclusive :) I think it will be tough but necessary to leave my laptop at home.