Sun Java Certification

If you are java newbie starting to learn java then you may be wondering where to start. You may be overwhelmed hearing so many jargon like java 1.4, java 1.5, J2EE, EJB, Servlet, Struts, Spring, Hibernate etc.Java is so wide and diverse that you need a good road map, other wise you may get lost and frustrated.

Here is what is recommended to learn Java and and get certified:

• Learn Java fundamentals
• Learn about some basic tools like Eclipse editor.
• Start learning about J2EE starting with servlets and jsp.
• Get a basic idea about EJB.
• Learn widely used Java framework like Struts, Spring and Hibernate.
• Design patterns and web and distribute application architecture.
• Get familiar with XML.
• Read about web service and Java support for web service.
• Give Sun Certified Java Programmer Exam

Learn Java fundamentals:
To get started, you should get familiar with basic Java. This includes basic programming constructs (data type, variable declaration, for & while loops etc). With this knowledge you can start writing simple Java programs.

Since Java is a pure object oriented language, now is the time to get some basics about object oriented paradigm. Try to learn about inheritance, polymorphism, interfaces etc and how to use them in Java.

To make your Java program more robust and to write real world programs you need knowledge of Java exception handling, I/O mechanism, Collections and Threads.Once you have learnt the above things, you will get a good understanding of the Java fundamentals.

Also start using a good Java editor to write and build you Java program. use good eidtor like Eclipse open source editor which is free and has good support for Java. You may want to get some idea about good build tools like Ant which can be very useful especially for big projects. You should always follow good coding standards so that programs are easy to understand and maintain. Sun has a good coding convention for Java. And don't forget to write unit tests for your programs. Unit test help you to catch bugs in your code so that you can make your code more robust. Also they make your program more maintainable - if in future either you or your friend makes some modification in the program he can run the unit tests to make sure that he is not breaking anything. You can use JUnit to write your unit tests.

J2EE And building web.

After getting a decent knowledge about Java basic, you can start learning J2EE. J2EE enables developing real world applications. Start with learning about Servlets and then move on to JSP. Learn how to create web applications using Servlets and JSP. Spend a little time just getting an overview about EJB. You may need to work with EJB later, but it is recommended not to spend much time learning EJB until you definitely know that you are going to use them. But for now getting a brief overview of EJB and knowing what are the pros and cons of using EJB should be sufficient.

There are a lot of frameworks in J2EE world. Different people have their own favorites. Actually there are so many frameworks that there is no end to learning frameworks. But it is better to learn three of the most popular ones: Struts & Spring which are application framework and Hibernate which is a data persistence framework.

An important part of building good application is writing well designed code. Good design helps us to understand the code better, enables us to modify/extend functionality relatively easily while minimizing the impact on the existing code and hence makes the code more maintainable. Extensibility and maintainability are very important because eventually majority of your time will be spent maintaining the application you write. Good design skills will come from experience. But a good way to kick start it is by learning design patterns. I would recommend learning two kinds of design patterns: a) General patterns (also known as GOF patterns) And J2EE related patterns. GOF patterns will help you to write good object oriented code. While J2EE patterns are extension of the GOF pattern for building web or distributed application using J2EE technology.

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