The Sun Certified Web Component Developer (SCWCD) exam is very popular today as its content is perhaps most relevant to what J2EE developer actually work on day in day out. Servlets, JSP and web applications is bread and butter for many and so it makes sense to get really good at these technologies and also get certified in them. In this article, Sivasundaram Umapathy gives an introduction to the exam and pointers to successfully pass the test.

The Sun Certified Web Component Developer 1.4. Exam Background and its Importance

Sivasundaram Umapathy ()
Author, Whizlabs SCWCD 1.4 Certification Exam Simulator

In March 2004, Sun Microsystems launched a new version of their existing Sun Certified Web Component Developer 1.3 (SCWCD 1.3) exam, which tests the web component development according to the latest J2EE 1.4 specification. The old version will co-exist and a separate upgrade is also available (exam code:CX-310-082).?

What's new in SCWCD 1.4?

The SCWCD 1.4 exam adds new objectives such as Expression Language, JSTL, and Tag files and revamps the existing objectives to test the new techniques introduced in JSP 2.0 and Servlets 2.4 specifications. Also some objectives such as SingleThreadedModel, which are deprecated now, have been removed from the exam, thereby making the exam more current and at par with the latest trends. The exam as such has changed in terms of increased toughness, more code-oriented rather than directly testing the concepts, and adds new types of questions like Drag N Drop.

Which one to go for: SCWCD 1.3 or SCWCD 1.4?

If this is your first attempt, it's better to go for the SCWCD 1.4 as the increased toughness and testing of latest technologies means more value addition to your career. If you are already an SCWCD 1.3, you can either take up the SCWCD 1.4 immediately or wait for the upgrade exam from Sun, which will be released soon. This exam will help as an effective measure of your server side Java skills and hence become increasingly important for developers. If you want to prove your competency 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 to your career.