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A.2 Registering for the Exam

The exam is administered through a company called Prometric . They provide computer-based testing services for a wide variety of clients . Prometric has more than 4,800 testing centers located in 121 countries around the world. The test is paid for through the purchase of vouchers. An exam voucher must be obtained before signing up for the test at a local testing center.

Obtaining an Exam Voucher

Exam vouchers are sold by Sun Educational Services. Some testing centers may be able to help in obtaining a voucher for the exam. If not, you can obtain one by calling Sun Educational Services. The main number for Sun Educational Services in the United States and Canada is (800) 422-8020.

Be sure to obtain the correct voucher for the programmer exam. The test number for the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform 1.4 is CX-310-035 . Sun will need credit card information to arrange payment. The cost of the voucher vary, depending on the country you live in. For US residents it costs $150.

Sun will send the voucher as soon as the credit information has been verified . The voucher is sent by FedEx, and will normally arrive within one business day.

It is important to take good care of the voucher, as it is needed when signing up for the test at Prometric. Note that your voucher has an expiration date, usually of 6 to 12 months. Neither Sun nor Prometric will replace lost or expired vouchers, nor will they offer refunds for unused vouchers.

Signing up for the Test

After obtaining the exam voucher, Prometric can be called to sign up for the test by making an appointment at one of the local testing centers.

Contact Information

Both Sun and Prometric have offices and associates around the world that can provide information about the exam. They can be contacted to purchase a voucher or sign up for the test.

The best way to find contact information and local testing centers is to visit their Web sites at:

Sun Educational Services

http://suned.sun.com/

Prometric

http://www.prometric.com/

After taking the Exam

Those passing the exam will immediately receive a temporary certificate. Prometric will inform Sun Educational Services about the passing of the exam, and Sun will send a permanent certificate by mail, which should arrive within a few weeks.

A.3 How the Examination Is Conducted

The Testing Locations

When a candidate shows up at the local testing center at the appointed time, she will be escorted to her own little cubicle with a desktop computer. The test will be conducted in this cubicle , using a testing program on the computer. The program will ask questions, record answers, and tabulate scores.

Candidates will not be allowed to bring personal belongings or food with them to the cubicle. During the exam, candidates will be allowed to make notes on a single piece of paper, but they will not be allowed to take these notes with them after the exam. Quite often the exam area is fitted with security cameras .

Utilizing the Allotted Time

The exam consists of 61 questions, which must be answered within 2 hours. The questions vary in difficulty. Some are easy and some are hard. With about 2 minutes on average to answer each question, the candidate cannot afford to get stuck on the hard questions. If the answer does not become apparent within a reasonable time, it is advisable to move on to the next question. Time permitting, it is possible to return to the unanswered questions later.

An experienced Java programmer used to taking exams should be able to complete the exam well within the allotted time. Any remaining time is best used reviewing the answers.

The Exam Program

The computer program used to conduct the exam will select a set of questions at random, and present them through a graphical user interface. The interface is designed in such a way that candidates are able to move back and forth through the questions for reviewing purposes. Questions can be temporarily left unanswered, and the candidate can return to them later. Before the exam starts, the candidate is allowed a test run with the computer program. A demo test that has nothing to do with the Java exam is used. Its sole purpose is to allow the candidate to get acquainted with the program being used to conduct the exam.

Immediately after the completion of the exam, the program will present the candidate with the following information:

An indication of whether the candidate passed or failed. A score of 52% (32 of 61) or more correct answers is needed to pass the exam.
The total score. All the questions are weighted equally, and the score is calculated based on the percentage of correct answers. No credit is given for partially correct answers.
Indications on how well the candidate did on each of the categories of the objectives. Candidates who fail the exam should pay close attention to this information. If the candidate is planning to retake the exam, it may give a good indication of which topics need closer attention.

However, the program will not divulge which questions were answered correctly.

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Mughal K., Rasmussen R.

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