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Archive for January, 2010

PostHeaderIcon Scjp 5.0 – Carving a Well Qualified Java Tiger Programmer

SCJP 5.0 – Carving a well qualified Java Tiger Programmer

Sun Microsystems offers many certifications starting from programmer level to architect level. The latest version of programmer (SCJP) exam is SCJP 5.0 – Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition 5.0 (CX-310-055). Sun started calling SCJP 5.0 instead SCJP 1.5 from this new version.

Achieving this certification provides clear evidence that a programmer understands the basic syntax and structure of the Java programming language based on new syntax introduced in SCJP 5.0. The certified programmer can create Java technology applications that run on server and desktop systems using J2SE 5.0 ( Java Tiger). Java Tiger is the another name of J2SE 5.0.

NOTE: The external version number of this release is 5.0 and its internal version number is 1.5.0.

What is new in Java Tiger ?

Changes include generic types, metadata, autoboxing, an enhanced for loop, enumerated types, static import, C style formatted input/output, variable arguments, concurrency utilities, and simpler RMI interface generation.

Wow ! Thanks to Sun Microsystems for providing such a valuable features for Java Programmers.

So, if you decided to take Sun Java Programmer certification (SCJP) go ahead with SCJP 5.0 and be a Java Tiger Certified Programmer and enjoy the benefits of new features.

Changes in Exam Objectives from SCJP 1.4 to SCJP 5.0

SCJP 1.4

SCJP 5.0

Section 1: Declarations and Access Control

Section 2: Flow control, Assertions, and Exception Handling

Section 3: Garbage Collection

Section 4: Language Fundamentals

Section 5: Operators and Assignments

Section 6: Overloading, Overriding, Runtime Type and Object Orientation

Section 7: Threads

Section 8: Fundamental Classes in the java.lang Package

Section 9: The Collections Framework

Section 1: Declarations, Initialization and Scoping

Section 2: Flow Control

Section 3: API Contents

Section 4: Concurrency

Section 5: OO Concepts

Section 6: Collections / Generics

Section 7: Fundamentals

Is SCJP 5.0 easy compared to SCJP 1.4 as it has limited number of sections? No, most of the concepts are new in SCJP 5.0. Some of them are not related with SCJP 1.4.

SCJP 5.0 Exam Details

Delivered at: Authorized Worldwide Prometric Testing Centers

Prerequisites: None

Other exams/assignments required for this certification: None

Exam type: Multiple choice and drag and drop

Number of questions: 72

Pass score: 59% (43 of 72 questions)

Time limit: 175 minutes

After completion of SCJP 5.0 exam you are familiar with Java Tiger concepts like generic types, metadata, auto boxing, an enhanced for loop, enumerated types, static import, variable arguments, etc.

How long I need to prepare for this exam?

The answer is it depends on your current knowledge in Java programming and OO Concepts. You may get an approximate estimation from EPractize Labs SCJP 5.0 Preparation Time Calculator.

How to start? Where to start?

First go to Sun’s website and understand the exam objectives. http://www.sun.com/training/catalog/courses/CX-310-055.xml

Plan for your preparation. If needed calculate an estimation from EPractize Labs SCJP 5.0 Preparation Time Calculator.

Identify your weak areas based on the exam objectives. Set more focus on those topics.

Study and workout the program examples.

Practice with mock exams and see where you are. Continue your practice till you achieve your goal.

Achieve your SCJP 5.0 certificate and share your success WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES!

Recommended SCJP 5.0 Exam Preparation Kit

Use SCJP 5.0 Exam EPractize Labs – Personal Edition for empowering your preparation by PPA-1(Plan, Practize, Achieve) methodology.

SCJP 5.0 Certification Benefits

For the Individual

Clear evidence that you are a Java Tiger programmer.

The certification empowers in driving Java Programming based on J2SE 5.0.

SCJP 5.0 certified programmers can easily design and develop the code based on J2SE 5.0.

Being a SCJP 5.0 certified programmer helps you to improve your career potential, gain more respect, boost up your job security and opportunities.

With SCJP 5.0 certified programmer, you become more competitive in the job market.

For the organization

Enables management to distinguish SCJP 5.0 certified programmer as Java professionals who can develop quality code efficiently and effectively.

Helps in deciding the best development APIs or Java Components based on latest J2SE APIs.

More confidence to work on Java Code technical decisions with business partners.

Enables project team to get best coding practices and guidance from a qualified Java Programmer.

Good Luck !

About the Author : Ganesan – CEO & CTO, EPractize Labs Software. Has more than 7 years of experience in architecting and designing small scale to high scale enterprise applications in various domains using Java/J2EE Technologies.

PostHeaderIcon Unlimited Music Downloads â?? Where to Download Quality Music

Unlimited music downloads are now made readily available on the internet from different online music stores and services. Some go on a pay-per-download basis, while others go on a subscription service, either on monthly or one-time basis. They reportedly carry millions of sound tracks and MP3 files from all the known music genres you can ever find. The question of where to download music is therefore answered by going to these music services which provide unlimited music downloads. But it is equally important to know which are the best deals in town when locating where to download music online. We take a look at what is downloading online music from these music download sites all about.

Major online music stores like HMV, Amazon and so on carry many labels and their selection is fantastic with loads of music pieces, movie soundtracks, songs, music videos and practically unlimited music downloads are available for you to download. Never worry about where to download music again. However, music lovers after getting the thrill of downloading lots of music files start to feel the pinch. This is where the latest new generation of music download sites would make them scream with excitement again.

You see, the new music download sites offer unlimited music downloads. And by that, it means that you not only can find any title or album you want but also download them without any quantity restriction. Be it 1000 songs or 10,000 songs that you intend to download, it does not matter. These music download sites would charge you only once for unlimited music downloads at an affordable rate that even teens have the ability to get their memberships. That is the whole intention of the music download sites, to reach the mass musical audience.

But there are almost a dozen of unlimited music downloads sites that solve your problem of where to download music quickly. So it can be quite a challenge to decide which to go for. Do not worry as here are some useful tips to help you along to decide where to download music from which music download sites for unlimited music downloads. These would find you the suitable music download site.

Be sure to first check out the music selection of these music download sites. There is really no point in using them even if they have millions of music pieces and songs, ie unlimited music downloads in their collection but none are what you want. Most should carry the general range of music that are more common like pop, rock and so on. But if you are looking for specific niche genres which are a little bit uncommon, you need to check if the music collection at these music download sites carries your desired label or brand of music.

Secondly, you need to confirm the file format of the music files you are downloading from the music download sites. This is easy as many have unlimited music downloads in MP3 format. This is the most commonly readable format used by most MP3 players or digital portable players. So as long as the music download site has it, you know this is where to download music so that you can enjoy unlimited music downloads on your player.

Another thing to take note of is some music download sites for unlimited music downloads require you to download special client application in order to download music online. If you are a frequent traveller, you may not like the idea that you need to install software on your computer in order to download music. This means that you can only do so from home. As such, you may want to go for those that do not require any client applications to do so. That said, the client application does not need a lot of computer resources and can be easily installed and removed. It is really your choice when getting the unlimited music downloads from the music download sites.

Anyone who wishes to learn more about where to download music at amazingly low one-off prices can visit my music blog and begin your journey of putting unlimited music downloads on your computer or MP3 player.

Davion is a music addict and carry do without them. Find out about hot and limited offers for unlimited music downloads. Also read his wildly popular article for unlimited music downloads tips.

PostHeaderIcon Samsung G800 Vs Samsung G600: the High-voltage Game

The burgeoning mobile phone market has seen the rise of many companies – LG, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and so on. These companies have done a tremendous job with their feature-rich handsets worldwide. Phones of all styles and colours are now easily available everywhere.

While talking of phone designs, we have candybars, clamshells and sliders. While all the companies have shown great wizardry in candybar and clamshell segments, Samsung, the South Korean mobile phone major has gone a step ahead in manufacturing slider mobile phone. In fact, Samsung is the largest maker of slider mobile phones in the market till date.

Samsung has recently launched a 5 megapixel slider camera phone called the Samsung G600. The phone has unique imaging capability – thanks to features like autofocus and flash. Image quality is highly impressive – in stills as well as videos. While music requirement is filled with features like music player and stereo FM radio, web activities are maintained through functions like WAP 2.0 XHTML and NetFront HTML. The phone works on Quad Band technology and offers simless connection across many continents. Advanced features like mobile printing, TV Output, handsfree speakerphone etc. make the phone a smart choice in the market. Among other noticeable features, mention may especially be made of Bluetooth A2DP, GPRS, EDGE, USB, email, Java games, downloadable games, 55MB internal memory, MicroSD memory card support etc. The Samsung G600 is now available in Silver colour also. The Samsung G600 Silver carries all the features that have been incorporated in the Samsung G600.

The Samsung G800 is also a 5 megapixel camera phone with more advanced features like 3 x optical zoom, autofocus and Xenon flash. The phone has a high-performance music player and a stereo FM radio. Connectivity features are several. 3G HSDPA, Bluetooth A2DP, EDGE, GPRS and USB take complete control of the connectivity game. This is a Tri Band phone and supports the web via WAP 2.0 XHTML, HTML and RSS Feeds. The phone boasts of 160MB internal memory and comes with memory expansion facility. Document viewing, mobile printing, TV Output are the other smart features in the phone.

The Samsung G600 and the Samsung G800 are equally powerful in terms of imaging. But if you are in need of a more stylish handset, then the Samsung G800 is definitely a better choice.

The author is associated with an online mobile phone comparision site providing latest information about the mobile phone deals available in UK.

PostHeaderIcon Techniques For Integrating Hibernate Into Legacy Java Code – Part 1

If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time dealing with legacy code that, for whatever reason, does not take advantage of modern methodologies and libraries. I’ve taken over Java projects that contain hundreds of thousands of lines of code and not a single third-party jar other than a JDBC driver! One of the most common examples of this is the implementation of the data access layer. These days, the de facto methodology involves Hibernate and DAOs, usually managed by Spring.
This article will detail the steps I recently took to covert a large application from custom-written data access to Hibernate and Spring using the refactoring facilities in Eclipse. The key with this refactorization is to get the existing business logic code (Struts Actions, JSPs, Delegate classes, Business Service classes, etc.) to access the datastore using Hibernate, managed by Spring, without manually changing any of that code directly. Part 1 will include creating the Hibernate data object classes, DAOs, and refactoring the existing code to work with these newly created types. Part 2 will conclude the project with integration of the Hibernate DAOs and wiring everything up with Spring.
First of all, we need to create our Hibernate model and DAO classes. Obviously, since we’re dealing with a legacy application and data structure, we will want to use a bottom-up approach to building our data access layer. This just means that we’re going to generate the Java code and appropriate Hibernate config files from the existing database. There are many tools freely available to make this process very painless. I recommend an Eclipse Plugin for creating and maintaining the Hibernate artifacts (Google “Hibernate Eclipse Plugin” to get started). The structure and requirements for creating Hibernate classes and config files are well documented elsewhere, so I won’t go into detail here. However, in this particular project, the Hibernate DAO lifecycles are managed by Spring, so the DAO classes should all extend HibernateDAOSupport.
Now we have java classes (POJOs) which map to our database tables, but none of the existing code uses these new data object classes. This is where the refactoring tools of Eclipse comes in really handy. For example, say we have a legacy class called AccountInfo which corresponds to the ACCOUNT database table. Right-click the class and select Refactor -> Extract Interface. On the dialogue box, call the new interface IAccount and make sure you select “Use the extracted interface type where possible.” Choose the other options according to your preferences. Click OK and kick back while Eclipse changes every occurence of AccountInfo references to IAccount references and recompiles. Of course, do this with each object model class.
If you never realized why OOP languages are so great, you’re about to. Now we’re going to refactor the code so that all of the existing legacy can be hooked into the new Hibernate model classes instead of the legacy ones. Continuing with the AccountInfo example, create a new class – you’ll probably want to create a new package for this step – called Account that extends the Hibernate POJO for Account and implements the new IAccount interface.
This next part is the most time-consuming, but really isn’t that bad. At this point, the newly created class will probably contain a bunch of empty methods containing only TODO comments. This is because the IAccount interface most likely defies a bunch of methods that are not implemented in the Hibernate Account POJO. To deal with these, we basically want the new Account class to delegate to its generated superclass whenever necessary to satisfy its contract as an IAccount type. As a real world example from the application I was working on, the legacy AccountInfo class defined a getter/setter pair for a property called username, whereas the corresponding column in the ACCOUNT table was actually LOGIN_NAME. To deal with this, you would simply implement the get/setUsername methods in Account to delegate to get/setLoginName (from its superclass). I also had to translate between various data types quite a bit. For example, the legacy code would define many properties as Strings even though the corresponding piece of data in the database was defined as an INT or TIMESTAMP. Again, do this with each object model class.
To finish up the data model layer, edit the appropriate Hibernate and Spring configuration files to refer to these new object model classes. The application now has the ability to map database records to Java objects via Hibernate, and the legacy code which refers to these classes has not required any editing by hand. To finish up this refactorization project, we need to hook in the Spring-supported Hibernate DAOs in a similar way. In Part 2 of this article, I will discuss refactoring the legacy code to read, write, and update data using Hibernate and Spring.

Billy Perez is Senior Applications Architect at Technetium, Inc. which provides professional project consulting for Fortune 1000 companies. http://www.technetiuminc.com/