【Oracle Java Gold】 How I passed the hardest Java cert

This is what I studied, which materials I used, and a cheaper way to sit the exam when I passed Oracle Java Gold, said to be the hardest Java cert. If you are considering this cert, please read it. I took SE 8, but the exam content is not that different from SE 11. If you are taking it from here, I recommend SE 11.

Java had a fairly large change when the version went from 7 → 8, so even on 11 the main questions overlap with 8.

Introduction

Unlike Silver, Gold is on another level of difficulty. When I had just passed Silver and opened a Gold reference book, I closed it right away.
On the other side, when you study and pass, you pick up practical skills you can use at work. It is more expensive and harder than something like the Fundamental Information Technology Engineer Examination, but the cert is worth having, so please try it.

Exam overview

Exam content

Format: multiple choice. Time: 180 minutes. Questions: 80. Pass line: 63% (51 questions).

Oracle Certified Java Programmer, Gold SE 11

Oracle Certified Java Programmer, Gold SE 8

If you pick a code without JPN, you get the English test, so pick the code with JPN.

How to register / take the exam

1. Log in to Oracle University CertView and click “Pearson VUE site”

2. Click “View exams”

3. Enter the exam code, run the search, then follow the screen to pick a test center and pay the fee

Cost

32,340 yen (this is the list price.)

A cheaper way to sit the exam

If you buy a ticket through Rakuten, you can get it cheaper at 30,180, and you also get a lot of points, so it is definitely the better deal. You can use it for DB exams and others, not only Java.

Apply from here

Studying

Materials

Thorough Strategy Java SE 11 Gold question book [1Z0-816]

People call it the “Black Book.” I used this question book as the base of my study. Finishing the Black Book is a must for passing. It is a question book, so I recommend buying the paperback so you can write in it.

Oracle Certified Professional textbook Java Programmer Gold SE11 (exam number 1Z0-816)

People call it the “Purple Book.” It is the commentary book you use when you look up something you do not understand in the Black Book, or when you want more detailed variations. There are also questions at the ends of chapters and at the end of the book. Because it is a commentary book, I think the ebook is fine.

Plan

I think the study base should be the Black Book, and besides solving questions it matters to actually write code, run it, and deepen the understanding.
1. Solve Black Book questions
↓
2. Code the matching part yourself
↓
3. Code similar parts from the Purple Book
I think it is good to run that flow for each Black Book chapter.

Once you can solve 90% of the Black Book questions, do the Purple Book comprehensive questions. Once you can solve 90% of those too, you should be able to pass without trouble. Writing code, running it, and solving questions on a loop can take 2–3 months, but it reliably moves you toward a pass and makes the skill easier to use at work, so I recommend it if you have the time.

What to drill

If you lock down the ranges below and can score 90% or more on them, the pass rate goes up a lot. You absolutely should lock these down. From the question mix, my sense is that about 60% came from these.

• Lambda expressions, functional interfaces
• Stream API
• Collections, generics

These are the next ranges I think showed up often.

• Date / time API
• I/O, NIO2

The ranges that show up often are also the ones you use a lot at work, so they matter a lot.

Other materials

There are seminar videos on the official YouTube as well, so it is good to lock down the points. The content is SE 8, but I think a lot of it still helps for SE 11.

Takeaways

Getting the cert matters, but I think the important part is building skill you can use at work through the study. I lined this cert study up with a period when I was writing a lot of Java on a project. Focusing on Java for a set period makes progress faster, so I recommend studying in line with the project situation.