Number of questions 1Z0-803

[Tiagans25]

Hello all,

I just saw that the number of question for 1Z0-803 was decreased to 70 questions. Will you update the jar file or the questions to fill this situation?

Thanks in advance.
Tiagans

[admin]

Yes, we are working on it.
Thank you,
Paul

[Tiagans25]

Ah cool!
Do you have any estimation when will be available?
Thanks!

[admin]

It is available now. Please update your question bank.

thank you,
Paul.

[Tiagans25]

Cool! Really enjoy your work!
Thanks

[__Bill]

Any idea if a change in number of questions would make the test harder or easier? Are the questions the same difficulty and topics, just fewer questions? Any other new changes? Thanks.

[admin]

What we have observed is that the questions are same. I don't think the change in number of questions and time has significantly made it harder or easier. A longer test needs longer time to administer at the test center.

Since test centers are privately owned, Oracle would probably have to pay the centers as per the time required for each test. I am not saying that that is why they changed it, but that could be a reason as well.

HTH,
Paul.

[Shortrope]

Any idea if a change in number of questions would make the test harder or easier?

I would say the change makes the test easier.
I find 2.5 hrs straight on these practice tests is very difficult. A half hour less is great.
It also looks like we get an extra 3 seconds per question - Even better!

[__Bill]

After taking the new exam, I think it is much harder than the previous one, which I also took.

I took the first exam with no idea of its difficulty level and only got 40%. So I studied for it for a few months and am confident that I would have done very well on that test now. But it is gone. I took its replacement recently and got 60%. Flunked by 3 points!

The new test is different from the previous, and I think much harder. You must go through extreme spaghetti in almost every question to get something that's needed to get the answer. It was so difficult I thought about just walking out. Seriously. I was thinking few people could pass this and that it would take some kind of genius to get 80+. My main problem lately has been not reading a question carefully enough, but that did not apply here. The problem here was just being blasted with complexity.

I'm surprised I got 60%. I went through the few familiar-looking questions first. On the second pass I guessed at about 10 answers when time ran out. I wonder if they could be manipulating scores to collect for taking the test again. My estimate of what I got on it was about 30% before I saw my score, and with that score I would not have tried it again. But with just 3 points shy, I might.

[Shortrope]

Hi __Bill,

Sorry to hear you missed by such a narrow margin. And thanks for posting you experience. The 'spaghetti' code does not give me the warm fuzzies, they are such a time waster.

I was wondering what material you used to study? How much you used these Enthuware practice tests? And how were your scores on the practice tests?

My Enthuware scores were progressively getting better and closer to the allotted time. 4th test passed and only 7min overtime. I thought I was almost ready... Next 3 tests progressively worse, all failing but within the time limit. Started at 41%, up to 67%, now down to 50% (50% on test 7 'Advanced Level', it was much harder). I'll have to take the first tests again.

Not sure where I am at.

Any feedback would be helpful.
Thanks

[__Bill]

Hi Shorty,

The material I used was mainly the Sierra/Bates OCJP6 book, and information from the Enthuware tests and site here. Before that I had a couple of years of Java experience using various tutorials and boards and the JLS on the Oracle site. And before that, a couple decades of professional programming experience in C, C++, and others.

When I entered my real test score for this site I think it said my average score on the mocks was 78%. I've taken all of them several times and I don't know if every time goes into the average. My first test, like yours, was somewhere in the 40s. By the end I was in consistently in the 80s. I got 87 on the Advanced Level test a couple of days ago, using only about half the time allowed. I know taking them more than once is not recommended, but it was such a long process that by the time I got around to taking them the next time I had forgotten the answers and had to figure them out again, so...

It seemed to me like the old test was very much like a cross section of the tests here. It seems like the new test is more like the most time consuming, confusing questions here, like the ones involving deep nested loops, or that Beta/Baap 4 44 question if you remember it. Neither is difficult but they do take time. There are very few short questions anymore like "Which will compile but give a runtime error?" Instead the new test makes you find the runtime error needle in the haystack. That is my impression. It wouldn't surprise me to see a question involving multiple nested loops running at the same time in there, although I don't remember specifically that.

[admin]

Hi __Bill,
Sorry to hear that you missed by such a short margin. But thank you for such a detailed feedback. We will work on enhancing the question bank to make sure that the students are prepared thoroughly on such questions.
Making candidates solve overly complex loops in a short time serves no purpose. It doesn't test anything really. This exam, when it was still SCJP (conducted by Sun), did have such questions but later on Oracle toned it down and focused more on conceptual code based questions.
It seems too many people are passing this exam with high scores and may be that is why they are tightening the screws ...albeit the wrong ones

-Paul.

[__Bill]

Hi __Bill,
Sorry to hear that you missed by such a short margin.
-Paul.

Thanks! It was cold and ocassionally noisy in the room, so first thing I am going to do is see if the higher-ups will give me a free retake, considering it was such a short margin. Worth a try.

"Which of the following are Java keywords?" is not on the test anymore

[Shortrope]

Bill,
Thanks for the info. I think I have a lot more studying to do.

[__Bill]

^ From what you wrote, I would think yes, but then people are different. I think there is both a Java element and a test-taking element to these tests. If you can answer almost all of the questions given unlimited time then you know enough to begin the next phase, which is combine that with time constraints. One thing that might be useful, that I am going to try, is deep search up some actual working industrial Java source and as quickly as possible figure out what is going on in it. That would keep a lot of fresh and unfamiliar-looking code in front of me, which I think would be helpful.

[Shortrope]

I agree Bill, there are definitely test taking skills that are separate from the technology skills you are being tested on.
I think testing with no time limit is a good idea also. I'm always worried about time. I feel like I gotta read fast and keep moving so I can finish on time.
I think I'll take a couple of tests that way, should give a better idea of my knowledge. Then work on the speed later.

[Harkon]

Hi __Bill,
Sorry to hear that you missed by such a short margin. But thank you for such a detailed feedback. We will work on enhancing the question bank to make sure that the students are prepared thoroughly on such questions.
Making candidates solve overly complex loops in a short time serves no purpose. It doesn't test anything really. This exam, when it was still SCJP (conducted by Sun), did have such questions but later on Oracle toned it down and focused more on conceptual code based questions.
It seems too many people are passing this exam with high scores and may be that is why they are tightening the screws ...albeit the wrong ones

-Paul.

Hey Paul ,

I started learning Java / programming not very many months ago but i put allot of hours in it . To be honest those supposed changes scare me allot , not the increase in difficulty as much as the fact you need to read allot of code per question and answer it very fast . I did allot of exercises but being a beginner it's a serious challenge for me to learn to read trough code like someone with maybe a few years of Java experience . If those changes are confirmed ( i suppose by other users) how fast can we see the mock exams for 1Z0-803 updated to reflect the new exam style and difficulty ?

thanks

[admin]

Harkon,
I am not sure there is a cause to panic right now. We conduct classroom training and our trainer and candidates who have taken the new test haven't reported any such drastic change in the questions.
We will wait for some more feedback before making changes to the questions. Overall, it will take about 3-4 weeks if required.

HTH,
Paul.

[__Bill]

Harkon,
I did not mean to incite panic The test did change substantially. That change made it difficult for me because I have no talent in the direction it moved toward. You might fare okay. Just like I can't do math in my head, but some people excel at that. There are no new topics in the test, but the questions are harder (for me).

If you want corroboration look up the topic at Java Ranch. I remember a user saying they passed it with 78% with not much experience, but also a woman whose experience was more like mine. Fortunately she got 65%. She says she has four years experience as a Java EE developer, took Java in college, and was getting 90s on some practice test.

I posted my experience there to try to draw out the experiences of others. I did more writing than reading and did not realize until later there was already a lot there. I also noticed a person who seems to be a mod who wasn't convinced. At any rate, more than a couple of people said they ran out of time on the test. Among the things the woman and I agree on is that there are some real hard questions right at the start. They are not all that hard. I am Guillermo at J.R. Same name, different language...

[admin]

__Bill/JR,
I totally understand with your point and we really appreciate your feedback. I assure you that we are actively working on it.

Since so many candidates rely on us to provide good study material, we have to apply due diligence before we roll out the changes. It will not be wise thing to make wholesale changes based on a very limited user sample. That's all.

HTH,
Paul.

[xandl1994]

I haven't learned much so far. I've done up to now only the mock tests.
Standard Test 1 70%, Test 2 60%, 3 and 4 36%.
My question, how long have you learned and what did you learn?
And how meaningful are the mock tests?
Is it true, you need 63% to pass? Because other websites say 70%.
I don't know what to believe, it is my first Certification.

Thanks for you help
Alex

[admin]

You should always check out the official exam page for most authentic information:
http://education.oracle.com/pls/web_pro ... _id=&lang=

[Harkon]

Hey Paul ,

Thanks for the fast replay and hopefully no changes are needed . I plan to take the test in 2-3 weeks if my preparation goes well and i m able to score 75%+ on the current enthuware mock tests at the first sitting .

[Tiagans25]

Hello all,

I've been taking mock exames from enthuware since I've created this post. I passed in every mock exams and today I took the exam and I fail with 56%.

I guess my working wasn't enough, but I would like to warn all of you that in my way of see, the difficulty changed. I mean, the person who told me about enthuware told me also that in a generic way the exam was easier that the mocks from enthuware. But after today, I think exactly the opposite.

Also today, I'll post my results in the application, just to help enthuware improve.

Cheers,
Tiagans

[admin]

Hi Tiagans25,
I am very sorry to hear that you failed the exam. We have taken note of yours and others feedback and we are working on making the question bank more tough.
Meanwhile, could you please let me know your orderid (via email, do not post it here). And also, were you able to pass the mock exams on the first attempt?

thank you,
Paul.