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I have Java 1.2 certification which I completed in 2002. Now I have 10 years of Java experience and I tried to catch up with all Java 5/6 new features but at times I am lost in some of the new things especially on multithreading and generics which were revamped in the later releases?

Should I re-take the SCJP for Java 6 or Java 7? Any experience on this? Any suggestions?

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migrated from stackoverflow.com Oct 10 '11 at 22:02

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It really depends on what you want the certification for. If you haven't really got the time or inclination to then I wouldn't say it's a must have (unless a job you're applying for specifically requires it) but if you're interested in learning the new features anyway then the exam might be a good incentive to do so. And of course it does no harm sitting on a CV!

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I agree with the other answers in that SCJP is not a definitive must-have. However, studying for the exam may force you to learn many of the concepts.

The only down-side is that if you ONLY study for the SCJP, you also miss out on many of the other new features such as the new IO API.

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+1, as In the past I have found most of the value in "studying for the exam" not the exam my self. – Ian Oct 11 '11 at 14:19
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Your certification is definitely too old in my opinion. You yourself say that you are lost in new stuff. It might not be necessary for you to get an upgrade though.

Not everyone recognizes value provided by SCJP and other Oracle(Sun) Java certifications. (Usually only those people who never took the time and effort to study details of the language in order to pass this, in my opinion.) It is listed as a requirement or a nice-to-have in some job ads. More often in ads for short term/contracting work. From what I recall, usually at least Java 1.4 is required in those ads. But if I were to write up a Java job ad, I would definitely put in Java 5 as this is the version which saw important updates and has already been here for 7 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_version_history#J2SE_5.0_.28September_30.2C_2004.29

SCJP is not a requirement for getting a fine Java job in general, but it might help. The other side of the story is that it is fairly expensive these days.

I have a few Java related certificates including SCJP on Java 5, but probably won't seek an upgrade. Maybe after version 8 is out (with Project Lambda included).

If I were you, I would definitely take time to study for SCJP even if I decided I did not want to spend the money and take the actual test. The format, availability of study resources etc. is very fine for making you go deep.

If I were to interview a person with an extensive experience as you have, I would probably just be interested if you kept up to date with language evolution after obtaining your early certificate.

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It's not the certification, it's the skills and the understanding of the basics. Studying for certificates is just one route to the important parts. It can also help to study other languages, as it shows different approaches for tackling problems, encouraging creativity. – Donal Fellows Oct 10 '11 at 22:45
+0.25 for the post. I felt two things needed to be said in spite all of it, and you said them in the last 2 paragraphs, so +0.75 for that. – Yam Marcovic Oct 10 '11 at 23:17
Thanks, This helps. – java_mouse Oct 11 '11 at 13:41

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