Book - feedback so far

The book has just gone back to the printers for a second run. Apparently the first print run (a few thousand I think?) was chewed up by Amazon and direct pre-orders. It's fantastic for that many people to have the book and I really hope it helps you in preparing for the exam.

So, the feedback so far: the reviews on Amazon (both .com and .co.uk) are for the old book, not the new one. Amazon just copied the reviews across (the last one was written two years before the new book published).

So all I've got to go on are comments that I've received directly. Broadly speaking, reviewers fall into two camps:

1. Those who like the ~200 page guide / map to a much larger body of research material (happy);

2. Those who want / expect to find all of the revision material in one book (not so happy).

Our goal was always to write a book that did not replicate the reams of material that exist for the JEE platform. We simply saw no point in doing that. Instead, we wanted to write a book that the candidate could use to:

1. Construct a revision schedule for Part One;

2. Understand how to approach Part Two - constructing your own solution for a given business problem using the JEE platform;

3. Prepare the candidate for Part Three - defending your Part Two submission and explaining how you solution satisfies various NFRs (non-functional requirements).

Broadly speaking, I think we've hit the goals we set. There is an errata list that will be sent to the publisher for the second print and will be published here as well for the purchasers of the first run.

Another book update (aka where is it..)

The book is still moving through pre-production at Pearson. I'm sure a good number of you will be wondering what kind of impetus can be administered to push it along and I feel the same way myself!

It looks like the book content got caught up in a major upgrade to Safari Rough Cuts that is just about sorted now. A new version has just published, but I know that it does not have the latest chapter nine content that I wrote last month. Chapter nine is a key chapter in the book, focusing as it does on the JustBuildIt scenario that I outlined at JavaOne 2009 and solves it completely. This chapter maps onto Parts II and III of the exam, where candidates download a business scenario of equal complexity and have to propose and defend a solution to it.

I'm waiting to see when this chapter will show up on Rough Cuts. If it's only a few days away, I'll write another post advising that it's there. But if the delay is going to be as long as the previous delay (essentially four - six weeks to get some content updated), then I'll publish chapter nine as a PDF file on www.box.net, like the other sample chapter and the JavaOne 2008 and 2009 slides. Again, apologies for the delay - I'm pushing as hard as I can.

Addressing Rough Cuts feedback received

Since the book draft has been released on Safari Rough Cuts, I've received feedback on it, both as blog comments and also directly through the Rough Cuts feedback mechanism.

Focusing on the areas of improvement that people have commented on:

1. The final version of the book is significantly longer than the rough cuts version, but it is no weighty tome either. The whole point of the book is to focus on the material that we believe is directly relevant to the JEE Architect exam, as opposed to the JEE platform itself;

2. The next version of the book contains chapter six (JEE security) which is missing from the current Rough Cuts version - that was a trade-off that we took - to get the book on Rough Cuts in order to get reader feedback, without chapter six; and

3. The next version of the book contains a completed chapter nine - a fully-worked Part Two and Three solution to an assignment (the JustBuildIt business problem) of similar complexity to the exam assignments.

Thanks for all the feedback so far - it helps us to make the book better. Unfortunately, time does not permit me to respond to feedback left anonymously, but rest assured that your comments have been read. Finally, we're still shooting for the October date to production.

Slides from JavaOne BOF on the SCEA exam

I've posted the slides for my BOF talk at JavaOne - enjoy! (including the obvious typo on slide 16).

Sample assignment for the SCEA exam - part two

So, as a follow-up to part one of this little series, below is the exact list of deliverables that you are required to develop for part two of the exam.

It is your task to create an architecture and design for the System under Discussion (SuD) with the given business domain model, information provided above and requirements in the use cases. The architecture must be built using the JEE platform. All deliverables will be accepted as HTML only and each diagram must be UML compliant.

1.Create a class diagram for the SuD. Public method names referenced in other UML diagrams (e.g. sequence diagrams) should be provided.

2.Create a Component diagram for the SuD showing the components used in the system and their interaction. Examples of components are EJBs, Servlets, JSPs, major POJOs (Plain Old Java Objects) and important Managers / Controllers / Design Pattern implementations.

3.Create a Deployment diagram that describes the proposed physical layout of the major tiers of the SuD.

4.Create either a Sequence or Collaboration diagram for each use case provided.

In addition to these UML deliverables, the exam requires you to:

1.List the top three risks and identify a mitigation strategy for each risk.

2.List any assumptions made during the process of coming up with the architecture and design.

Your architecture and design will be graded on how well it supports the requirements detailed in this document and on the clarity of all information provided in both textual and diagrammatic form.

Presenting at JavaOne 2009 - SCEA Take Two!

Sun have accepted my BOF proposal for JavaOne 2009, so it's time to start looking for flights to SFO again and making sure that the hotel I'm staying at isn't right in the middle of the Tenderloin..

My proposal this year built on the material covered in last year's BOF, and I'll also take time to dig deeper into Part Two of the exam (where a lot of people come a cropper) and work through exactly what the examiners are / aren't looking for and why.

If you're going to JavaOne in this crunch year, looking forward to seeing you at the BOF!

Skillsmatter - Oct 16th presentation on SCEA

Sun UK have kindly invited me to speak as part of the Skills Matter program in London on October 16th. I'm looking forward to it and I'll be covering the topic of the Sun Certified Architect Exam (SCEA) for JEE 5 at this topic. A great way to learn about the exam if you're in London and are interested in pursuing this certification.

More details on the talk here.