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From 1st September 10, Sun Certification titles will be changed to Oracle Certification

Tahir Akram — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:06:55 +0000

Just came to know from Oracle website that they have completely integrated Sun certifications with Oracle certification program. The title of certification has been changed. Now Sun Certified Java Programmer will be know as Oracle Certified Professional, Java Programmer.
From Oracle website:

Effective September 1, 2010, all Java, Oracle Solaris, MySQL, Open Office and Oracle Solaris Cluster certifications have been re-published and rebranded under the Oracle Certification Program. This change will not impact any of the exam objectives and with Oracle’s firm commitment to the growth of the program, these credentials will continue to be some of the highest recognized achievements in the industry.

Java certification voucher in $40 till 31st March 2010 for students

Tahir Akram — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:14:10 +0000

From a recent announcement from Oracle under Sun Academic Initiative program (SAI). Now students can get Java certification voucher in $40 till 31st March 2010. This is an excellent opportunity for students. After this date they will give 40% discount on the actual price of the exam fee.

Sun CEO’s internal memo to employees, before his resignation

Tahir Akram — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:07:29 +0000

Today I found that Jonathan Schwartz has tweeted about his resignation as Sun CEO. Due to the new control to Oracle. Schwartz sent following memo to his employees. Jonathan is an avid blogger used to blog on blogs.sun.com/jonathan.

He also tweeted about his last blog post on Sun.com, saying “Where Life Takes Me Next“.

Read the memo on AllThingsDigital.

Sun.com is dead now

Tahir Akram — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:35:29 +0000

Just found that sun.com is now redirecting to oracle.com. Some days back I visited Sun’s original website. But it didn’t took long by Oracle to make it red. Well I am a regular visitor of Sun forums. And with this change, I am trying to adjust myself with this transition. As I am having some issue in finding contents.

After some browsing Oracle’s website I found they were some thing to say to Java developers community about continuing Sun Developer Network.

Sun.com now redirects to Oracle.com

FAQs for Sun Java developer community:

What will happen to Sun Developer Network, java.sun.com, and BigAdmin?

For the near future, all these sites will remain in their current form. We know that these resources are important, so you can continue to access them just as you always have at the same URLs and bookmarks. At some time, we foresee an integration of these sites into a newly redesigned and re-architected Oracle Technology Network, and we welcome your feedback about this process. We will make sure that any changes are communicated well in advance so that you will continue to have access to the tools and resources that you need.

And there are some other promises too about continuing Sun things.

I also found a Sun blogger saying good bye to blog.sun.com. Due to some Oracle policies that they can host only those blogs that targets to their products only not personal topics. You can read that blog post here.

I have started preparing for SCJP

Tahir Akram — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:01:03 +0000

Its been a year since I purchased the voucher for SCJP 5.0. But I cant concentrate to have time to prepare it. From last night I have taken the oath to finally make it done. I have started with the book SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide (Exam 310-055) by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates.

A remarkable thing is I purchased the free retake voucher which is going to expire on June 2010. But I still didnt make even a single attempt. Ok thats all right. I am going to do it. I hope to appear for the successful first attempt in good marks.

I am not using any IDE for coding practice. I am using Notepad++ editor and command line Javac compilation. I want to get maximum of language fundamentals and want to think out of code completion feature.

Oracles message to Sun customers and challenges IBM

Tahir Akram — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:49:21 +0000

Just found on Oracle website that they have placed a message for Sun customers about their objectives and their focus on Solaris and SPARC. And more interestingly you can find Larry Elison (CEO of Oracle) challenging IBM to compete in hardware business. A marketing tactic.

Picture reference: oracle.com/features/suncustomers.html

SCJP Plus Beta Certification exam delayed

Tahir Akram — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:59:23 +0000

When I came to know that Sun is giving away the opportunity to sign up for newly launched SCJP i.e. Sun Java Programmer Plus certification. I registered for it. According to them Selected candidates will be given the opportunity to appear in beta test for free. But still they have this announcement on their website.

And just recently I got an email from Sun that hey have delayed this certification.

Dear Tahir,

Thank you for your interest in the Sun Java Programmer Plus Certification – Sun’s first performance based Java Certification exam.

We wanted to inform you that the full beta for the new Sun Java Programmer Plus Certification has been delayed to later in this year based on the results from initial beta testing and to align more closely with the upcoming release of JDK 7. We will get back in touch with you as soon as we have revised dates for the full beta test.

If you have any questions or feedback, please send a message to sunlearninglink@sun.com

Thank you,

Sun Microsystems

I don’t know why they suppress SCJP6 and 5 exam. I think many people (me too) have purchased SCJP 5 voucher and preparing for it. When I hear this news I was getting afraid that might be SCJP 5 got expired. Thank God its not. I found similar discussion on I found on CodeRanch forum when I was searching this announcement on Internet.

Sun has announced Java Store

Tahir Akram — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:20:00 +0000

Sun Microsystems has unleashed Java Store at store.java.com. The purpose of this store is to give opportunities to developers to make money by showcasing their Java applications. Which they care about and develop in their own time. Currently store is in beta and available for US residents only.

Sun chief executive Jonathan Schwartz and Java creator James Gosling introduced the concept at the JavaOne conference.

“The objective is very simple: to give Java developers access to a billion consumers,” said Schwartz. “It solves the problem of how you get access to every customer in the world.”

Currently Sun is looking feedback on payment process. This store will be a great oppertunity to give financial benefits to developers and return for their efforts in developing Java apps.

Sun should promote its Java forum contributors

Tahir Akram — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:36:13 +0000

SUN Forums are ultimate source to get help about programming problems and support about Java platform. Its the largest community driven by Java developers. If you are a Java developer then you must have used these forums. You guys will be aware of Duke dollar. You assign duke dollars to your topic (to attract others to get them) and then you credited these dollars to the person who replied correctly. I have seen many forum members with the handsome amount of duke dollars. Sun should promote these duke dollar rich people as valuable professionals. Though Sun has a page on Duke star featured developer, but I didn’t see any other developer got placed over there.

Well as compare to Microsoft, they have a full fledged program known as Microsoft Most Valuable Professional which is for those volunteers who contribute in communities and helped people with their technical expertise. Microsoft used to held summits for these MVPs and send them to various technology events and invites them on tech sessions at PDCs. I am not going to initiate any religious debate but its just a thought to share with you people that I appreciate the benefits and recognition given to MVPs by Microsoft. They have very strong branding in it. Sun should start such community initiative to get more people motivated to contribute on online forums. It will really an edge for Java developers. Please share your comments, what you think about it?

About Java Duke Dollars The Duke Dollars program is Sun’s way of thanking our developers who actively participate in the forums and help facilitate the exchange of technical knowledge in the community. http://developers.sun.com/forums/dukedollars.html

About Microsoft’s MVP Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) are exceptional technical community leaders from around the world who are awarded for voluntarily sharing their high quality, real world expertise in offline and online technical communities. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Sun Certification free retake offer. Register by June 19, 2009

Tahir Akram — Sat, 02 May 2009 12:30:22 +0000

SUN Microsystems has launched again the free retake offer for certification exams. SUN announced this deal last year too. And those people who missed this opportunity last year, this time they can grab this deal. Before registering for certification, SUN suggest to complete a assessment test available here.

This offer is valid in all countries where Sun certification is sold, except Brazil, India and Japan. You must purchase a Sun Certification Exam by June 19, 2009. You must specify Priority Code WW39CX1 at the time of purchase. Voucher prices can be found on Prometric.

Read more about this retake offer on SUN website.