Java SE 7 Programmer I & II Exam Topics

Are you preparing to sit for either "Oracle certified associate Java Programmer OR Oracle certified professional Java Programmer Exams"? then, trust me, cos, you would want to make sure you cover/deal with every topic listed below.

Oracle Certified Associate Java Programmer I

Java Basics

• Define the scope of variables
• Define the structure of a Java class
• Create executable Java applications with a main method
• Import other Java packages to make them accessible in your code

Working With Java Data Types

• Declare and initialize variables
• Differentiate between object reference variables and primitive variables
• Read or write to object fields
• Explain an Object's Lifecycle (creation, "dereference" and garbage collection)
• Call methods on objects
• Manipulate data using the StringBuilder class and its methods
• Creating and manipulating Strings

Using Operators and Decision Constructs  

• Use Java operators
• Use parenthesis to override operator precedence
• Test equality between Strings and other objects using == and equals ()
• Create if and if/else constructs
• Use a switch statement

Creating and Using Arrays

• Declare, instantiate, initialize and use a one-dimensional array
• Declare, instantiate, initialize and use multi-dimensional array
• Declare and use an ArrayList

Using Loop Constructs

• Create and use while loops
• Create and use for loops including the enhanced for loop
• Create and use do/while loops
• Compare loop constructs
• Use break and continue  

Working with Methods and Encapsulation

• Create methods with arguments and return values
• Apply the static keyword  to methods and fields  
• Create an overloaded method
• Differentiate between default and user defined constructors
• Create and overload constructors
• Apply access modifiers
• Apply encapsulation principles to a class
• Determine the effect upon object references and primitive values when they are passed  into methods that change the values

Working with Inheritance

• Implement inheritance
• Develop code that demonstrates the use of polymorphism
• Differentiate between the type of a reference and the type of an object
• Determine when casting is necessary
• Use super and this to access objects and constructors
• Use abstract classes and interfaces

Handling Exceptions

• Differentiate among checked exceptions, RuntimeExceptions and Errors
• Create a try-catch block and determine how exceptions alter normal program flow
• Describe what Exceptions are used for in Java
• Invoke a method that throws an exception
• Recognize common exception classes and categories

Oracle Certified Professional Java Programmer II

Java Class Design 

• Use access modifiers: private, protected, and public
• Override methods 
• Overload constructors and methods 
• Use the instanceof operator and casting
• Use virtual method invocation
• Override the hashCode, equals, and toString methods from the Object class to improve the functionality of your class. 
• Use package and import statements

Advanced Class Design 

• Identify when and how to apply abstract classes
• Construct abstract Java classes and subclasses
• Use the static and final keywords
• Create top-level and nested classes
• Use enumerated types

Object-Oriented Design Principles 

• Write code that declares, implements and/or extends interfaces
• Choose between interface inheritance and class inheritance
• Apply cohesion, low-coupling, IS-A, and HAS-A principles
• Apply object composition principles (including has-a relationships)
• Design a class using a Singleton design pattern
• Write code to implement the Data Access Object (DAO) pattern
• Design and create objects using a factory pattern

Generics and Collections

• Create a generic class
• Use the diamond for type inference  
• Analyze the interoperability of collections that use raw types and generic types 
• Use wrapper classes, autoboxing and unboxing
• Create and use List, Set and Deque implementations
• Create and use Map implementations
• Use java.util.Comparator and java.lang.Comparable
• Sort and search arrays and lists

String Processing 

• Search, parse and build strings (including Scanner, StringTokenizer, StringBuilder, String and Formatter)
• Search, parse, and replace strings by using regular expressions, using expression patterns for matching limited to: . (dot), * (star), + (plus), ?, \d, \D, \s, \S,  \w, \W, \b. \B, [], ().
• Format strings using the formatting parameters: %b, %c, %d, %f, and %s in format strings.

Exceptions and Assertions 

• Use throw and throws statements 
• Develop code that handles multiple Exception types in a single catch block
• Develop code that uses try-with-resources statements (including using classes that implement the AutoCloseable interface)
• Create custom exceptions
• Test invariants by using assertions

Java I/O Fundamentals 

• Read and write data from the console
• Use streams to read from and write to files by using classes in the java.io package including BufferedReader, BufferedWriter, File, FileReader, FileWriter, DataInputStream, DataOutputStream, ObjectOutputStream, ObjectInputStream, and PrintWriter

Java File I/O (NIO.2) 

• Operate on file and directory paths with the Path class 
• Check, delete, copy, or move a file or directory with the Files class  
• Read and change file and directory attributes, focusing on the BasicFileAttributes, DosFileAttributes, and PosixFileAttributes interfaces
• Recursively access a directory tree using the DirectoryStream and FileVisitor interfaces
• Find a file with the PathMatcher interface
• Watch a directory for changes with the WatchService interface

Building Database Applications with JDBC 

• Describe the interfaces that make up the core of the JDBC API (including the Driver, Connection, Statement, and ResultSet interfaces and their relationship to provider implementations)
• Identify the components required to connect to a database using the DriverManager class (including the jdbc URL)
• Submit queries and read results from the database (including creating statements, returning result sets, iterating through the results, and properly closing result sets, statements, and connections)
• Use JDBC transactions (including disabling auto-commit mode, committing and rolling back transactions, and setting and rolling back to savepoints)
• Construct and use RowSet objects using the RowSetProvider class and the RowSetFactory interface
• Create and use PreparedStatement and CallableStatement objects

Threads 

• Create and use the Thread class and the Runnable interface
• Manage and control thread lifecycle
• Synchronize thread access to shared data
• Identify code that may not execute correctly in a multi-threaded environment.

Concurrency 

• Use collections from the java.util.concurrent package with a focus on the advantages over and differences from the traditional java.util collections.
• Use Lock, ReadWriteLock, and ReentrantLock classes in the java.util.concurrent.locks package to support lock-free thread-safe programming on single variables.
• Use Executor, ExecutorService, Executors, Callable, and Future to execute tasks using thread pools.
• Use the parallel Fork/Join Framework

Localization 

• Read and set the locale by using the Locale object
• Build a resource bundle for each locale
• Call a resource bundle from an application
• Format dates, numbers, and currency values for localization with the NumberFormat and DateFormat classes (including number format patterns)
• Describe the advantages of localizing an application
• Define a locale using language and country codes

...Best of luck as you sit for your exam