A group of us at Unico did the SJCP 6 exam after using the SCJP 5 book to study. There was only minor differences. A couple of the sections in SCJP 5 were removed and couple of section added (eg Navigable Maps/Sets). I just had a look at a few web sites that discussed the differences and had no problems. In fact I think the preview in books.google.com for SCJP 6 included most of the extra sections.

I did learn a few things from studying for SCJP but the bang for buck was very low in my opinion and I didn't like the emphasis on thinking like a Java compiler and memorising API to avoid getting tricked by the questions. A Java programmer always has their IDE and google at hand so a lot of the questions were pointless. Especially the ones that include the option "Does not compile".

SCJP is good practise for some of the tests you get given when you apply for jobs

I wonder if one could answer every question with references to the Spring manual :p

+Bryan Murphy such in-depth questions for an interview are inappropriate, IMO. All these answers are a simple Google away, when needed.

Once a base higher level of technical competency is established, problem solving and coding practices are far more important for a dev hire.

Really low level questions might be more appropriate if you're hiring a contractor for very specific dev tasks, but that's about it.

+Bryan Murphy One suggested while you study SCJP, use Microsoft IDE application instead of familiar tools like Eclipse or Netbean. This IDE app is installed by default in Windows - MS Notepad <The end />

most of the content of SCJP is handled by any modern IDE. It's interesting to discover corner cases you may have been unaware of, but it's not exactly useful knowledge.

Having done the Java2 SCJP many, many moons ago I'm still a fan. Yes, while modern IDEs will stop you making most mistakes they don't help terribly much when it comes to avoiding (or fixing) deadlocked threads or operator precedence bugs or tell you when to use StringBuffer, StringBuilder or String. They also won't tell you when to use float versus double or BigDecimal or when and how to override hashCode and equals. Yes, all of this stuff is scattered around the various language specs, tutorials and APIs but the SCJP is a convenient excuse to learn it all. Like most qualifications it won't make you a gun coder but it is an indication that you once knew just enough to pass the exam.

As for interview questions, I find that online tech tests give a more objective view of a candidate's capabilities and I have enjoyed every one I've ever done myself. The interview can be then used to explore deeper knowledge of software design and best practice instead of String, hashCode and equals.

+James Gemmell Remind me need to find time to read Joshua Bolch's classic Effective Java, 2nd edition, having a profound view inside Java.

I read the 1st edition years ago. Time to revise and revamp the knowledge.

That's on my ToRead list too.