Best resources to prepare for the "Spring Framework Certification"

Question

Hi there

I want to do the Spring Framework Certification (2.5), but there aren't many good resources to prepare for the exam. For the Sun certifications there are a lot of books and trainers (Enthuware / Whizlabs) but not for the Spring certification.

Has somebody done the 2.5 exam already? What was your first impression? How did you prepare? What resources did you have and which are sufficient.

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Answer 1

1. It seems that the first thing you HAVE to do is take the Spring Core training (see this discussion at Javaranch)

2. Look at the list of suggested study topics for the Spring Framework Certification examination (PDF)

3. Read the 2nd edition of the "Spring in Action" book -- focus on the study topics (Amazon) (covers Spring 2.0, but is a good resource for the generic concepts)

4. Read the Spring Framework Reference Manual -- focus on the study topics (HTML/PDF)

5. Do all the labs from the Spring Core training (again!)

6. Doing the various Spring exams at JavaBlackBelt

7. By know you should be well prepared to take the certification!

[I'm continuing to find resources, so I'm combining them here in a single answer here]

Answer 2

It is good idea to start from "Spring in Action" (Manning)

Answer 3

The following tutorial teaches you how to build a Spring web application from scratch:

http://static.springframework.org/docs/Spring-MVC-step-by-step/index.html

Also, check out this question:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/76764/where-can-i-find-a-good-introductory-tutorial-for-spring

Answer 4

If you do take the Spring Core training, then they will give you a comprehensive set of hands-on examples to take away on CD. My tactic was simply to run through all of these examples a couple of days before the test. And also to have read Spring in Action in its entirety :-)

Answer 5

I find that just writing code is the best way to study for these type of certifications!

Answer 6

To learn spring , you can find Spring Tutorials

Then these questions very much resemble the mock test when preparing for Spring certification mock test

This is the test on Spring Transactions

Answer 7

I could not find any decent mock exams, or exam simulators at all, until I found this one at the skill-guru site http://www.skill-guru.com/test/81/core-spring-certification-mock. It cost me one dollar but was worth every cent. It helped me pass the exam (I got 94%). I can honestly say it is very close in terms of the difficulty level and the topics covered. Other resources, other than the official Spring documentation, were a disappointment.

Answer 8

I did this mock exam and it was brilliant!

http://www.skill-guru.com/test/81/core-spring-certification-mock

I passed the real exam with 92%.

Do not use Manning alone as it is based on 2.0 and beware of other mock exams that may ask you out-dated questions on Spring 2.0 as well.

You need to use the Spring framework reference, the core-spring training (if you can) and a decent mock exam like the one above.

DF

Answer 9

Hi,

I am currently working on my Spring Core Certification. As part of my studies, I have created a set of study notes which I want to share with the community.

The notes can be found at http://springcert.sourceforge.net

These notes are very closely based on the Spring Reference Document (2.5.6), which I found to be the best reference for the Certification. I have tried to summarize the "important parts" of the reference documentation, while excluding the parts that I do not think will be in the exam. This is just my "best guess" based on comments in forums, mock exams and official Spring resources. I have also included links back to the Certification Objectives and tried to highlight key concepts and likely exam questions.

I would also recommend "Spring Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach". This is the book I used when I needed more information than the reference docs provided.

Finally, if you can get your hands on the official training material, I have hear that that is also excellent.

Good luck with your certification!! Cheers Gavin

Answer 10

Can somebody tell me that without having the training classes for spring i can go for test? Is it doable with the spring core training?

Answer 11

For someone who are going to take the Core Spring 2.5 training, there are only two things besides the course that you should need to work on:

1. Do the labs all over again, and take notes of what you have learned.
2. Memorize the contents from the slides that was handed to you in the course, and perhaps make your own summary of this. Do this thoroughly!

I followed this approach and passed the 2.5-certification with 92% just recently. I did NOT read the online documentation at SpringSource, neither did I read any books or used any other resources. I had some experience with Spring before entering the training, but not much.

I think it's quite misleading of people to suggest that you should also read a Spring book, the online documentation, etc. That will take way more time, and is completely unnecessary.