Update (11/05/2020): Read The 1Z0-819 Exam page to learn how you can easily our Java 11 Study Guides to prepare for Oracle’s 1Z0-819 Exam, as well as the 1Z0-817 Upgrade Exam.
As we announced back in August, Oracle has abruptly retired the previous 1Z0-815/1Z0-816 Java certification exams and replaced them with a new, single 1Z0-819 exam for becoming a Java 11 Oracle Certified Professional. Having worked with Oracle directly in writing the new exam objectives, we were confident our new Java 11 Books (Programmer I, Programmer II, and combined Complete Study Guide) were excellent in preparing for the new 1Z0-819 exam but had to wait until this past month to confirm. Jeanne recently described her experience taking the 1Z0-819 exam, and now it’s my turn!
TLDR: Yes, our Java 11 books are perfect for the new 1Z0-819 exam! I scored an 87% myself, although I was focused more on studying the exam than passing it. Read on if you plan to take the new 1Z0-819 exam!
Scott’s Experience Taking the 1Z0-819 Exam
Overall, I found the 1Z0-819 exam exactly as described, a combined version of the previous 1Z0-815/1Z0-816 exams (which Oracle has since removed entirely from their website). There’s 3 aspects, though, that make the 1Z0-819 exam far more difficult than the 2 exams it replaces:
- Scope of Material
- Time Limit and Question Structure
- Number of Questions
1. Scope of Material
The scope of the exam is something to behold in and of itself. The material between the old 1Z0-815/1Z0-816 exams and the 1Z0-819 exam is nearly identical (more on that in Part 2), which means you have to study double the material for a single exam. The sheer range of questions, from annotations to JDBC, from security to switch statements to operator overloading, is mind-boggling.
I found the 1Z0-816 exam to be significantly less difficult, as it was relatively easy to discern what a question was asking for. For example, a question that used an ExecutorService was clearly about concurrency. On the new exam, though, a question that appears to be about a repeatable annotation might actually be about functional interfaces or static initializers. The questions overlap in scope far more than they did any of the previous Java 11 exams.
2. Time Limit and Question Structure
While the 1Z0-815/1Z0-816 exams had an absurdly long 3 hours, the new 1Z0-819 exam is 50 questions in 90 minutes, giving you less than 2 minutes per question. While I didn’t find the time limit on the old exams constraining in the least, the new structure of the questions resulted in me finishing with less than 5 minutes to spare! I barely had time to go back and review the questions that I had marked.
By new structure, I mean the 1Z0-819 questions were a lot longer with more answer choices than the previous exams. As already mentioned, the scope of the questions was much broader as well. The result is that I frequently had to read 3-4 classes/interfaces quickly, understand them, and then pick two answer choices among seven or eight answers.
This brings my first two tips for anyone taking the new exam! Watch the clock and Read the answers before reading the question. Watching the clock is not a new idea but is far more important on the 1Z0-819 exam, as opposed to the previous exams where I could leisurely read them and finish with 45+ minutes to spare. You absolutely have to pace yourself and if you’re taking too long, skip the question. If I hadn’t been carefully watching the clock, I’m sure I would not have finished on time.
As far as reading the answers before the questions… as described some questions contained 3+ classes. I simply did not have time to read all of the code, fully understand it, and then read the 5+ answer choices. For example, if a question specifically says “Which line or lines do not compile?”, then start reading the answer choices and see if any of them stick out as obvious compiler errors. Working backwards is not my favorite test-taking strategy, but if you want to finish on time you need to for some of the longer questions.
3. Number of Questions
Because the 1Z0-819 exam asks in 50 questions what previously would have been asked in 160 questions, you are only likely to get 1-2 questions on a particular topic. Put simply, randomness plays a big part on this exam (but in a way that is fair).
After reading reviews from other test-takers and my co-author Jeanne, it is clear that we did not get the same questions. For example, while I only received one question on JDBC, the question was nothing like type of questions others received. This means that the exam is actually well distributed on topics, with a lot of different (but similar) questions.
If someone tells you they didn’t receive a question on a particular topic, that does not mean you do not need to study it! I cannot emphasize this enough! The broad nature of the exam and short number of 50 questions, means questions you receive on the 1Z0-819 will be very different from anyone else who takes the exam.
Jeanne and I actually think this is a very fair approach. You have to know the material well and the exam is free to ask any question about the material. It also means if people try to cheat by studying so-called brain dumps, then they are likely to confuse the question with a similar one and answer it incorrectly.
Hi , taking OCA 808 and OCP 809 and then taking 817 is easier path to getting SE11 certification , what is your opinion .
I’ll cover that decision in Part 2. Just wait!
Hi, I am reading the 816 book. I copy and paste code/definitions from the book into my notes to create my own flash cards/study guide. Unfortunately, I am receiving the error “you have reached the publisher’s copy limit set for this title” on my Kindle app.
It is a little bit strange to set a limit on a book like this where readers have to copy and paste example code into their IDE all the time to see how it works. This kind of DRM restriction honestly only punish legal owners of the book.
I own the individual 815 and 816 books bought on amazon kindle, not the full combo version. Not sure if the limit set is a hard coded number. The 816 book is significantly longer than the 815 book. I did not run into this problem with the 815 book. I just reached chapter 10, JDBC. Can you guys increase the copy/paste limit for this book please?
@Dimitri: We have no control on the DRM restrictions. That said, we intentionally don’t provide the code examples becayse there is learning benefit to typing in the code. (Other than the modules chapter. That we provide on github)
As far as copy/pasting definitions, I never realized anyone would want to. (Doesn’t help as I still have no control over it though). Note that there is an online glossary on the book website. You could probably copy the definitions from there as it is PDF.
@Jeanne: Thank you for the quick reply. I can understand your justifications, but to be honest, everybody has a different learning style. Definitions are good to memorize, so I copy it down to my notes and turn them into flashcards in Anki later. Some examples from my note are like this.
Depth-First Search
1. Traverses the structure from the root to an arbitrary leaf and then navigates back up toward the root, traversing fully down any paths it skipped along the way.
2. The search depth is the distance from the root to current node.
3. To prevent endless searching, Java includes a search depth that is used to limit how many levels (or hops) from the root the search is allowed to go.
NoClassDefFoundError
1. Extends Error.
2. Although it is an Error but it is not thrown by the JVM. It is thrown by a class loader (which is just another class in Java standard library).
3. When it is not able to find the definition of a class that it is trying to load.
NumberFormatException
1. Extends IllegalArgumentException
2. This exception is thrown when a method that converts a String to a number receives a String that it cannot convert.
I only read fictions on Kindle before just for enjoyment, so I did not foresee this problem. I wouldn’t expect a textbook where you take notes and create a personal study guide from would impose such restrictions. I understand that you guys do not control the limit, so I have opened a case with Sybex. Thanks.
Hi, I have already taken the 1z0 – 815 exam, and I saw your book’s description on Amazon that I can accomplish the 1z0 – 816 exam until the end of this year. However, when I search on Pearson Vue, the 816 exam is disappeared, only the JPN version is remained. So, how I suppose to finish OCP certification, by taking the 1z0 819 exam, or is there any way for me to take the 1z0 816 exam? Thanks in advanced
@Viet: Not until the end of the year. Until the end of September (which is is now in the past). The 816 is already retired so you’ll need to take the 819.
You are writing “… and then pick two answer choices….”
Does this mean, the number of correct options is still displayed in the new exam?
Sry, if this is already answered somewhere. I thought I read somewhere about it, but can’t find it anymore.
@Ben: Yes. The real exam tells you how many are correct.
I have ocp 815 book. Should i buy full study book for 819 or should i buy 816 book?
@Skydiv: Just the 816 book. (The full book is the 815 and 816 book bound together). The 819 practice tests book is unique, but it’s not out yet as of November 2020.
I’m waiting 819 practice test. Will the 819 practice tests be realized in the Kindle app?
I really wish I had found this article sooner!
I took the 819 exam very recently and failed as I was unable to get through all questions in the 90 minutes (I only got to around question 35 or 36). Given my mark, I was able to answer a good number of the questions I got to correctly, so I believe I may have passed if given more time. I had considered myself prepared based on my knowledge of the exam material, but sadly had not seen any articles such as this one, and I was under the impression that the exam was still 3 hours, based on articles I had previously read about the 815 and 816 exams, where the advice was to read over questions and answers very carefully.
Since it was actually 50 questions with only 90 minutes (approximately 1 minute 48 seconds per question) I was hugely unprepared for this. I cannot stress how important time management is if you intend to actually pass this exam.
Given the amount of code and potential answers you’re expected to read and evaluate in that time, I consider this to be a very difficult exam, and I’m not sure why such a harsh timeframe needs to be imposed.
I also took the exam remotely online which was a fairly unpleasant experience. I am still doubtful about whether to attempt it again, but if I do, it will be at a test centre.
Hi,
I am also studying for the 819 using the CSG. With all the changes i would like to know if the exam questions still mention the number of correct answers when there are more then one correct answer. Can you please confirm this?
Thank you.
@Laura: Yes! The real exam still tells you the correct # of answers. We intentionally don’t in the CSG guide to make the questions harder and help you be better prepared for the exam.
I just passed with an 82% score! My only resource was your three books+the online test banks. The exam was definitely a toughie and i was sweating bullets during it but when I could calm myself down, I realized the questions in the 819 test bank book were MUCH harder. Anyways, thank you so much, this was a good purchase on my part, especially with the java 25th year anniversary, i passed the exam for only 25 bucks which beats the 450 the two exams would have cost.
I know it says that CallableStatements were removed, but I definitely had 1 question about it on my exam today.
A lot about Streams and Enums were on there too, as well as several questions testing knowledge of complier error vs exception.
We’ve gotten a few reports that CallableStatement was not removed so the 819 page no longer says it was. Conveniently, the material has always been in the book. But we are no longer advising people to skip it.
I attempted the exam on 23rd of April – the last day of the 25th anniversary promotion and finished just 3% away from the passing mask. I didn’t have time to read the last 4 chapters, namely I/O, NIO.2, Security and JDBC. While I was somewhat familiar with the last, I didn’t know almost anything for the NIO2 part. Now that I read both chapters on I/O, I didn’t see anything on channels and I think, topics. I’m pretty sure I had one question about that. I got reminded of it by one of the side notes on the original NIO, that mentions them.
So…that was fun. I honestly must have gotten the worst possible seed ever.
1 question on i/o (easy)
1 question on jdbc (easy)
2-3 generics questions (easy/reasonable)
1 on modules (cakewalk)
0 for command/cmd-line options
Just about everything that I pounded into my head pre-test was non-existent when it came to the real thing. I came in at 51%. Would recommend doing the test at a testing center, as the Pearson OnVue option was a nice little nightmare getting everything working (30 minute time limit).
First three absolutely smacked me. With the exception of the few listed, I started freezing up a bit and burned through a bit too much time early on.
The practice tests are nice, neat, clean. The real test, the font, my god the font…
I was able to do process of elimination on a few answers, but overall I…I’m a bit shocked at how unreasonable it was. I mean, 90 minutes for all that is a ridiculously short amount of time. The questions…very much seems like Oracle is desperately trying to sucker punch you and run off with your $250.
In terms of the books, absolute gold, and I’ll probably get another copy for future reference. (Current one is insanely beaten up at this point) I learned quite a bit, but honestly, I don’t think I’m gonna subject myself to another beating from Oracle.
Vex: Thanks for sharing your experiences. (Also “no fair” on only one module question.) If you are going to buy another copy for reference and not take the exam, I recommend getting the 829 book. It’s out now and includes records/sealed classes/etc.
I am planning to appear for 819 and have few doubts regarding the exam
1. If the question says 2 of the options are right and I get 1 right and 1 wrong would I get 50% of allotted marks for the question or 0%.
2. Would all questions be multiple right?
3. Do all questions carry equal weightage of marks?
Basically I would like to know the marking scheme of the exam.
Any help is appreciated!!
@Yash
1) You would get 0%. The question is either right or wrong. No partial credit
2) No. Some are single answer
3) Yes, each question is worth the same (unless it is a non scored question in which case it is worth nothing.) You won’t know which (if any) questions are non scored though