This is part two of my series on the OCP-17. In my first post, I explained why it’s still worthwhile to tackle the trick questions and arcane details of this exam. Each of us has our own sense of how much knowledge is good enough to get a job done, like writing Java code. The examiners at Oracle probably put the bar much higher than you. If you can’t somehow make the journey fun, you’re bound to give up. So, your motivation needs an upgrade, and you must put in the right practice. In this post, we will look at both.
Amateur Versus Professional Practice
Not all practice makes perfect. Poor practice doesn’t even make you proficient. It’s not the hours that count, although Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers claimed you need at least 10,000. This sweeping statement with its conveniently round number is questionable science, to say the least. Excellence itself is not a well-defined notion. People’s innate aptitudes are not created equal. Some are born geniuses. But most importantly, the hours you put in must be effective.