Spring: Certification study notes and mock exams for Spring Framework Core SFC 2.5 SpringSource

After several information’s requests concerning the Spring certification, I have decided to write these some words about the SFC certification (Spring Framework Core) in order to share my resources and mock exams.

First, I have received during october 2008, the first training “Spring Framework Core” (4 days) at Luxembourg by the company Spring Source (Creators of the Spring framework). At the end of training, a voucher had been offered to allow the examination. Then, I took the exam SFC 2.5 during june 2011. This exam was about the version 2.5 of Spring, it had 50 multiple choice questions (one only possible answer per question), 88 minutes allotted for this exam. It is success when more than 75% of correct answers, and a provisional certificate of achievement is printed and delivered. The final certificate is received by email and/or post a few weeks later.

Concerning the registration and scheduling of exams, the candidates must register and schedule by:

• Visiting the Pearsonvue website or Calling the Pearson VUE Call Center.
• Spring exam should be scheduled at least one full business day in advance.
• Candidates who need to cancel or reschedule their appointment must do so within 24 hours of their exam appointment.

For my preparation, I have studied Spring with:

• Reading the book (in french) named “Spring par la pratique 2ème Edition Spring 2.5 et 3.0 (Groupe Eyrolles, 2006, 2009, ISBN : 978-2-212-12421-7)658 pages, 2ème édition, 2009 Editions Eyrolles, ISBN10 : 221212421X, Broché. Order on http://izibook.eyrolles.com: 39€ in PDF format or Order on http://www.amazon.fr: 42,75EUR TTC (Free Delivery !),
• Studying the support of Spring Core 2.5 training,
• The Spring Certification FAQ and studies notes of Code Ranch http://www.coderanch.com/how-to/java/SpringCertificationFaq,
• The Suggested Topics of Study for the Spring Framework Certification of SpringSource,
• The Spring Study Notes of Gavin Lasnitzki http://springcert.sourceforge.net/study-notes-3.html,
• The core spring 3 certification experiences of Jeanne Boyarsky http://www.selikoff.net/2010/08/20/jeannes-core-spring-3-certification-experiences/,

For the mock exams, you could use the following resources which some are free and others by paying some euros:

• The mock exam from www.developersbook.com by clicking here,
• The Skill-Guru Spring 2.5 and 3.0 Fundamentals mock exam,
• The Skill-Guru Core Spring 3.0 Certification Mock mock exam,
• The Skill-Guru Core Spring 3.0 Certification Mock Test 2 mock exam,
• The Skill-Guru Spring Transaction Management mock exam,
• The BlackBelt site contains a lot of mock exams (the BETA exam are free),
• The SpringMockExams.com site helps the candidates in passing the Spring Core Certification (The site precises that if the candidates master the topics covered by their mock exams, they are guaranteed to pass the real exams as well),

To conclude this post, I propose you a ZIP bonus: a ZIP file certif_spring_mock_exam.zip containing the several mock exams with the corrections.

Best regards,