Originally Posted by
moonah
I noticed how the exam curriculum never even touched on the network infrastructure of java.
Because networking (like AWT/Swing, NIO, RMI, JDBC, etc...) is not part of SCJP/OCJP. The APIs I have mentioned are "advanced" APIs. While these exams mainly cover the "core" language (up to threading). If you have a very good knowledge of the core language you can virtually understand and use all (many, if not all) other APIs.
Originally Posted by
moonah
1. Just how much of core java knowledge is prerequisite or enough to step in to the real world( competitive industry) and be able to offer something without seeming half baked and incompetent.
In the real "industry" world it's surely necessary to have a very good knowledge of the core Java language plus ...
- generics & collections
- threading, concurrency
- basic I/O, at least the
entire java.io package (SCJP/OCJP only cover a small part of it)
- regular expressions (sometimes are very useful)
Then depending on the work context, you can need to know JDBC, AWT/Swing and/or other more advanced technologies/frameworks (JPA, Servlets/JSPs, etc...). And it's possible that you need to acquire a higher certification like the SCWCD.
About networking, it depends on what precisely. In real industry world it's very rare that you need to use directly, for example, Socket/ServerSocket/DatagramSocket, unless you are asked to develop an implementation of an existing or a new applicative protocol. Which is certainly not a common task.
Originally Posted by
moonah
2. My eventual target is to be an java enterprise savant. The only internet knowledge I have is a bit of html and CSS which dates back to almost 7 years of real life working experience with either of them. Do i need to brush up on those skills and which
other do I have to acquire to arm my self with before I take upon javaEE.
About the JavaEE, the basic part at "presentation" level is composed by Servlet/JSP. And this is the main topic of SCWCD (now "Oracle Certified Professional, Java EE 5
(or 6) Web Component Developer").
Many people can tell you that there are better technologies, like JSF, Spring, Struts, etc... It's true, these are more modern and widely used. But a minimal knowledge about Servlet/JSP is however a good "base".
Originally Posted by
moonah
3. Is it possible to design a website from scratch solely upon knowledge of java and does java provide tools that reduce designing web UI and styles to a drag and drop event.
If you mean Java at "server side", no, the core Java language and Java SE framework are not sufficient. You need to know at least Servlet/JSP.