#java #certification #spring #springframework #springboot #development

Hello Java programmers, in this post I will present my path to passing the Spring Professional certification exam (2V0-72.22).

If you have been doing Java development then you may know the benefits of the Spring Framework that make it one of the best Java frameworks in the community.

As an open-source framework, Spring offered the opportunity to build applications on the Java Enterprise Edition platform. First introduced in October 2002, Spring Framework obtained a recent stable release in the form of Spring v5.0 which brought things like Reactive programming and WebFlux.

The Spring Certified Professional 2024 certification, as one of the VMware Certified Professional certifications, validates your expertise with major features of Spring and Spring Boot and your ability to apply Spring’s features to quickly build and deliver production ready applications. To earn this certification, you must pass the 2V0–72.22 Spring Professional Develop exam successfully.

The beginning

I started working with spring in mid-2017, and during that time I remember that I took some courses and read some tutorials and videos on YouTube, but it was only in 2022, after 5 years working on several java projects using Spring as a framework that I started to think about getting certified, at the time EDU-1202(old version).

I ended up buying the book Pivotal Certified Professional Core Spring 5 Developer Exam: A Study Guide Using Spring Framework 5 -2nd ed. Edition and I started reading chapter by chapter and trying to understand and assimilate the various details necessary for a real understanding of the framework.

This book is from 2019, but its content corresponds to the exam requirements, and if you have time, I really recommend reading it. It is divided into 12 chapters, and each exam topic is covered in separate chapters. At the end we have some quizzes.

The search for support material

After several months of dissecting the book, I felt the need for support material to consolidate the learning. It was then that I found the Dominik Cebula course on Udemy. He covers each exam topic in different modules and explains it in detail through slides and hand-on, these courses helped me to master working with the Spring Framework even more.

Still on Udemy, I looked for mock exams to prepare myself and gain even more confidence, so I got Spring Professional Test Exam.

The fall

After building confidence in the mock exams, I decided to schedule the exam, but I was unsuccessful.

DATE: 4/21/2022

SERIES: EDU-1202

PASSING SCORE: 300

YOUR SCORE: 280

GRADE: Fail

Yes, I failed on the first attempt. I was nervous, I lost a lot of time on the first questions, and it ended up that I didn't have time to answer all the questions. My English at the time wasn't good either, so that was it.

Do not give up

During that time I had to start a new project and I just took my focus off certification. Years pass and at the end of 2023 the company I work for promoted an incentive to train the entire team, providing vouchers and hours for study, So I came back with blood in my eyes, lol, I went back to studying everything again! ¬¬

At this point it was already version 2V0-72.22, I decided to watch Dominik Cebula's video classes again, and complement them with readings from the book. I also had access to the now mandatory Spring Academy training, which was very good, this training is divided into 4 modules with classes and hands-on, it's really worth setting aside time for it.

With the date scheduled, I saw a new mock exam available on Udemy, Spring Professional Certification - 6 full Tests (2V0-72.22) - Vincent VAUBAN, It definitely helped me prepare for the real Spring exam. You can expect the level of the real exam to be quite similar to this course. If you do all the mock exams with over 80%, then you should feel ready for the test. I recommend trying to understand what you did wrong and not only trying to memorize the right answers.

DATE: 02/11/2024

SERIES: 2V0-72.22

PASSING SCORE: 300
YOUR SCORE: 439
GRADE: PASS

So this was my journey to succeed in the Spring certification, I am very happy to have managed to achieve this goal. And now it’s time to look forward, study new things, and be able to always evolve day by day.

Thank you for reading this far, I'm new to this, so I hope it helped you in some way. Bye!