Java or CCNA??

hey,
well in my advanced comp science course the teacher said i could basically learn anything i wanted too. right now i am either looking at java as an AP course or CCNA certification. java is important in the programming and business application world. many could argue its the new age programming language. on the other hand CCNA is a very good networking certification. if i take ccna and get the certification i will be certified for life as apposed to java where if i pass the AP test it counts as college credit. what would you guys choose?

Ill go for CCNA certification...

I think the question is more: "where do you want to be in 5 years? 10 years? what do you want to be doing for the rest of your life?" Students ask me whether they should take the security diploma, datacomm (cisco university), network gaming or regular streams. What my preferences are is of no consequence (although I tell them I prefer security). They have to decide where they want to go. So rather (or perhaps before) asking here, ask yourself:

a) what do I like?

b) could I do programming all the time?

c) will they lead me to where I want to be? (where my "computer career" dreams are)

While having a CCNA is great and being able to program is great do they get you to what you want to be?

Lastly, no one says you can't do both! :D ... You can get your CCNA and learn Java on the side if you wanted.

men go for CCNA cause it' s cool and look at the pay.

yeah i would like to learn java and ccna.....but i think that taking the java ap exam for college credit and ccna for their cert would be a bit difficult.

I'd take JAVA first in AP man, that's what I'm doing to get the college credit. After that then you could get certified at an IT school on the side. I think taking JAVA first would be your best bet if you plan on going to college right after high school. Then you have more time to get certified in CCNA and lots of other IT certs...

Just my two cents.

--Peace :cool:

wassup,
just an FYI
A CCNA certification is not guaranteed for life ( you have to recertify every 2 yrs)
Two, just because someone takes a CCNA course doesnt automatically guarantee that they will become CCNA certified. (you still have to take the exam at a certified testing center which is a totallly separate entity than your school that is giving the class..Prometric or Vue testing center). And last, I hate to sound pessimistic, but CCNAs are dime a dozen...

Trust me when I tell you this,,Ive been teaching Intro and advanced Cisco routing and switching courses (Pre CCNA and CCNP certification courses) since 1997.

What you really want to ask yourself is:
Where does your interests lie in, Is it in programming or in designing supporting and troubleshooting LAN/WAN/etc..

Because they are two different animals...
Now if you want to dabble into networking or maybe are looking for a career in LAN/WAN/routing/switching/etc, then the CCNA course may be a good choice.

Also keep in mind, just because you have a CCNA certification does not mean you
have a VIP card that guarantees you a job with a prospective employer..

Strictly speaking from personal experience having interviewed many people for
LAN/WAN positions on behalf of clients, CCNA certification is the last thing I look for or anyone technical looks for (atleast in my opinion) when assessing someone's skillsets...
(10 or so questions is all it takes to quickly tell me if you are qualified or not)

Now dont get me wrong, Certifications are great to have, BUT only after you truly understand
concepts. Anyone can buy a book from Barnes and nobles and pass the CCNA or any most other exams just by reading the book.

Also note when you go on to an interview, there will almost always be 2 diff types of people who will interview you:
1) the non technical manager (unless company is fortunate enoug to have a savy manager on board) who cares only about how many stars/badges (certifications) you have and your interpersonal skills and
2) The "Techy" engineer who cares less about certifications and cares more about your understanding of concepts/protocols/etc...

Sorry for long message hope this helps..

P.S.
I would also ask about the quality of instructors who are offering the 2 classes when determining what to take..Remember, you want to gain knowledge out of the class not a certification.. Certification will always follow later on...

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(10 or so questions is all it takes to quickly tell me if you are qualified or not)

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gunit0072003, good advice there man. Just out of curiosity what kinds of questions do you ask the people that are being interviewed? What kinds of things do you look for? Thanks for your time.

yeah that was nice - but u could think the same way for java

Here are some of the Questions I ask.
Basically they fall under the followng catagories:

1) the OSI Model

What layer of OSI model does a router work on?
What layer of the OSI model does a switch work on?
What layer of the OSI model does Single mode fiber work on?
What layer does SNA, IP, IPX, work on?

2) LAN technologies

What is the access method of Ethernet?
What are 3 main functions of bridges?
How many Ethernet frame types are there and what are they referred to according to Cisco?
What is the IEEE standard of Spanning Tree?
What pins does Ethernet use to TX and RX data?
Convert the following binary number 100100 to base10(decimal)
What is the function of Spanning Tree|?
What is the IEEE standard of Ethernet? 100meg Ethernet? gig Ethernet? 10gig Etherent?
What is ISL?
What is VTP?
What is difference between early collision and late collision?
What is difference between a collision domain and a broadcast domain?
What is a VLAN?
How many VLANs can you have on a switch with 24ports?
How many collision domains can yoyu have with a switch with 24 ports?
What is Trunking and what is the IEEE standard for Trunking?

3) TCP/IP

Given the following class "C" block x.x.x.o with a mask of/25 and assuming the all zeros and
all ones subnet is valid, What are my subnets and what are the range of IP addresses for
each including the broadcast address?

What is the differenece between TCP and UDP?
WHat layer of the OSI model does HTTP work on?
Name 3 TCP/IP protocols that work on layer 3 of OSI model?
What transport layer protocol and port number do the following applications use: FTP, DNS,
SMTP, POP3, HTTP, HTTPS, TFTP, and DHCP?
What is RFC 1918?
What is function of ARP?

4) WAN technologies

What is Frame-Relay?
What layer of OSI model does Frame-Relay operate on?
What is LMI?
What is a DLCI?
WHat are 3 LMI types?
WHat is a FECN? BECN? a DE bit?
What's the diff between point to point and a point to multipoint interface with Frame-Relay?
What is a CIR?
What is the default encapsulation on serial interface of Cisco router?
IF you have a Cisco router with a non Cisco router connected via T1 cirrcuit, what
encapsulation do you have to use?
What is the bandwidth of T1 circuit? T3 circuit?
How many channels are there in a T1 and what is the bandwidth of eac?
What are 2 Frame types and Line coding schemes of T1 Circuits?
What is SONET?
What is ISDN?
What is PRI circuit?
What is a BRI circuit?
Briefly explain xDSL technologies,its limitations and benefits?
Briefly explain what ATM is?

5) Data Communications

What type of EIA/TIA interface cable (serial cable ) do you use for a DDS circuit?
What speeds does a DSU supoort?
What speeds does a CSU suport?
What pins on RJ48x jack does a DDS circuit use ? a T1 circuit use?
What are three main parameter to configure a CSU?
What speeds does an RS232 cable support?
What is function of pins 2,3,4,5,6, and 8 on RS232?
Explain the handshake between a DTE and DCE cable that occurs before DTE sends data?

6) Routing

What is difference between distance vector and Link state routing protocols?
What are 3 main functins of routers?
Name 2 Dist Vector routing Protocols?
Name 2 Link state routing protocols?
What is VLSM?
What is difference between a routed and routing protocol?
Name 3 routing protocols that syupoort VLSM?
What routed protocol/s does OSPF supoort?
What routed protocol/s does BGP4 supoort?
What metric does RIP(IP) use? RIP (IPX use)?
What metric does EIGRP use?
Name 2 Cisco proprietary routing protocols?
What protocol and port # does RIP(IP) use?
What are the limitations of RIP?
What is the administrative cost of RIP, EIGRP, EIGRP, OSPF, BGP4(external) and static routes?
What is a bracketed tuple?
By default, what takes precedance , static or dynamic routing protocols?

7) Cisco hardware/software

Name 4 main memory types on Cisco routers and functions each?
Describe the boot sequence of a Cisco router?
How many slots does a Cisco 7507 router have? What slots are reserved for the RSP/s?
What is an RSP?
What is the throughput of Cisco 7513 router?
What bus architecture does 7500 series router use?
How many interface does a Cisco 2621 router have? Describe hardware?
What command on Cisco router allows you to copy an image from a TFTP server onto its
FLASH?
What command displays contents of NVRAM?
What command displays running configs?
What command displays where your IOS is stored?
What is default configuration register on Cisco 2621 router?
WHat speed/s does Cisco 1912 switch support?
What is backplane of Cisco 6500 switch?
Describe the Cisco 7200 series hardware architecture?
Describe the different mondes available on Cisco router?
Describe the different modes available on Cisco switch?

Sorry I got carried away, I do this for a living.
Ill basically choose a handfull of questions ofcourse not all,
I just included most as an FYI..

Hope this helps..

P.S.
Ill also expect an individual to talk a little about VPNs and SNMP.

Wassup,

absolutely you can..however you were stressing CCNA certification and I wanted
to give you insight that whatever area interests you, it is not certification
you should seek,,It is knowledge..

Just dont expect one class or one certification especially CCNA is going to
give you skillsets to compete in IT arena..The IT industry is raising the standards
on qualifications they are looking for..


I am speaking atleast from perspective of here in US job market.

well i dont just want a flashy certification, but this will help me learn about networking and if i spend all that time learning it, the certification will tell people that i understand what i read.

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Originally posted here by wassup
yeah that was nice - but u could think the same way for java

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I dont want this to sound rude but based on that response it sounds like you already know your choice for class. I personally would go for the Java b/c if you are around my age (19) and are still in school you probably wont be able to find too many situations in which to use that certification.

Yea bro im takin Cisco classes for semester 1-4, and im going to take the CCNA in December then step up to CCNP in spring of next year...If you go for CCNA dont stop there, shoot higher, keep going, go for CCNP(Proffesional) then after that which is ALMOST a gauranteed job, you should get the CCIE(Executive) and after that bro its alllllllllllll good, the denero at that point is almost cloning it self, any more ?s just hit me up, good luck

Gunit has wrapped it up nicely i think. I am studying computer systems engineering and have just finished third term of CCNA and do not enjoy it at all but i will continue so as to gain knowledge. As for just getting a certification if you walk around with pearl handle guns there is always someone who will want to see if you can use them.

Gunit was very correct when he reviewed about the different subjects that he asks about.... Im curently going for my CCNA and i don't regret a thing... Follow your dreams man !

I don't know if this was mentioned but are you in high school. When you say AP are are you talking about advanced placement like taking something in high school which if you pass an AP exam you get college credit.
If you are in high school and taking java I would say go for both, because the java stuff would just blend in with your regular school work so it wouldn't be like anything extra. Then you could get your CCNA on the side.
Forgive me if i repeated anything or said anything stupid, I just breezed through the replies.
Whatever you choose I'm sure it'll work out just fine.
Good luck