I am a 17 year old Java programmer that has filled the last year with learning all of the ins and outs of Java - Using Eclipse, and the help of a friend of the family (a Java programming architect for some company), I have learned everything from serializing objects, basic networking, generics, reflection, multi-threading, code optimization and efficiency & some concurrency safety - built my own proxy class, and nowadays, I answer questions on Project Euler. I am seeking some suggestions though on where I go next, or where I go from here to get a job in programming. I dedicate at least an hour every day to coding, sometimes literally, the entire day, and I really have come to love the process. I just started reading Effective Java (v2), and learning Scala (as I see often, possibly the Java replacement)
I will be going to college for Computer Science next year - and taking AP computer science this year (however, I took a practice exam and got an 87, only need a 60to70 to pass, so no need to study for it too much) -- I was wondering if getting the SE 7 OCA and OCP would help me in trying to get a programming job. I looked around and most people have said online that an OCA/OCP are practically useless, but, at my age do they make me any more credible? More or less, what would you recommend to get a job in programming these days - or distinguish yourself from the crowd? I have enough time and dedication to learn another language, or anything really. Thank you very much.
