This course also prepares you for IBM Test 286, Application Development with IBM WebSphere Studio, V5.0. If you've already obtained the Sun Certified Java Programmer certification and pass this test, you will become an IBM Certified Solution Developer on WebSphere Studio, V5. While obtaining a certification is no substitute for experience, it will prove to others (as well as yourself) that you can develop J2EE applications without requiring assistance every step of the way.

A word about distance learning courses
There are many advantages to taking distance courses, in particular, being able to work at your own pace and at times that are convenient for you. The cost of a distance-learning course generally is one-half to one-third as much as an instructor-lead course, with the content being essentially the same. Distance learning courses do have their disadvantages though.

For starters, there's no instructor to guide you through the material. So if you don't focus on the course at regular intervals, you may find that you still haven't completed this course several weeks, or months, after you've purchased it. Since there's no live instructor to guide you through the more complex topics in the course, any questions have will need to be entered into a Notes-based discussion forum.

And most importantly, if the last thing you want to do is take a course while at work, or on your own time, distance-learning courses may not be well suited to you. Overall, I view distance learning courses as a viable option to instructor-lead courses. For more views on the pros and cons of distance-learning courses, please consult the Dan Velasco article I referenced earlier.

If you want to become a J2EE developer and distance-learning courses do sound like a good option for you, please read on, as I'll review TLCC's Servlet and JSP Programming with WebSphere 5 for Domino Developers course in detail below.

Course materials
The Servlet and JSP Programming with WebSphere 5 for Domino Developers course is comprised of the following four Lotus Notes databases:

• Servlet and JSP Programming -- Lessons
• Servlet and JSP Programming -- Discussion
• WSAD5DD2 Customers
• WSAD5DD2 Parts

All the course content is contained within the Lessons database, which I'll discuss in more detail below. You can use the Discussion database to ask questions about the particular lesson, demo or activity you're working on. You'll need to send TLCC a safe copy of your Notes ID so they can cross-certify you with the TLCC domain. After that, you'll be able to replicate the Discussion database with the TLCC Domino server.

The course includes four months of instructor support via the Discussion database, or six months if you purchase it as part of the WebSphere 5 for Domino Developers package. The two remaining databases contain data that'll be used in the material on Domino and WebSphere integration.

All of the demos and activities are run from within WebSphere Studio. The code used for the demos and activities is contained within three EAR files contained within the Lessons database. You'll need to import these files into WebSphere Studio. Any further configuration of the J2EE code is covered in the lessons and activities where appropriate.