There was a time when Sun Certification was very hot and programmers feel proud of being Sun Certified Java Professional(SCJP). After Oracle took over Sun in early 2010, it changed names of all the examination from SCJP to OCPJP or OCJP, and now OCA and OCP for Java SE 7 and Java SE 8. I see there is a lot of confusion among certification nowadays, but essentially they are of the same level at previous SCJP. Since Java gets new language features with every new release, subsequently a new certification title is introduced. I am not agreed with upgrading your Java certification with every release, it doesn't make much sense to me, but many programmers prefer to get certified and keep it updated.