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Title: Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide (3rd Edition) by Philip Heller, Simon Roberts ISBN: 0-7821-4077-7 Publisher: Sybex Pub. Date: July, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $59.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.06 (229 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: May be Ultimate - but not ultimately enough
Comment: Yesteday, I took the JAVA 2 Programmer Exam for the first time and passed with a very comfortable margin. This text helped alot and I do recommend it. However, I have to say that the real EXAM is MUCH more difficult then the practice questions in this book. The actual EXAM (at least the version I took) requires you to think though scenarios that are not obvious, even from the "strict" information provided in this book. If you want confidence to pass the test on the first try, I would do the following:
1) Read the Gosling book "The Java Programming" Language" and code many of the examples for youself. Use a good Java IDE to step though the code and understand what it does and how variables inside specific objects change.
2) Work through many of the AWT examples from the Java Tutorial (Books or WEB) using an IDE as above.
3) Thoroughly study "The Java 2 Exam Cram" by Bill Brogden AND do his mock EXAM - it's more difficult than the one in the book being reviewed.
4) Take some WEB based mock exams (like MindQ) and/or even purchase the gEs: Java Exam simulator.
Tests are kind of subjective in many ways. Some people are better test takers then others. I highly recommend a multi-faceted approach to preparing for this exam - especially if you want to really understand Java ... and not just pass the test.
I would also say that including the Java 2 API reference at the back of this book is pretty useless and adds signifcantly to the cost AND the WEIGHT of this book. The Java Developer's Almanac 1999 is the best concise desktop reference for the JAVA 2 API that I've seen.
Rating: 4
Summary: Dry but useful
Comment: I already knew Java pretty well, but I'll be changing jobs soon and I wanted to put certification on my resume to make keyword-grepping HR bots happy. (Sigh.) I figured I could pass the test cold but didn't want to bet money on it, so I bought this book.
I think it's a pretty good book, but I haven't read any other Java certification books so I have no basis for direct comparison. It's seems a bit dated, but the Programmer exam hasn't changed much in a couple of years (still based on JDK 1.2 without Swing) so that's okay -- adding more coverage of newfangled stuff that isn't on the current test would not please the intended audience. The one big change in format versus the sample test in this book is that the current test tells you how many answers to check on the more-than-one-choice multiple-choice questions. (Poke around some Java certification web sites.)
It covers both the Programmer and Developer exams, so it's thicker than books that only cover the former. I haven't taken the latter, so I don't know how on-target that part is, but it was an interesting read. (Certainly more interesting than the half of the book that focuses on the Programmer exam, but that reflects the nature of the two exams. The Developer exam is about writing real code, while the Programmer exam is about being a human compiler and language lawyer.) The Developer section does not give a complete solution, though, just hints. I understand why the Sun-employed author doesn't want to do that, but they could have invented a problem similar to but not identical to a real assignment and then solved it completely.
The Programmer exam is a multiple-choice test based largely on memorizing a bunch of exact rules about how the language works. Some of them are things you really need to know (e.g. what private and final mean), and some are just stupid memorization. (Do you remember the exact nested constructors of all those Writers and Readers and Streams in java.io, or do you just look them up in the handy online API help?)
My one criticism of the book is that, perhaps because the main author works for Sun and is directly involved with the certification exams, the book isn't blunt enough in places. If I wrote it, I would say things like "I know it's idiotic, but memorize every single method signature in Thread and which ones are deprecated" rather than just teaching what really matters about Threads, because the exam unfortunately focuses on both equally rather than on the important parts. People buy this book because they want to pass a test, not because they want to learn the language. They've already done that using other sources. So the book should teach more directly to the test. Maybe the non-Sun-affiliated books are better in this regard.
The book comes with a CD. It has a Java-based program that lets you take the chapter exercises and sample test (only one, unfortunately), which IMO beats taking it on paper. The text of the book is also available on the CD, in encrypted PDF, but unfortunately you have to run a Windows-only setup.exe to install it. Yes, a book about a portable language, stored in a portable document format, with a non-portable installer. Some people just don't get it.
By the way, I passed the Programmer test, but it was harder than expected. I would not have passed it cold. My advice is to buy a certification book (can't say which one since I only read this one), study, and make sure that you can pass a couple of sample exams by a comfortable margin before you drop money on the real thing. If you don't already know Java pretty well, I don't think you'll be able to pass this exam via just studying a couple of books (unless you have a photographic memory) -- write some real code first. Even if you do know Java, write some small test programs dealing with areas you might be weak in (threads, AWT if you've done primarily non-GUI work, collections if you mostly use arrays, inner classes, exceptions) to cement what you've learned.
Rating: 4
Summary: Not a bad choice for success
Comment: I passed these exams a few months ago and as I now look back and see my continually growing library of IT books and certification guides, the Sybex books simply stand out from the others.
The book is pretty much on the mark for what the exams test. Having now completed my MCSE, Java, OCA and Linux++ certifications, I can honestly say that a combination of the Sybex guides and Self Test Software test exams will get you a pass mark in any of these certifications.
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Title: Sun Certified Programmer & Developer for Java 2 Study Guide (Exam 310-035 & 310-027) by Kathy Sierra, Bert Bates ISBN: 0072226846 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media Pub. Date: 11 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $49.99 |
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Title: Java 2 Exam Notes by Philip Heller, Phillip Heller, Simon Roberts ISBN: 0782128262 Publisher: Sybex Pub. Date: 15 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.99 |
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Title: Java 2 Programmer Exam Cram (310-035) by William Brogden, Marcus Green, Ed Tittel ISBN: 0789728613 Publisher: Que Pub. Date: 07 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.99 |
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Title: SCWCD Exam Study Kit: Java Web Component Developer Certification by Hanumant Deshmukh, Jignesh Malavia, Jacquelyn Carter ISBN: 1930110596 Publisher: Manning Publications Company Pub. Date: July, 2002 List Price(USD): $44.95 |
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Title: A Programmer's Guide to Java (tm) Certification by Khalid A. Mughal, Rolf W. Rasmussen ISBN: 0201596148 Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub Co Pub. Date: 19 August, 1999 List Price(USD): $44.99 |
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