Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good, but do not rely on this alone
Review: I have been using this book to prepare for the OCP Developer Exams. The book covers about 80% to 90 % of what you need to know (which is typically enough for you to pass the exam). I have just started reading the forms portion of the book and it seems to be inclusive enough for one to pass the exams. The information for the second exam (Programming PL/SQL Units) is not completely correct, especially the areas concerning what happens to related procedures and functions when you recompile related PL/SQL programming units. What I found VERY useful was to order sample test problems for each exam and use these in conjunction with this book. That way, I not only got a good review of the material from the book, but got at chance to look at actual exam questions (which in term identified the areas in the book that are lacking). Again, buy the book to help get you through the exams, but order test questions as well.
Rating:
Summary: A very good book, but not the perfect one
Review: I got this book some six months back and starting preparing for the OCP ( Developers Track) and I must tell you that this book will help you very much in your prepartions for all the 5 exams. Yet there are a lot of things that this book does not supplement good. For example in the Reports Exam , the concepts were not explained in detail. For example there was no section featuring enhancement of matrix reports which has heavy weightage in the exam. Also, the CD which comes with the book has only those questions which we find at the end of the chapters, the authors could probably put some other questions in the CD so that the person who is preparing for the exams can be given some more examples for practice. But over all, this book has been very good especially the coverage for the forms exams was simply too good.I think if you are serious about OCP ceritication then you should definetely have this book on your table. Thanks, Ranganath.
Rating: 
Summary: A very bad book
Review: This book doesn't cost its money.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the price for the Developer/2000 chapters alone
Review: This book does an "OK" job of covering the two SQL exams in Developer/2000's five-exam gauntlet. But I needed to use Oracle Press's PL/SQL Programming book to learn about some things that aren't covered in this book's SQL chapters. That isn't a big deal...every developer I know has the PL/SQL Programming book anyway. Where the Application Developer Exam Guide shines is it's chapters on Developer/2000. It succeeds in giving the "big picture" of how Developer/2000's various parts fit together, while still presenting all the details accurately. Those chapters alone rate the book five stars. Before buying this book, I had already read the Developer documentation (almost useless), Oracle Press's Developer Handbook (bizarre and unfocused), and a book from Prentice-Hall (all I can say is "eh"). It wasn't until I read this Exam Guide's chapters on Developer/2000 that it all came together and I understood what was really going on. If I had started with it, I would have saved a lot of time. Get this book and the PL/SQL Programming book, and you will have ALL the information you need to become OCP-certified. If you already know SQL and want to learn about Developer/2000, this book has the stuff you need to know.
Rating:
Summary: This book worked for me
Review: I used this book, and one other, to take and pass the Oracle Certified Professional exam (OCP). The other book I used was Oracle Press' PL/SQL Program Units Exam Guide, which focuses just on the second exam. This book covers all of the exams, but the second exam is especially difficult, and a friend recommended that one for that exam specifically. This book was great. It is divided into sections, one for each exam. My approach was to schedule the exam one week in advance(you can contact Sylvan to do it), then review the section for that exam, then take the exam, then repeat for the next exam. I've been in the Oracle business for 7 years, so I knew most of the material already, but there were several things I didn't know, and more importantly, I wanted to know what the exam would require, which wasn't everything I would've expected, but included some things I didn't. The bottom line: I passed with plenty of room to spare. Great book, highly recommended - along with the Program Units book as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Too basic
Review: Good book for a beginner (this is an excellent intro to SQL and PL/SQL), but not enough depth for the exams. It covers all the necessary areas, but barely skims the surface on numerous important topics. I recommend the Sybex book (even though it's a little dry). For each test, I'd start with this book and then move on to another text; that should be all you need to pass the exams. Be sure to PRACTICE; that's by far the most important element of success.
Rating:
Summary: Preparing for OCP Developer Certification
Review: I purchased several recommended Oracle Press books in order to prepare for the OCP Application developer exam. I just finished taking the first exam 1Z0-001 and passed, but what a shocker! The preparation I received after a very thorough review from this book was no where near the preparation required, not even close. I just finished reading all chapters from this book for exam II - PL/SQL Program Units, and will hold off scheduling the exam itself until better sources can be identified. I would NOT recommend this book in preparation, at least not without considering other preparation resources/materials.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT BOOK FOR FORMS
Review: It's obvious that one author wrote the SQL sections of this book, and the other author wrote the Forms sections. The SQL sections are from Mr. Couchman's Oracle DBA Exam Guide, and he hardly rewrote them at all - that's too bad, because the DBA Exam Guide is getting terrible reviews. On the other hand, the Forms sections in this book are written in a different, much clearer style. The Forms sections make this book worth buying. If you are using Developer 6i, you should get the newer "OCP Building Internet Applications I & II Exam Guide" - that contains the same Forms sections, but updated for Developer 6i. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Are these two real authors?
Review: The book is not well thought out or organized at all, is hard to read and get the information you need out of it and appears to be written by high schoolers. It seems most of what you need to know to pass the test in in there though. Still, Oracle should be ashamed of themselves for printing this.
Rating:
Summary: Not all you need to know, but almost.
Review: These Oracle Press OCP study guides are excellent test preparation. This one is almost outdated though, because this version of the exam expires July 30th, 2002. Also I wouldn't recommand trusting on this guide alone. I find the preparation for the Reports Exam lacking some essential exam stuff. If you are not very experienced in Reports, find some other source, or prepare carefully with hands-on experience in Reports. And the test questions aren't great. They are easier than the real exam. I bought an additional test-question-set from Self-test software. The questions accompanying the book are relatively simple compared to the exam and the Self-test questions are relatively difficult compared to the exam.
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