Rating: 
Summary: This is the book
Review: I scored 83% in the Sun Certified Java Programmer's Exam, by going through this book in detail. I do not have a lot of programming experience, and this book prepared me thoroughly for the test. I was reading the Java 2 Certification Study Guide by Roberts, Heller and Ernest before buying this book, and I don't really know why so many people swear by that book. I found that book to be sparse in some areas, and felt that it wasn't an appropriate choice for somebody with little programming experience.
Kathy Sierra's book is very well written, and it has the "exam watch" sections which prepare you for the kind of complicacies that you might face in the real exam. The practice questions at the end of each chapter are very good, and the book covers topics like inner classes, arrays and threads in detail. I saw a lot of questions on those topics in the exam. So five thumbs up to this book! I would also recommend buying the whizlabs software, which has 610 practice questions that prepare you for the exam. The software simulation is very close to the real test, and so you are not thrown by the test taking experience when you are in that tiny room all by yourself. I also feel that beginners need to practice a lot of coding, before taking the exam.
Rating:
Summary: Just stick to this book to get certification
Review: I think the authors have covered the exam objectives very well. The 2 minute drills and the excercise questions help you alot, especially for referring at the last minute. The questions that i got in the certification exam were almost similar to the book exams. Though the CD didnt help me alot, try taking the master exam. Best of Luck.
Rating:
Summary: I love you Kathy...
Review: I just got out of the testing center and I decided to drop a few lines here.
Everytime I go through a lesson I have the weird feelings that Kathy the author of this book is close by me, telling me what I should pay attention for in the book in order to pass the exam.
By the time you finish the book, you can tell yourself that you know JAVA.
I can tell you right now that I finished the exam in 1h 27 min du to how I've been trained with the CD included in the book.
By the way I passed the exam with a score of 80%.
Can't wait to read your next book Kathy.
Rating:
Summary: Best SCPJ Exam Book.
Review: SCPJ Exam is not a walk in the park. So do all the questions in this book. When I first started doing the exercises in the book 3 months ago, I only got 4 - 6 questions right out of 20! They're really tricky and hard. The good side of it was it made me realize how hard this 1.4 exam is. Make sure to redo the practice questions before the actual test and do well in them. Else hmm.... I was still new to Java when I bought the book. In addition to studying the materials for the exam, this book actually helped me to code better. It's like having a cake and eat it too! I just passed the exam a week ago. Actually I did quite well - thanks to this book. Else my chances would have been slimmer. Some people are complaining about some jokes that are attached along in this book - I call them good humor! Trust me, it helps when the materials are long and monotone - especially chapter 2! zzz... The LearnKey master exams CD included in the book really convinces me that I was going to pass the exam the first time through. The explanations for each question are provided in detail; they helped reinstating the points that I miss while reading the book. I actually read the book the first time through and then did some external readings. I just wanted to make sure that I got every point covered. Then I came back to the book, read the 2 minute drills and did the questions. One thing about this exam is: you have to test/write the codes. Else, you might not pass the exam. I actually used the codes in this book and then went from there - by writing all possible scenarios that could happened with that example code; compiling them and running them. It's hard work but the payoff is sweet...
Rating:
Summary: Its very good exam oriented book! Highly Recommended!
Review: It took me just a week to prepare for the exam with this book and have cleared the SCJP exam with 93%. Ofcourse i had Java working experiance, but still its recommended if you desperate of clearing the certification exam. Just focus on the author's comments, exam watch ..etc and take seriously the two min drill and practice test after each subject. And lastly ePractice tests from Sun website makes your way to succeed the SCJP exam. All the best!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for Programmer's Exam
Review: I just passed the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 1.4 Platform exam with a score of 96% after using this book as my primary reference. The book did an excellent job of preparing me for the caliber of questions that were asked on the exam. The special attention to "Compilation fails" scenarios helped enormously. I have been writing in Java for over 5 years, but without this study guide, I doubt I could have exceeded 50%. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: excellent book!
Review: This is a very good use-and-throw book, designed specifically to pass the exam. Most topics are well covered. Couple of places where this book is lacking.
- operator precedence and associativity is almost totally missing
- inner classes although covered IMO could've been handled
better. This said... i recently took the exam and passed with a VERY high score;) Thank you Kathy and Thank you Bert!
Rating:
Summary: I just passed with a 98%
Review: This book covers everything you need to know for the 310-035 exam. The exam has a lot of tricky questions and this book does a good job of preparing you. Studying with this book also provides a nice foundation to polish off your java skills for the workplace. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to pass the test. I was able to pass the test with a 98% after using this book as my only Study Guide.
Rating:
Summary: That just what you need for your test
Review: I am really happy that I've bought this book. After 40th question on the 035 test I was completly sure that I will pass and could not continue. It last 1 hour and 10 minutes plus I did not review marked questions - result 85%. Many thanks to authors.
Rating:
Summary: Fun to read, excellent choice for the exam!
Review: If you want to pass SCJP with confidence, do not pass up on this book! I spent about 1 week going through the chapters and I passed the exam with over 80%! On top of that, this is the only book I used for the test preparation. The only imperfection is the software simulation tests are not exact as it could be to the real exam. I'm glad that I found this book and I would recommend it to anyone taking the exam. It really makes my life easier!
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