Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Book for the SCJD Exam and Java2 v1.4
Review: "The Sun Certified Java Developer Exam with J2SE 1.4" is an in-depth how-to book on completing the SCJD Exam. This is not merely an overview; the authors designed a project similar to the SCJD exam I received and thoroughly explained how to complete the exam, from making the database thread-safe to creating the network server (covering both sockets and RMI) to developing the GUI client framework. In addition, this book also covers the new features of the Java 1.4 platform, including the Logging, NIO, and Regular Expression APIs. Even if you never used Threads, Sockets, RMI, or Swing, this book will teach you how with clear and concise details before applying the concepts to the applied project. If you plan on taking the Sun Certified Java Developer Exam, or you would like to learn the new features of Java 1.4, this book is for you. Using this book, I passed this exam earning 139/155 points (89.6%).
Rating: 
Summary: Facts :
Review: - Chapter 2 : Project Analysis and Design. You expect here maybe some UML diagrams, or at least, as the title suggests, some analysis and design. Not at all. Here you find 8 pages and code and formatting conventions, 12 pages on how works Javadoc and Javadoc tags., 12 pages on the JDK 1.4 logging API, and so on.- The book is full of useless screenshots on how to install the JDK, to set environment variables, or how to compile your classes (see page 299, it's not a joke). You can find as well some completely useless 1 page auto generated diagrams such as on page 209, where you can learn for example that the GUIController class depends for example on java.lang.Exception.
In page 168 you find one of the rare somewhat useful UML diagrams, but with all the arrows reversed. - Chapter 4 : Threading. A big chapter (58 pages) on java Threads. If you are working on the SCJD exam, you are supposed to be a SCJP and know already all of that. - Chapter 5 : Networking with sockets and RMI. This is just what you can find in any documentation on this subject. Still nothing new coming from the authors. - Chapter 7 : NIO. Like most of the book, they spend a lot of effort in explaining the java APIs but very little on the exam project. - The project design itself : The idea of having an instance of file for each client is at least original (page 126).
If you hope to see some kind of OOAD approach, you will just find NOTHING. If you compare the proposed solution with the exam specs, you will see that the book solution is much simpler and avoids all the critical questions (such as deadlocks, remote garbage collection, error recovery, etc.). Open the book before buying it and check yourself!!! The authors : one of the authors says he is just SCJP, that means...
Rating:
Summary: The only sensible book
Review: After reading thought all the convoluted garbage in the other certification books(One even goes into JDBC, as if that's relevant!), I finally found this one. Nice balance of technical depth and readability.
Rating: 
Summary: Very helpful
Review: Although the book is a little bit dated due to changes in the exam, I still found the book very helpful, particularly in the area of learning how to meet the threading requirements of the exam (I passed with 389 out of 400 and scored perfect on the threading section). There is a difference between knowing the threading theory required for the SCJP and how to apply it in a real application. This book does a good job of covering that. It also helps with understanding the design choices like RMI or sockets. I recommend using this book along with the related Developer Certification forum at javaranch.com. Mr. Habibi often participates in this forum.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best developer cert book!
Review: And I say that having just released a book on the same topic. If you can buy only one book on the developer exam, buy Habibi's book. It's focused on giving you what you need to actually implement the project that you must submit for your developer certification. It teaches you step-by-step how to design and write code for the project. It has a friendly, interesting, easy-to-understand style, and the certification candidates on javaranch REALLY like this book a lot.
My book, on the other hand, is focused almost entirely on the SCJP (nearly 3/4 of our book is SCJP), although it does have a "bonus" section on the SCJD which talks almost exclusively about how the developer project is *assessed*. So while my book goes into great detail about theSCJD *assessment*, it does virtually nothing to help you create your developer *project*.
There has some confusion around the title of my book (not my choice, unfortunately), because it *does* have the SCJD exam in the name, but my co-author and I strongly suggest that if you are already an SCJP and are now preparing for only the SCJD, that you get Habibi's outstanding book rather than ours.
Of course, if someone drops a huge Amazon.com gift certificate in your lap, well, then might as well get both ; )
Rating:
Summary: Command performance
Review: Every now and then, you come across a book that acts like as a breakthrough. I don't if it's a matter of the teacher appearing when the student is ready or what, but whatever it was, this book was it for me. I feel like I finally understand some of the deeper concepts of Java. And I have my SCJD to prove it.
Rating:
Summary: A great learning tool
Review: Explains every relevent piece of the scjd, in context, and in detail. The sample project problems are layed out, then overall issues are discussed. The technologies, then the design, then various implementation issues(and thier drawbacks). All in all, I've learned more from this book then I have from any Java book since Thinking in Java by Eckel. The very best part is Chapter 4, which explains all about threading. Buy it for that, if nothing else.
Rating:
Summary: Lacking in quality and apparent understanding
Review: First of all, the book assumes you have passed the SCJP v1 certification, where AWT was a major topic and threads weren't. If you have taken the second version, you will know more about threads than what this book tells you. However, that is a problem that can be ignored if you know it.
A bigger problem is that there are so many typos in the code examples. Ofthen they will not even compile, comments are misleading, and text describing them is insufficient or wrong.
Also, when they are discussing something that I already know (like threads), I can see that the explanations are bad. They are not necessarily wrong, they just lack the necessary context for the reader to understand what is being said. Without that context, what is said is actually wrong at times.
After two chapters, I gave up adding corrections when I saw an error. After three, I stopped saying "No!" when I found something that was actually wrong.
I have stopped reading after the RMI section, because I found the Sun description to be better. Maybe the remaining chapters can redeem the book, but I doubt it.
I think it could be a good book, but it needs thorough review, and it should have been done before publication. The quality simply isn't good enough to warrent the price.
Rating:
Summary: Best book for SCJD
Review: I am preparing for SCJD & believe me it is one of the best book on market. Javaranch.com is another great resource apart from book. Buy it if you are doing SCJD. You won't find many good books on SCJD apart from above one. BTW: I have SCJP, SCWCD & SCBCD certification to make a point.
Rating:
Summary: Best book for SCJD
Review: I am preparing for SCJD & believe me it is one of the best book on market. Javaranch.com is another great resource apart from book. Buy it if you are doing SCJD. You won't find many good books on SCJD apart from above one. BTW: I have SCJP, SCWCD & SCBCD certification to make a point.
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