Rating: 
Summary: A Must Book
Review: This is one of the must book to be read before the exam. Read it before 15days. That will keep your knowledge fresh. For passing the exam, practice is also necessary. You should read Complete java 2 cert. guide along with this book.So get ready for the exam and all the best!!
Rating: 
Summary: Disapointing
Review: I bought this book along with the certification study guide, and was quite disapointed with it. The only benefit I got from this book that I didn't get from the study guide was the fact that this book offers a different angle on things, which can be helpful in understanding difficult points. In general, I thought the information in the book was good, but it was very pooly written. The code examples are particularly bad - they are a mess and ignore just about every recommendation in the Java CodeConventions ... I spend most of my time and effort diciphering the code, rather than understanding the point it was supposed to be illustrating. Overall, my recommendation is to just stick to the study guide, and if you need a second reference, look elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't just use this one
Review: I took the exam recently, but found that Mr. Brogan's book is a little short on some of the topics of the exam. I however highly recommend using for its concise coverage of the material, but look for another good book especially on the topics of threading, awt, and inheritence. These were tested heavily on the test I had (surprised to see at least 10 questions on AWT and listeners on the test!). These areas of the test, I found the questions to be ambiguous and tough to decipher. I would recommend reading the O'Reilley book on Java Threads and a good AWT book. Since AWT isn't my speciality (I do server side programming), I am not sure which book would be the best. I also used the Simons book too, but that book is filled with fluff on the API and can be quite intimidating to get through. If you're looking for a quick study tool, here's a start, but by no means let it be your only source. Besides the test should not be taken lightly...study, study, study!! Good Luck!
Rating:
Summary: Useful, but replete with errors!!
Review: I've seen this book frequently used, along with Roberts-Heller-Ernest's Java 2 Certification Study Guide, to prepare for the SCJP. The following are some of its deficiencies: - Includes more info than needed. Note that the definitive study guide to pass the SCJP was published by Roberts-Heller, who by the way DESIGNED THE SCJP, and comprehensively covers exam concepts. This book Exam Cram Java 2 however deems it necessary to include superfluous info NOT on the exam!! What a waste. I say to Mr. Brogden, "Stick only to topics on the exam and save some trees in the process." But then again, Mr. Brogden had no involvement in the development of the SCJP so he can only do so much... - The amount of errors is unbelievable. I mean, what kind of Standards did the author / publisher use to proofread the text? For a book that attempts to teach / review concise Java 2 concepts, this book is replete with annoying errors - major and minor - that the user has to spend valuable time on published errata - which mind you is NOT a short list. Mr. Brogden, you gotta be more professional than this, after all we - the test taking students - are not allowed to submit errata to Sylvan Prometrics once we have submitted our exams. You should seek to increase the accuracy of your work, for after all you do seek to help us get certified in the most efficient way possible, no?
Rating:
Summary: Useful, but replete with errors!!
Review: I've seen this book frequently used, along with Roberts-Heller-Ernest's Java 2 Certification Study Guide, to prepare for the SCJP. The following are some of its deficiencies: - Includes more info than needed. Note that the definitive study guide to pass the SCJP was published by Roberts-Heller, who by the way DESIGNED THE SCJP, and comprehensively covers exam concepts. This book Exam Cram Java 2 however deems it necessary to include superfluous info NOT on the exam!! What a waste. I say to Mr. Brogden, "Stick only to topics on the exam and save some trees in the process." But then again, Mr. Brogden had no involvement in the development of the SCJP so he can only do so much... - The amount of errors is unbelievable. I mean, what kind of Standards did the author / publisher use to proofread the text? For a book that attempts to teach / review concise Java 2 concepts, this book is replete with annoying errors - major and minor - that the user has to spend valuable time on published errata - which mind you is NOT a short list. Mr. Brogden, you gotta be more professional than this, after all we - the test taking students - are not allowed to submit errata to Sylvan Prometrics once we have submitted our exams. You should seek to increase the accuracy of your work, for after all you do seek to help us get certified in the most efficient way possible, no?
Rating:
Summary: Watered down java overview
Review: This book gets off to a good start in the first 6 chapters, but becomes weak quickly after that. Specifically chapters 9-13 are clear only if already known. Chapter 2 is very well written and gets 5 stars but by chapter 10 you can tell the author was all tuckered out. I feel that it would be very difficult to pass the Java 2 programmers exam after studying this book alone. My recommendation would be to buy this book if you had little java experience, and were using it as a stepping stone to a more rigorous book.
Rating:
Summary: 1 of 2 books recommended by SUN
Review: FYI -- I manage about 30 developers who were going to be taking Sun Microsystems Programmer Certification Exams.Sun Microsystems Education Coordinators recommended two (and only two) books for preparation for certification, This book (Java 2 Exam Cram) and The Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide by Simon Roberts.According to Sun, these are the only books you need and the best on the market.They recommend anyone taking the exam should read BOTH.
Rating: 
Summary: Good preperation, but to example exam is too hard.
Review: This book is a very good preperation for the test. All objectives of the exam are covered sufficently in this book. There is only one week point in this book. Some questions are harder and more tricky than the ones i encountered in the test (Nobody wants to cheat on you in the real test). I would advise to wait taking the example test until you really understood all the topics covered in the book. If you pass it the first time, the real test should be a piece of cake.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent review
Review: By working through Core Java Volume 1 and then reviewing for the test with this book, I managed to pass with a nice score. Without the Exam Cram, I sincerely doubt that I would have passed at all. It even helped to clarify many concepts that were spotty after working through the much longer Core Java book. The only caveat is threads - while the author (very) briefly reviews the main concepts, you'll likely need another book to understand what the heck he's talking about. Great job, Bill!
Rating:
Summary: It's necessary and sufficient
Review: I had done only one Java program. With the help of this book, I passed the exam with 83%. I did several parts of the exam perfect, but I did the GUI, util and thread really poor. I think the test result is fair. Because I knew C++ well, but I lacked the knowledge of GUI and others.
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