Rating: 
Summary: Focussed book
Review: This is an excellent book. The authors' focus on the exam is very clear. Before one reads this book one has to learn java using a more conventional learning guide. 'Thinking in Java' available free online (at Bruceeckel.com) and Suns' online tutorial are good for that. The practice questions and mock exam are excellent. The content picks out and highlights key concepts likely to figure in the exam. It definitely helps that there are almost no typos. Content is based on the exam objectives provided by Sun. In all this book is bang for the buck.
Rating: 
Summary: Use this book - and combine it with RHE Java2 book
Review: I just passed the Exam with 80% today and could not have done so without this book.Well written, concise, elegant, clear, short. Lots of great and short examples written by someone who apparently did real-world Java programming. It stresses that no book is a substitute for your own experience and experimentation. This is sooo true. Does NOT give you the false confidence that RHE Java2 book does. Instead of including the Java2 API reference, it points the reader's attention to the online version of references. In general, for certification and preparation purposes I like reference books that are sincere, elegant, short and to the point.This is one of those. Another prime example of "size does not matter". Missing points: . new java.util.* classes and their real use . String and StringBuffer classes and methods . Java I/O details, methods Bill, congratulations on writing such a great book on such a difficult topic.
Rating:
Summary: Good for exam - bad to learn from
Review: I am a teacher in Java and am using this book to prepare my students for the Java Programmer certification. We have now spent 6 weeks with this book and have at least finnished with it. My students have only six weeks of Delphi experience since before and will try the certification in two weeks. In my opinion this is a good book to see what topics you need to know for the exam, the questions after every chapter's are okay and the tests on the CD are excellent, almost exactly like the real exam, perhaps even a bit harder. Chapter 1 to 6 is a very good course of the language basics like datatypes, operators, constructors, classes and interfaces. I myself passed the certification with this book. This is _not_ a good book for beginners. The code is ugly and sometimes confusing. Topics like Threads and some Collections are almost impossible to understand if you haven't used them before. Still, in use together with Suns documentation and tutorial this book works. When I'll have my next course I'm still going to use this book, but I'm going to suplement it with another book with better examples and explanations for beginners.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Last Minute Cramming !
Review: The test at the end of the book is excellent. If you clear that, walk into the certification test center confidently !
Rating:
Summary: Useful for practicing tough questions
Review: The questions/examples are excellent and very tough. I bet U, if U can pass the exam paper given at the end of the book (of course on 1st attempt), U will definetly clear Actual exam. But, this book contains no other detailed useful information. As the author says, this book can be used only as supplement to some other book. Most of the questions in the book are also available in author's web site so it's your choice
Rating:
Summary: You need this book if want to get certified !
Review: It's a very good book for the certification 310-025. Combine this book with The Complete Java 2 Certification Sudy Guide and you're sure to pass the exam. With these two books, i passed the exam with the score of 90%
Rating:
Summary: Helped to "bring together" my test preparation
Review: On December 15, 1999 I took the JAVA 2 Programmer Exam for the first time and passed with a score of 85. Although I've had exposure to simple OO concepts for about 10 years, I've only been involved with Java for a couple of months and preparing for the test seemed like a way to get a solid foundation in Java fundamentals. The Java 2 "Exam Cram" really helped me to "bring together" the Java language and class library skills learned from other sources (most notably "The Java Programming Language" by Gosling et. al and the "The Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide" by Roberts, et. al). The "Exam Cram" really brings focus to the objectives that are required to pass the test. It also contains an EXCELLENT practice exam that gives the reader a very good idea of the methods the actual exam uses to ellicit your knowledge of Java. This is a key benefit, because one could be very fluent in certain aspects of Java and still not pass the real Exam because of the breadth of material involved. I highly recommend this book as the "guiding resource" in the final days of your exam preparation.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy the book
Review: The reason I got the book is that I can't find other books in Chapters, canada. I am an experienced programmer, and only want to use the book to review. I am extremely disappointed. First, the book is badly organized. You can find the most complex concepts and the easiest concept together, which made you confused. Second,obviously, the author is not a good writer. The concepts are not explained clearly. Maybe he is a good developer, but I find at least, it is hard for me to understand what he said. Third, the reviews answer is on the cdrom. I don't know why they do that. It isn't a clever way. My sugguestion is to buy other books. It seems the training guide is better. The reviews are good.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best tools available to prepare for the Java test
Review: This book does exactly what it proposes to do--it prepares one to take the cert test; it is not an in-depth reference. I used this book as my primary prep tool, then used Roberts & Heller for expansion or clarification on some points. I passed the test on my first attempt after 3 weeks preparation.
Rating:
Summary: Good One
Review: Goes well with a Java Text. Gives a concise look at the examination objectives. The practice test at the end is a "must-take" before you take the real one. It is a little tougher than the real test, I would add 2-5 % points to your score on the practice test and that would about how much you get on the real one.
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