Felix Tjandrawibawa said
If you are thinking of taking SCJP exam, this book is all you need to have.
All of the exam objectives were explained in great depth, a lot of them are more than you need to know to pass the exam - which is great, as it will ensure that you know and understand the concepts not just memorizing to pass the exam.
I am not too happy with the CD-ROM content, the e-book (PDF format) is not printable whereas the previous edition's (Java 1.4) e-book is printable. The mock exam software that comes with the CD-ROM also a little bit disappointing and quite limited (no drag and drop questions, no performance objective reviews), but it matches the difficulty on the actual exam quite well. I suggest you purchase additional mock exam package from other providers.
In summary, I love the book, shame about the CD-ROM content otherwise I would given it full 5 stars.
Pulkit Singhal said
The book has excellent content. Not only does it do a great job of getting into the nuts and bolts of things, it makes one start asking the right questions and then answers them on the next page itself. Its like they are reading your mind. Also, any content that you may not have covered at all because you are only up to date with Java 5 or below, it does a great job of explaining. Even if you know your stuff, it still manages to not bore you and throw tricky tid-bits of wisdom at you that make you say, "Wow ... I didn't think of that before." This is a great way to prepare for the SCJP 6.0 exam and after I'm done with that I hope to dive into the CD provided with this book which also covers the SCJD exam!
Sparky said
The book is great; it covers all the exam objectives in good detail, and prepares you well. However, the MasterExam software that accompanies the book is mediocre at best. It does not mimic the real exam very well (no drag-and-drop and fill-in-the-blanks questions). Also, I found it extremely annoying that it does not automatically save a test session upon completion; you have to either print the study guide based on your attempt, or explicity save a report of your session. I took a sample test, and closed the session on completion, hoping to review the questions I got wrong at a later time. I expected to be able to do this within the software. The only thing it saved was my score and the time I took the test. Maybe its me, but I expected it to save my session automatically for review later. Most simulators do that. At the very least, it could've given a warning that I might lose the session, so I should save it.
Great book, lousy software.
Update on May 11, 2009:
Took the SCJP 6 exam today and passed with 87%. I would say the book did a pretty good job preparing me for the exam. Perhaps the authors should take another look at unanimous feedback regarding the CD and improve it a bit in the next edition. Otherwise, an excellent preparation resource.
J. D. Mc Keown said
Really impressed with this book.
The book is very precise and probably very concise too even though it is over 800 pages long.
I would definitely recommend buying it.
Like one other reviewer the e-book is very poor.
There are two minute drills at the end of each chapter which I would have liked to print out but there is no printing option available, instead I had to mess around with a photocopier to get the stuff "printed"..nasty..what is this, 1984 ?
That is about my only gripe.
Guillermina Manon-gonjon said
From all the sources I am using to prepare for the test, so far, this is the best.
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