SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 6 Exam 310-065

I really liked this book. It's easy to read and holds the attention. I can read several pages of it without getting bored. Not even the big content of it discouraged me. I need to emphasize that this a big step for me once I'm not interested to read books at all, even what I now say thats a tinny book, say 60 pages, is hard to hold my attention. I'm so satisfied that I'm planning to buy more books from the same authors once I'm done reading this one. It's also worthy to say that I develop in Java for some years, but the book shows some things that are not used in the daily activities of most developers and explain how things works, that sometimes makes you surprise because you haven't realized this before. In my opinion, it's a must-read for every Java developer. In addition, I believe this is not a good book for wants to learn Java, this book is for those who already know to develop, but want to understand how things work and learn new stuff in the language. Regards.

I was planning to write the scjp exam for quite sometime. I got serious about that few months back and ordered this book from amazon. I used the Head First Java written by the same author to refresh my java skills and then took up this book for the cert exam and I must say this book is worth every penny. In fact, I would say the book is a MUST on your table if you are serious about the exam. The chapters are very well organized as per the objectives and the concepts are explained in clear language. I specifically liked the topics related 1) Polymorphism 2) Collections and generics 3) File operations 4) Threads and 5) OO concepts and assignments The collections chapter stood out. I would recommend this book. I wrote the exam 2 days back and I passed it with good points. The questions in the real exam are somewhat easier than the questions in this book. So if you get your concepts clear in this book and answer the questions well then you have a high chance of passing in the real exam.

I studied this book for the Sun (now Oracle) Certified Java Programmer SE 6 exam (Exam 310-065). I thought I knew how to program in Java before but I found that I learned quite a lot from the book. It goes through the subjects covered on the exam and explains them and gives sample code. There were a few times when I thought it could have been better organized, but overall the organization was OK. The main drawback I found was that there seemed to be a few details it left out. There were a number of times as I was doing the practice questions that I came upon some rule that had not been covered in the text. I even rescheduled my test because I was missing so many of the questions. That is the main reason why I'm giving it four stars and not five. In their defense, it is difficult to write a text that exhaustively covers everything in a language as large as Java. I did pass the test, but I'm just wondering if I could have passed the test earlier and with less time spent studying had they explained a few things a little better. Despite a few small flaws, I ended up passing the test with an 85%, 27% more than the required 58%. The only training I did was studying this book, doing the practice questions, writing lots of sample programs, and occasionally looking at the online API. Oh, and I did consult another book about threads but I ended up not needing to because the questions on threads on the exam were not very hard. So this book did it's job. The questions on the test were easier than the book's practice questions. I would recommend that someone wanting to pass the exam get this book, read it, take notes, and do lots of little programs as the authors recommend in the forward. Start by copying the sample code in the book, then tinker with it to see what happens when you change this thing or that thing. Then write a few of your own programs, changing various parts to see how it changes the output. And then take all the sample questions at the end of the book, and then do the sample quizzes and tests on the CD. Start the quizzes several weeks before the test, not a week before like I did, so you can have plenty of time to go back and study the areas where you are weak. When you miss a question, find out why you missed it, and go back later after you have forgotten the specific answers and try it again. And don't stress too much because like I said I found the actual test to be easier than their practice questions. If you combine careful study of this book with writing code and doing the quizzes, you will almost certainly pass the test.

This an excellent book to prepare you for the SCJP certification exam though some of the sample questions are a bit too tricky. I read this book cover to cover multiple times and attempted to answer the questions at the end of each chapter. I was never able to answer all the questions correctly on the first try. You really have to know the material inside and out to get the right answers. I took all three of the 72-question timed mock exams scoring 60-70% each time. Today I took the actual exam and got 90% correct. I had been afraid I might not pass since I had passed by such a slim margin on the mock exams. I also studied the Mughal and Rasmussen book which covered a lot of extra material not on the exam. The questions in the Mughal and Rasmussen book were of uneven quality - not all up to the high standards of this book.

First of all, it worked. I studied until I knew the content of this book, and I passed the exam. I scored 52/60, the minimum passing score was 35/60. But more than that, I learned a lot. I understand generics, inner classes, and concurrency much better than I had from other books and tutorials. Bates and Sierra have a knack for presenting complicated concepts (or syntax) in an enjoyable and easily understandable way. The tone can be whimsical at times, which may not suit some, but these authors are very serious about covering all of the material you need for the exam in a thorough and approachable way. Each of the ten chapters has challenging review questions, and the book comes with three full computer tests. By the time you have come to understand the correct answers to all of these, you will be ready for anything that the real exam could throw at you.

As someone who considers themselves a pretty experienced Java developer, I have two comments on this book: 1. This WILL NOT teach you Java and should not be your introduction to Java. This does not teach you how to program. 2. This WILL prepare you for the test. I don't think I would have passed the test if not reading this book prior to taking the exam. They know the types of questions that will be asked and prepare you for those types of questions. I definitely recommend this to someone who wants to pass the Oracle Certified Professional Programmer exam. If you are wondering, I received an 80% on the exam. Not an amazing score, but definitely a solid passing mark. I read through the book once and after each chapter, did the chapter quiz. I didn't do any of the exams on the CD or any form of final study.

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!

Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates have written as clear, comprehensive and accessible book on the subject. Easy to read lucid language, tough self test questions, good summaries of each chapters, even if they are a bit long for a two minute drill. Kathy Sierra also helps write said exam, so she knows exactly what you are going to be tested on. This is all straight from the horse's mouth. Also they throw you all of the curve balls they can think of, just like the real exam. It is very good preparation. So why the three stars? The abominable ebook study guide. Where to begin? The timer doesn't work on the exam. I am not kidding. You are prepping for a timed professional certification, and something as trivial as the timer is wrong. It comes up as 12 hours, or days long. It's inexcusable. All of the questions in the book have been carefully vetted for accuracy, so even when I'm sure they must be wrong, I code them...and they are right. Not so with the ebook. One question goofed on the fact that two println statements would out put something on two lines, and the choices in the output did not reflect this. More substantially, a question about the HashCode and Equals contract did not reflect that if two objects cause Equals to return true, HashCode *must* return true. I am not kidding. They blew that. Also the "study" that you can have printed for your wrong answers, does not include what answer you gave, or which number it was in the test! Even if you wrote down the number and your answers, you would've had to have written down some of the question as well to know which answers you gave. Makes reviews a pain in the butt. Also it does not let you save the study guide in a format the Work or Open Office can easily read, so you'd better print it, and it appears to let you print it only once. I don't know if this is darconian copy protection for something I bought and am using for my private use, or the buggies piece of software I've seen in a while.

Ce livre, écrit par deux spécialistes ayant eux-même participé à l'élaboration des questions de la certification SCJP SE6, est parfait pour se préparer à cette certification (devenue OCPJP aujourd'hui). Attention, ce livre n'enseigne pas les rudiments du langage Java ! Il est préférable de s'être un petit peu formé, au préalable, sur les concepts de "l'orienté objet" et sur la syntaxe générale du langage. Une fois que vous savez ce qu'est une classe, un objet ou une méthode, vous avez ce qu'il faut pour aborder ce livre qui vous amènera rapidement et efficacement au niveau exigé pour la certification. J'étais un débutant absolu il y a quelques mois encore. Je me suis d'abord familiarisé avec Java et ses concepts principaux. Après quelques recherches sur le net, ce livre m'a semblé être ce qu'il me fallait pour apprendre, comprendre et me préparer à la certification. Les grands chapitres : "Declarations & Access Control", "Object Orientation", "Assignments", "Operators", "Flow Control, Exceptions, Assertions", "Strings, I/O, Formatting, Parsing", "Generics & Collections", "Inner Classes", "Threads", "Development". Chacun de ces chapitres est divisé en sous-parties. Chaque chapitre contient aussi un court résumé textuel à la fin, un "Two-Minutes Drill" qui peut servir de fiche-résumé pour une relecture à la dernière minute, un test proche de l'examen (entre 9 et 17 questions), une correction expliquée du test. Je conseillerais à un grand débutant souhaitant passer cette certification (comme moi) de prévoir environ 6 semaines complètes d'étude à plein régime avant de se présenter à la certification. Commencer lentement : s'accorder deux ou trois jours pour lire sereinement un chapitre tout en prenant des notes personnelles, faire le test de fin de chapitre et en faire la correction. Au premier coup, il y a souvent beaucoup d'erreur ! Ce n'est pas grave, le but est de les comprendre pour ne plus les refaire. Une fois le livre fini, vous aurez la sensation d'avoir appris énormément de choses qui vous paraissaient extrêmement complexes au départ, mais ça sera sans doute encore un peu confus. Prenez encore quelques jours pour refaire tous les chapitres seulement avec vos notes et pour refaire les tests. Le nombre d'erreur devrait être déjà plus correct. N'hésitez pas à revenir en arrière, à relire certaines sections qui paraissaient anodines à la première lecture qui apparaissent comme primordiales maintenant. Relevez soigneusement les erreurs que vous faites encore à ce stade, chapitre par chapitre. Vous aurez une bonne idée des parties à revoir. Enfin, lancez-vous dans un des deux "mock exams" offerts sur CD avec le livre. Ne vous découragez pas de votre résultat ! Relevez vos erreurs et étudiez-les encore ! Ces exams blancs sont encore au standard des exams Sun et non Oracle ! Le passing-score est donc de 80% pour une liste de 75 questions réparties sur 3h30 de temps, alors que la certification Oracle demande un passing-score de 61% pour une liste de 60 questions réparties sur 2h30. Faites le deuxième exam blanc de la même manière. Téléchargez et faites le 3ème examen blanc offert grâce à un code promo donné dans le livre. Ces trois tests sont fournis avec leurs corrections expliquées. Le tout est écrit en anglais (malheureusement), mais de façon très fluide, simple et progressive. Les chapitres s’enchaînent globalement avec une grande logique. Les concepts importants sont souvent expliqués par un exemple imagé qui permet de bien les comprendre. Je suis parti de zéro il y a quelques mois et je viens d'obtenir cette certification avec un score plus que correct grâce à ce livre ! Et ce que j'ai appris est solidement ancré dans mon cerveau.

It's a great book. It covers a lot of small issues. the information is well organised. LOVE this book :)

For Java programmers, once you have read TCR (The Complete Reference), this is the best read you can have. So nicely explained concepts that get glued in the brain. (Not exaggerating) Along with the assessments, it will just make you learn better. Highly recommended.

Lots of examples. Provides you the keys to be succesful in Java SE6 Certification. It's easy to read and it explains very well all concepts you are suppoused to master to pass the exam. 100% recommendable.

Das Buch von Sierra und Bates behandelt alle Themen zur SCJP/OCPJP-Prüfung, Version 6. Jedes Kapitel umfasst eine adäquat ausgewählte Menge an zusammengehörigen Prüfungsthemen. Dabei wird das behandelte Thema benannt und ausführlich erklärt. Dazu werden hilfreiche Programmschnipsel verwendet, wie auch übersichtliche Grafiken oder Tabellen; wichtige Informationen werden zusammengefasst nochmals speziell hervorgehoben. Gelegentlich eingestreute Übungen vertiefen das Gelernte. Jedes Kapitel endet mit einer beschreibenden Zusammenfassung des Kapitelinhalts, einem „Two-minute drill“, der stichpunktartig ebenfalls die wichtigsten Punkte des Kapitels wiederholt, sowie einem Selbsttest mit Fragen und Antworten. Das Konzept ist wohl durchdacht und alles klar strukturiert; gerade die Wiederholungen mit den Fragen an jedem Kapitelende unterstützen und festigen den Lernerfolg. Dabei ist der Schreibstil der beiden Autoren ausgesprochen locker und teilweise amüsant. Die Übungsfragen im Buch sind ein wenig schwerer als die realen Prüfungsfragen. Es gibt leider keine offizielle vollständige Errata-Seite; denn selbst dieses Werk ist, gerade auch bei den Übungsfragen, nicht fehlerfrei. Doch die Diskussionen in den Foren sind zumindest fundiert geführt und zudem informativ.