Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide (3rd Edition)
| 2002-07-01 00:00:00 | | 0 | Sun Certification
Sun Java certification is no picnic, so a thorough study guide is essential. Look no further than The Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide for formal, structured preparation. This bulky title offers comprehensive coverage of the objectives you must master to pass both the Programmer's Exam and the more demanding Developer's Exam.
Written by a trio of Sun Java course instructors, this book uses a straightforward bottom-up approach, starting with core syntax of Java and moving into progressively more graphical and sophisticated aspects of development. The familiar textbook style makes the title very suitable for self-paced study, even if you're not shooting for certification.
Each chapter includes a test, and the answers are explained. The authors use code snippets that are not overwhelming in length to keep their readers focused on the concept at hand. A large portion of the rear of the book is devoted to a Java 2 API reference, and the CD-ROM features a test limit to help you get psyched for the big exam. If you've got the time and dedication to master the material, this fine guide is all you need to get Sun's stamp of approval as a developer. --Stephen W. Plain
Topics covered: Java language fundamentals, objects and classes, event management, components, graphical user interfaces, database integration, thread management, and Remote Method Invocation (RMI).
User review
Mistakes, Mistakes, and more Mistakes
I find it hard to believe that a study guide this error ridden was ever released given the gross errors my study group has found. We feel a lack of confidence in the material presented in this text and in the authors in particular. We have to verify everything presented in this text and believe nothing to be true without doing so. This is not a good way to study for a certification exam. We need a trusted and reliable reference, not a work of fiction.
We are not at all pleased with the material covered. Nor are we pleased with the mock exams which we all agree are too easy.
In all I would suggest that you not purchase this book and wait instead for the next release of Kathy Sierra & Bert Bates book.
User review
Sample exams on CD are buggy and wrong
The exams on the accompanying CD are crap.
The engine is buggy (sometime you cannot see the whole text) and answers are wrong. E.g.
Q: `Which access modifier will allow access only within the class and package?`
A: `friendly`
Maybe friendly, but definitely wrong.
User review
This was all I needed!
I studied this book carefully twice through and passed the exam easily. It may not be perfect, but it was all I needed.
User review
Just right for the Programmer's Exam,,.
I used this book as my primary study guide for the Programmer Exam and it definitely helped me passing with high score.
This book is just right for this exam and covers all the objectives very well. I would certainly recommend anybody who is planning to prepare for the exam to read this book. Even experienced Java Developers can gain much of the knowledge of Java Language Fundamentals by reading this book.
However, based on my experience with the exam questions, I believe, this book is somewhat light on topics like Garbage Collection and Collections. If you aim to pass with high scores, you need to put more stress on these two topics and hence need to supplement this book with additional resources/tutorials freely available on the Internet. Otherwise, this is just right for the exam.
User review
Too many errors for a 4th Edition
Obviously no one made a CURSORY proof-reading of this edition, or they would have seen dozens of double-quotes in the examples appear as some odd character I have never seen before. Once I figured it out I could decode what was meant, but it was a distracting nuisance. Obviously no one made a DETAILED proof-reading of this edition, or they would have seen us taught the size in bits of a double as 16 instead of 64. Obviously no one made a PROGRAMMING proof-reading of this edition, or they would have seen 65 listed as the byte-code of a lower-case 'a' in one of the exam samples, which made me choose `none of the above`. Because of the errors which I DID see, I had little confidence in anything else that seemed questionable.
The chapter on Collections (which was probably added in this edition as it is new in 1.4 I believe) was not detailed enough, and didn't satisfactorily answer the chapter's own review questions.
The sample exams were not anything like the real one, which I failed. I kissed that $150 goodbye.