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SCJA Sun Certified Java Associate Study Guide (Exam CX-310-019) (Certification Press)

From McGraw-Hill Osborne Media

Binding : Paperback
DeweyDecimalNumber : 005.133
EAN : 9780071490030
Edition : 1
ISBN : 0071490035
Label : McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
Manufacturer : McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
NumberOfPages : 590
ProductTypeName : ABIS_BOOK
PublicationDate : 2009-08-12
Publisher : McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
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Customer Reviews

Rating:
Summary: SCJA review
Comment: I would have to agree with others regarding the example questions. Numerous times in the examples does it give a wrong answer, or the list of possible answers within the answer section does not match the actual question it asks. While this is very annoying, it did force me to look into / better understand what the question was asking (which I'm sure is not done on purpose).

I give this book 4 stars because the content it does cover it does well. The 2 minute drills have been very helpful for memorizing key concepts.

As far as the comments regarding the writing style... It was written very "technical" vs. the "Head First Java" books, but that is what I was looking for when I bought this book.
Rating:
Summary: I have passed the exam using this book
Comment: On December 2009 I have passed the SCJA (84%) using this book.
I think this book worths 4 stars because it contains some minor mistakes, but I put 5 just to close its rating to reality. So, this can be your first book for learning Java, and you can use this book to pass the SCJA exam. Good Luck!
Rating:
Summary: Very Poorly Written, Horribly Edited, Misses Important Objectives
Comment: I waited 3 years for this book. It was delayed, delayed, delayed. And now I have it, I wonder what they did for 3 years. The writing is horrible, there are mistakes everywhere, half the sample questions are wrong, and it doesn't even cover the exam objectives.

There are way better books out there. Avoid this one.
Rating:
Summary: Armed with this book, prepare to fail
Comment: There are so many bad things about this book that it's hard to even look past them and attempt to find any good qualities.
(1) This book is very poorly written and at times it seems as if it was written by a first year college student.
(2) For those who don't know, the SCJA is extremely easy. The objectives of the SCJA are very basic in nature and, for the most part, only require a very high-level understanding of most items. Yet, as simple as the exam is, this book leaves out a lot. If you are new to the world of Java programming and related items such as UML, then this book will set you up for failure as it leaves a lot to be desired for what is actually on the exam.
(3) I do not know who performed the technical quality control for this book but the exercises and practice exams are ridiculous. Many of the programming exercises have very obvious errors. Many of the exam questions are WRONG. Many people use practice exams to do a quick study of key points before a certification. What good does this do if many of the practice exam questions provided with the book are WRONG?

If you want to pass this exam, do not buy this book. The SCJA is too easy to fail because of a bad purchase. If you already bought this bought this book and have some experience with Java and object-oriented principles then Google SCJA Tips along with UML overviews and you'll be fine. If you have no Java experience and you bought this book, go back to the bookstore.

Rating:
Summary: mediocre
Comment: The writing style is bloated and awkward.
Example:
Even though it would be possible to return data back from a method by using this practice, it is not considered a good coding practice.
This should be something like:
A method can return more than one value to its caller by setting attributes of an object that it receives as a parameter. However, this is a poor coding practice.

There are so many typos that you don't trust the authors.

Some of the questions are so badly worded that you don't know whether they are trick questions, or the authors simply don't know how to express themselves clearly.

It's a shame that the authors didn't get a proofreader. If they had, this book could have been excellent.

Btw, the SCJP by Sierra and Bates contrasts with this book; SCJP is well written and well proofed.