Rating: 
Summary: An excellent book
Review: I owe to this book (and some exam simulatiors but specially to this book) a 100% score on the SCBCD exam. In spite of some minor bugs this book provides an outstanding, original and amusing way to learn this complex technology and to pass the SCBCD exam.
Bert, Kathy, I'm looking forward for your new book on design pattern. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: they did it again
Review: I passed my programmer's exam because i studied the other wonderful book produced by these two authors; sun's certified programmer book. It helps me to code better too. The certification definitely helps me to become a very competent java programmer.Having passed the first exam, I started studying for my SCWCD exam. But then after working with Jakarta Struts for a while, I don't know whether it's worth while to take the SCWCD exam. I surely hate the JSP snippets, it makes JSP pages unmaintainable. So, I seriously do not know how SCWCD will help me to do my job better. Dilemma! Dilemma! We're not in college anymore; hence anything we learn should be worth the money, time, and effort.
That's my humble opinion. Hence, i turn my attention to this book; I skimmed through it for the first couple of days and realize that this is the certification that I shoud pursue next; SCBCD instead of SCWCD. I look beyond the certification; the ability to program EJB to do a better job. Having intrinsic reasons to do something, for example learning the subject for the sake of the knowledge and implementation, is far better than having a piece of paper that says you are certified. I started reading the book and i honestly just cannot put it down. So far, the items covered in this book make a lot of sense to me; in terms of how i can use them to write better codes and design better EJB. I am a visual learner. Thus, the graphics in this book really enhance and expedite my learning process. When I read them, I understand the concepts instantly! Plus, they're funny. It makes the learning process very fun! Make sure you have some notebook and draw/sketch the important concepts. They help understand some complex points presented. All in all, for those of you who want to learn EJB but don't know where to start, this book could be your answer. You may not be going for the certification but the book will guide you through to make sure that you grasp all the needed concepts to become a competent EJB programmer.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: I really like the teaching style adopted in this book. I have read a few books on EJB about 2 years back and I still got this book since due to its excellent reviews and I am really impressed. I have just started with the 1st Chapter and realy feel like going back and reading the book. viv
Rating:
Summary: If you want to pass the test read this book
Review: I recently took my SCBCD and passed with a wide margin, due in large part to this book. I have previous experience with ejb but even if you think you know ejb the test is difficult. This book prepares you well, is easy to read and helps you get a solid understanding of the material required to pass the exam. If you plan to take the test, I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the test
Review: If your not buying this to pass the test, do yourself a favor and don't use EJB. That being said:
I bought this book about a year ago after already owing Ed Roman's Mastering Enterprise Java Beans. It is a great introduction to EJB and an awesome study guide. I went through this book start to finish in about eight hours before going to take the SCBCD test. I scored very well.
This is the best book on EJB development I have read. It is well detailed and explains everything in manner that is easy to understand.
I was suprised that the "Head First" series from O'Reilly was so good. Normally, I hate O'Reilly books.
Rating:
Summary: Great study guide for SCBCD !
Review: In my opinion Head First EJB is a great study guide for the Sun Certified Business Component Developer exam. It's format is designed to make you understand and remember things in an easy and fun way and it definately worked for me! I studied for the exam mainly using this book, and passed with a score of 97%. The book explains all aspects you need to know clearly and contains many useful excercises and mock tests. Altough it covers not every tiny detail of the specs and the exam, I'm sure you will pass the exam if you know this book in and out. I already had some experience wit EJB and the book made me understand a lot of what's going on behind the scene! So i'ts not only a good book for SCBCD, but also a very good and thorough introduction/course to the EJB-theory ! Head First rocks!
Rating: 
Summary: Good but wordy
Review: It is a good book for you to pass SCBCD. All content focuses on exam objectives. However, I didn't give it 5 stars because it is too wordy. Some people might love the book since it makes them smile. But if your goal is only to pass SCBCD, the wordy content is useless and wastes your time. Anyway, I passed SCBCD with 91% by using this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Resource for SCBCD & the EJB 2.0 Model
Review: Its a great book to learn the EJB 2.0 specification / model! The pictures / diagrams inside the book help illustrate how the entire process works within the EJB container. I am learning a lot from this book. The coolest thing about the book is that its the study guide for the SCBCD exam and the authors make that clear. They focus well on exam objectives and its apparent that they want the readers to pass the exam. The only thing that this book lacks is appendices for different application servers such as WebLogic, JBoss, & WebSphere. But hey, you have to remember, those are separate certifications, in themselves...
Rating:
Summary: Best one for starting EJB
Review: Let me make it clear I have multiple Sun certifications & above book makes clear attempt to get you going on SCBCD. It is not for programmer who is looking for practice problem solution or who has lot of working experience with EJB.
It is best for someone who has Java, JSP, Servlet knowledge & want to start on EJB or has very little exposure to EJB. It will clear your basic knowledge of EJB & get you started on new EJB project. You can also find other books for practical problem solving solution. (Mastering EJB, Mastering BEA weblogic server it has good practical tips for EJB)
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of cartoons and funny drawings for kids
Review: My review probably stands out like a sore thumb from all the others raving about this book. I was disappointed from the moment I opened this book. Remember: if you LIKE cartoons and lots of funny diagrams, cute (read 'annoying') scribbled notes littered around paragraphs, a ton of smiley faces, farm animals leaping pages, etc etc then this book is for you. I found the drawings cheesy and distracting. The hundreds of 'special' scribbles and bold and shaded paragraphs only took away from the value of the subject matter. The book is designed to grip and retain the interest of the young audience and maybe for people who have attention deficit disorder. If you are a normal guy like me, who is committed to reading the book then you can pick up and run with any of the other splendid and meticulous books written on EJBs. I would highly recommend Enterprise JavaBeans from O'Reilly. Aside from that, the subject matter in this head first book seemed to be well covered and in appropriate detail.
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