Rating: 
Summary: Covers all the essential to guide you to success !
Review: Just passed the 1Z0-007 on my first attempt with flying colors. This book is really great at showing the concepts addressed in the exam. Make sure to do all the practice tests.I also bought the online exam from www.selftestsoftware.com which
is much harder than the real test and helps show you where your weaknesses are.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Reference
Review: The book cover all the Oracle objectives exam, but it does not dig into the interesting/hard topics. Too many pages are dedicated to references stuff like single row and group functions which are not so deeply asked in the real exam. The exams included in the CDrom are not to tide to the Books material and go beyond exam objectives, watch out because these questions can mislead you on how well you are prepared for the exam.
I recommend using Self Test Software as well with this book and the one from Oracle Press.
Rating:
Summary: Passed the test, thanks to the book.
Review: The book is very comprehensive, and allowed me to breeze through the exam in 45 minutes. The questions in the exam is very similar. I definitely recommend this book for people who already have a working knowledge of SQL/ PLSQL. One problem I did have was the way in which the Sybex test questions are formatted: The little windows with the scrollbars make hugh chunks of code reallt hard to read. My suggestion is to use this as a study guide, but take the test at a prometric center, as they have a easier to use interface.
Rating:
Summary: Astonishing number of errors!
Review: There is no such thing as an error free technical book, but this one sets a new high-water mark for errors. Don't even begin without incorporating all the changes from the errata - which cover perhaps 3/4 of the errors. And there are even errors in the errata! The book has lost so much credibility with me that I find myself reading with considerable skepticism. Fortunately I have several years of Oracle SQL experience, so if something looks suspicious I just go to OTN to check. All that said, the book is well designed as far as subject presentation (tho I would move data types to beginning), uses lots of clear (& usually correct) examples, and covers most of the material needed. I would probably purchase it again.
Rating: 
Summary: Use as a reference -- not as your sole study guide
Review: This book is a fairly decent review of the Introduction to Oracle 9i concepts. However, I'd like to add that there are many blaring mistakes in the book that newbies may not be able to point out. What makes me give this book 2 out of 5 stars is not just because of the typos but because of the way the book is organized and even more because of the the chapter tests. These chapter tests refer to concepts in an extremely detailed manner that were not covered in the appropriate chapters. The chapters tend to be extremely general and the practice tests contain some questions which get down to the nitty-gritty. As I was taking these self tests I found myself wondering where did they mention such a fact. When I would attempt to look up the concept for review, the fact wasn't even stated in the chapter or the book at all! There are those times when they do test you on things that are explained in later chapters -- poor organization! I felt that this was confusing and unfair to those new to this subject. I am lucky in the fact that I have taken a course in this and I have several other Oracle 9i references. Do yourself a favor and use this in conjunction with another Oracle 9i manual!
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant but might need supplement
Review: To give you a bit of back ground, I am a full time student and decided to do Oracle in my free time. I only have about 6 months's experience with SQL and I really didn't think I'd be able to do it. I actually bought the book as part of a set(OCP Cert. kit) together with another book co-written by Thomas Kyte to use as supplement. Let me tell you that I believe for sure that you will get no better value for your money than this book. It covers 98% of the exam(maybe I just missed the other 2% I did not recognize in the exam) and it's written in a very organized style. The two bonus exams and the flashcards and chapter tests are a lot like the questions you'd get in the exam so do them and you can only win. If like me you are a beginner you might need another book to explain some of the topics in more detail and that's why I'm giving it four stars. If you have enough previous experience with Oracle you shouldn't need anything else than this book and you can change my four stars to five stars.
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