Rating: 
Summary: So many mistakes! I am amazed how the author make money!
Review: Although this book is pretty followed 9i's exam objective, there are too many mistakes! It is a big shame for the author and publisher!
Rating: 
Summary: Good Potential, Let Down By Inaccuracies and Lack of Updates
Review: As a long term Oracle DBA, I have found the exam books good reference for daily use. They're usually well indexed, concise enough to point you in the right direction, and usually supply enough examples to understand something.This time, I purchased this for finally going for the OCP exam. I cannot speak for the accuracy of the material as it relates to exam questions yet, but I am seriously disappointed in the lack of response for corrections. I have emailed additional errors I found in the book hoping they would be added to his list on the exampilot website. Months have gone by and they have not been posted. I understand that with technical books, errors are going to be found - especially in something as complex as Oracle where things change constantly. However, if you are going to put out a book to aid people in passing an exam, you darn well better post corrections. There have historically been complaints about his previous books having errors, and I always took this with a grain of salt. Now however, I am seriously disappointed by his lack of corrections - critical for those who do not have a database handy to try stuff on or those new to Oracle and not knowledgable enough yet to pick out the errors. Three stars only because it's still proven to be a valuable reference, however I'd rather give it two stars because it's not truly meeting its intended purpose.
Rating:
Summary: Good Potential, Let Down By Inaccuracies and Lack of Updates
Review: As a long term Oracle DBA, I have found the exam books good reference for daily use. They're usually well indexed, concise enough to point you in the right direction, and usually supply enough examples to understand something. This time, I purchased this for finally going for the OCP exam. I cannot speak for the accuracy of the material as it relates to exam questions yet, but I am seriously disappointed in the lack of response for corrections. I have emailed additional errors I found in the book hoping they would be added to his list on the exampilot website. Months have gone by and they have not been posted. I understand that with technical books, errors are going to be found - especially in something as complex as Oracle where things change constantly. However, if you are going to put out a book to aid people in passing an exam, you darn well better post corrections. There have historically been complaints about his previous books having errors, and I always took this with a grain of salt. Now however, I am seriously disappointed by his lack of corrections - critical for those who do not have a database handy to try stuff on or those new to Oracle and not knowledgable enough yet to pick out the errors. Three stars only because it's still proven to be a valuable reference, however I'd rather give it two stars because it's not truly meeting its intended purpose.
Rating:
Summary: carelessly produced !
Review: At first glance you may be tempted to think that this title is an authoritative preparation resource for the first exam in the OCP DBA Oracle 9i track. After all it is from Oracle Press which is a part of Oracle Corporation. But the book and the CD have been shoddily produced without any regard for correctness. There are plentiful mistakes which can mislead you. The errata on the website is incomplete and the author sends you an automated reply to a request for help. The CD has problems with its interface and a few answers are wrong. It fails to give you confidence. The glossy cover and the methodology for reinforcement are good but nothing else. Very little contentfor 9i is another sore point. I would recommend that you look elsewhere such as the Sybex title for this exam as well as the self test software. the sybex title is thorough and has challenging questions. even the errors are well documented. the bonus practice exams are very good. self test offers great practice. Shun this book from oracle press unless you don't mind wading through that content which will teach you the basics. don't rely on it solely to pass the test
Rating:
Summary: Good Only with other Book
Review: Book is good But Only if you are also using any other book.
Also If you are experienced Oracle user then it is OK to use this Book.I found Book from Sybex corporation much better than this Book.It contains scenario based questions which are new in OCP-9i
Oracle press should add more scenario based questions and material should be more detailed and real Exam types questions should be present in Book. Book contains only mulitple chioce questions which nowdays do not appear in OCP9i.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Do not buy this book to prepare to the exam. It does not cover a reasonable amount of the exam material. If not for my own significant 9i SQL experience and luck I would have failed the exam.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I agree with most people on the abundance of errors in the book. However, I see that most people's complaints are geared toward expecting to pass the exam solely on the book alone. No matter which Oracle book you buy, if you plan on passing the SQL exam without practicing heavily you will be in for a shock. The Oracle University books put out by Oracle themselves are also a great resource, but they alone won't make you pass either. This book provides good reference for new features in 9i, and certainly provides enough to help you get a 40/57 (70%). I learned 8i originally and can tell you that the exam does not contain that many questions on strictly 9i format, because 8 and 9i are similar in many regards. And as for comments that the review questions are very simple, obviously those people have not looked at the 3 Practice exams in the back of the book, because there are some more difficult questions in there. Overall I would say this is very helpful to pass along with PRACTICING SQL. Syntax alone won't help you pass the test because sometimes Oracle will give you results that defy common logic.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Reference for Exam
Review: I agree with most people on the abundance of errors in the book. However, I see that most people's complaints are geared toward expecting to pass the exam solely on the book alone. No matter which Oracle book you buy, if you plan on passing the SQL exam without practicing heavily you will be in for a shock. The Oracle University books put out by Oracle themselves are also a great resource, but they alone won't make you pass either. This book provides good reference for new features in 9i, and certainly provides enough to help you get a 40/57 (70%). I learned 8i originally and can tell you that the exam does not contain that many questions on strictly 9i format, because 8 and 9i are similar in many regards. And as for comments that the review questions are very simple, obviously those people have not looked at the 3 Practice exams in the back of the book, because there are some more difficult questions in there. Overall I would say this is very helpful to pass along with PRACTICING SQL. Syntax alone won't help you pass the test because sometimes Oracle will give you results that defy common logic.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but you will need more than this
Review: I am a relative new DBA having self-taught just about everything via books or online resources. And of course, I want to get a bigger paycheck by being an OCP -- so Intro to SQL is test#1 on the path. Prior to Oracle, I have worked exclusively in Open-source DB such as PostgreSQL and MySQL as well as the occational side-gigs using MS SQL server. As you know, since Oracle implements many non-ANSI standard SQL syntax, I knew I needed help to pass the test. Although this book is a good reference to build baseline knowledge, it alone will not be enough. For example, syntax such as "where x = ANY|ALL (subquery)" or INTERVAL YEAR TO MONTH were not even mentioned. And, the exam prep CD is totally inadequate. To make a long story short, this is good for baseline knowledge, but if you seriously want to pass the test, consider investing in test prep software from company such as selftestsoftware.com after reading through this book. The self test software are a bit pricy, but it worth every penny. After the multiple practice test and learning mode, I passed with an 85%. Yahoooo!!! ;) Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I am also very disappointed about the errors in the book. It is confusing and fortunately I have followed the Oracle instructor-led course. Maybe an updated errata must be released for people who have had confidence in the logo "Official Authorized - Oracle Press".
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