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Rating: 
Summary: Java Certification passes the tutorial, but fails the exam.
Review: Barry Boone has written an excellent guide to help prepare for the Java 1.02 certification exam. Barry comes close to getting a passing score. Unfortunately, his editor, Judy Brief fails miserably. The practice exams are so replete with errors that it undermines the credability of not only Boone, but McGraw-Hill. The errata sheets, which are only available on the website only begin to scratch the surface of the more obvous mistakes. They don't even catch the more blatant cases where the same two words are accidently repeated in sequence in the question. This is all the more bewildering considering that Boone and DigitalThink are supposedly using this as a text book, where it would undergo constant review and scrutiny. The CDROM does not include the code for the questions that was used in the practice exams. Normally this wouldn't be so disturbing, but you can't rely on the answers being correct. In fact, there numerious occasions were there are obvious editorial mistakes. So you are constantly left second-guessing the intent of the question and the accuracy of the response. According to Simon Roberts and Philip Heller, in the July/August issue of Java Report, this is exactly what the certification exam itself goes to great lengths to avoid! Unfortunately, there are several questions where it isn't just editorial mistakes. The code compiles correctly, and Boone is just flat out wrong about the results. For example, on page 668, question 64. he seems to forget that drawPolygon() will close the polygon by connecting the last point with the first point. Thus, the results are not an 'N' as he expected, but instead produces a bow-tie. You are left wondering, "did anyone actually compile and run these questions?" Because the credability of the answers is so tainted, when you want to verify that your answer is truly incorrect, you have to type it in [in most IDE's this means you have to create a project, package etc], visually inspect it, and then compile and run it. This quickly becomes tedious, especially when you are trying to cram for an exam that costs $150. A second and more serious concern is that Boone mixes 1.02 test material throughout both practice tests, and gives only scant attention to the new 1.1 objectives. He only has one or two 1.1 specific questions and these are restricted to the new event model. He completely ignores 'inner' classes, 'anonymous' classes and the Reader/Writer classes. All of these are on the actual 1.1 certification exam. Given a complete and accurate errata sheet, and a section of the practice exam which truly examines the new 1.1 features, this has the makings of a fantastic book. It has a clean, easy to grasp layout. Boone has a light, but thorough manner which covers a lot of ground quickly and effectively. It has all the makings necessary to be THE bible for exam preperation. However, at this time it rates 48 out of 70, or 69%. It is a nice try, but ultimately, it fails to deliver what it promised. What a reader needs is an exam guide, with sufficiently reliable practice materials to help prepare you to take either the 1.02 or the 1.1 exam. Java Certification for Programmers and Developers fails to produce on these requirements.
Rating: 
Summary: A must-read for anyone taking the JDK 1.1 certification
Review: I passed the programmer test on the first try, thanks to this book! My only sources of information where this book and the API documentation itself. Start from zero Java knowledge, put in a few hours of study and practice every day for two or three months, and do all the exercises and practice tests in the book. Don't hurry. Be sure to completely understand the concepts before moving to the next chapter. Yes, there are a few errors in the book and in the practice exams. You must go to the author's homepage to get the corrections. The book deserves five-star rating, though I think it should have covered more thoroughly the IO classes. The programmer test hit me with a few questions I was not prepared for. Next, the developer test...
Rating: 
Summary: General overview on 1.1 test and good sample questions
Review: I used this book and was able to pass. This book covers almost every aspect you need to know in 1.1 test. However, in reality--that is to pass the test, you need to find more resources with good mock up exams. I found about 2 exact same questions and several similar questions in the exam from this book.
Rating:
Summary: I passed the exam this morning!
Review: Nice book, the practice tests were good, has some typos, and one more good thing is that it has some contents for the Developer exam too.
Rating:
Summary: Exam Buster!
Review: Read as many books as you like (and practice!) to grasp the concepts of Java BUT to pass that exam...this() is the book for you. There are one or two typos, dont pull your hair out trying to compile them but the sample questions are worth every cent/penny! Good Luck
Rating:
Summary: Exam Buster!
Review: Read as many books as you like (and practice!) to grasp the concepts of Java BUT to pass that exam...this() is the book for you. There are one or two typos, dont pull your hair out trying to compile them but the sample questions are worth every cent/penny! Good Luck
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