Get the book that shows you not only what to study, but how to study

The only classroom-based integrated study system for professional certification gives you complete coverage of all objectives for the Sun Certified Programmer and Developer for Java exam, hundreds of practice exam questions, and hands-on exercises.

The CD-ROM features full practice exam software with interactive tutorials and lab simulations, plus an adaptive test engine.

Kathy Sierra was lead developer for the SCJP for Java 5. Sierra worked as a Sun "master trainer," and in 1997, founded javaranch.com, the largest Java community website. Her books have won multiple Software Development Magazine awards, and she is a founding member of Sun’s Java Champions program.

Bert Bates was a lead developer for several of Sun’s Java certifications including the SCJP for Java 5. He is also a forum moderator on javaranch.com, a 20-year software developer veteran, and co-author of several bestselling Java books. Bert is is a founding member of Sun’s Java Champions program.

Get the book that shows you not only what—but how—to study

• 100% complete coverage of all official objectives for Sun Java exam 310-055
• Exam Objective Highlights in every chapter point out exam objectives to ensure you’re focused on passing the exam
• Real-world exercises--Step-by-step instruction modeled after the hands-on exam questions
• Exam Watch sections in every chapter highlight key exam topics covered
• Simulated exam questions match the format, tone, topics, and difficulty of the real exam

Covers all exam 310-055 topics, including: Declarations and Access Control * Object Orientation * Assignment and Initialization * Operators * Flow Control, Exceptions, and Assertions * I/O, Formatting, and Parsing * Generics * Collections * Inner Classes * Threads * Java Development

The best fully integrated study system available. CD-ROM includes:

• Complete MasterExam practice testing engine, featuring:
• One full practice exam
• Detailed answers with explanations
• Score Report performance assessment tool
• Electronic book for studying on the go
• Bonus downloadable MasterExam practice test (with free online registration)

Get the book that shows you not only what to study, but how to study. The only classroom-based integrated study system for professional certification gives you complete coverage of all objectives for the Sun Certified Programmer and Developer for Java exam, hundreds of practice exam questions, and hands-on exercises. The CD-ROM features full practice exam software with interactive tutorials and lab simulations, plus an adaptive test engine.

Excellent Study Resource
This is an excellent study resource for getting ready for the SCJP exam. It’s a five star binding when coupled with Head First Java.

SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide (Exam 310-055)
Knowing and working with Java since a while the stuff is not really new to me. However I was afraid to see how many of the test questions I answered only correct in part, or simply wrong. In fact never due to missing knowledge but by falling into the pitfalls of those twisted questions or over reading hidden details in questions with apparently so obvious answers! (I had much less problems to answer the questions correctly in a competitors book from year 2000 handling the SCJP preparation for Java 1.2!)
I guess this kind of training is as much as important as the mere java knowledge and I’m convinced, that those questions are able to show up smallest doubts and confusions of everybody taking the exam.

Great in order to take the Java Certification
From my point of view SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide is a great book to take with confidence the exam. So far (I’ve already studied the first 3 chapters) it’s got simple and clear explanation and the concepts are really well organized.

Outstanding Certification Prep Book!
This is the absolute best certification prep book you can buy. Not only that, it also doubles as a useful reference book after you have gotten your certification. The writing is clear, concise, and unlike many tech books it is easy to read quickly.

Prepare for a lot of work
I considered myself a competent Java developer, but when I took some free online mock SCJP tests, I scored very poorly. With this book and at least 30 hours of reading, notes, review, and running sample code, I managed to pass the actual test on the first try. This book and a lot of time is all you need.

I do have 3 criticisms. First, a handful of questions in the book and the actual exam included material that was not referenced directly or indirectly in the ’Two Minute Review’ section at the end of each chapter. Second, the index is good but not great. More than once I had to hunt around for a while to find the exact material I wanted to review. Third, the ’Master Exam’ software on the CD has at least two questions with typographical errors, e.g. something saying "foo" in one place and "fop" in another but the answer key indicates no error, and in another spot a single .jar file is referenced by two different name.

exceeded my expectation
written in a funny and brain friendly way, very well organized.
not just for scjp it also for anyone who want to know about how compiler sees your code.
good book. buy it now

Excellent book
This is a perfect book for Java Developers, for improve your programming or study for the exam. I recommend.

dry, yet fun
Java is fun reading about it is ||

great book for learning all about the java environment.

BUT

Have your IDE open and type the code as you see it, change it, understand it and WOW...your learning

its really and great book!!!!

Excellent Study Guide! The only one you would ever need-
I just passed the SCJP 5.0 exam, and my only study material source was this book. I consider myself an intermediate java programmer- I had to study every chapter and their exercises quite comprehensively. I had to reread all most all chapters, 2-3 times, to grasp the content, and while actual test turned out much easier than those end chapter exercises, it helped a lot to understand the exam questions. Often during exam I chuckled at questions because this book exactly talked about them, the seemingly easy looking questions with traps and tricks to divert the attention from actual problem. I whole heartedly recommend this book for exam preparation- every single concept is explained with an example code to understand it easily. All the best to rests!
(PS: I did not take any mock exam, which ultimately affected my score as I found it hard to concentrate for 3 and half hours. I couldn’t manage my time efficiently, I had to answer last 5 question in only 7 minutes. So I think not taking any mock exam was a big mistake on my part.)

Perfect material for the SCJP
This is THE book for preparing for the SCJP Certification. I passed the certification using only this book as preparation.

The only book you will need for the SCJP 5.0 exam
I used this book as my study guide and passed the exam with a 81% score. Great book really focused on the exam. If you are new to Java get the Head First one. If your intent is to pass the exam grab this one and get the mock exam from whizlabs. Best combo for clearing the exam!

I Wish I Could Get My Money Back....
I’ve read this book twice, and what Alberto Gemin says is COMPLETELY true!
(He gave it one star as well.)
I’ve even felt like throwing my book away.
The bad humour,arrogance,confusing and unstructured writing, is just "painful", as they like to use.
The included cd is not any good.
I guess this book gets high marks because it WAS the only game in town, until Paul Sanghera put his book out. That one is a lot better.

I suggest Scjp Exam For J2SE 5. by Paul Sanghera, Ph.D. It’s cohesive, consise, and comprehensive. With LOTS of working runnable code!

for the professional compiler
I’m giving this score for the exam as opposed to the book, since the authors of the book are the ones responsible for the exam this is appropriate.

The exam is for people who want to become walking compilers, not an in demand job really. That this exam and ones like it are becoming de rigeur for the software profession of course makes the profession a joke. The stupidity of educated adults that would highly regard this certification that merits people who know Java detail so well they can pick out tricky little compilation errors is breathtaking.

I have worked with people who were certified to the hilt but were also probably certified Aspergers. As they were kicking one out it was sad to hear the managers admission that he looked good on paper based on his Java certification. Unfortunately hiring managers will never see what these exams are like to correct their behaviour.

Helped me to pass the exam
I went through a Java tutorial book and then took a practice exam. I scored miserably and realized I needed a book that focused on the exam particulars with more depth. I found this book and used it to study up. The test questions at the end of the chapters, and the practice exams that come with the book are much harder than the real exam. There are more little tricks to make sure you are paying attention to all the little details of Java syntax and rules. I took some practice exams purchased from Sun’s website and scored well... so I took the exam and passed. With the help of this book, I now feel I have a good foundational knowledge in Java and the certification to prove it.

Awesome study guide
Very comprehensive and easy to follow exam preparation guide. It’s only focused on the exam so it doesn’t waste your time on useless topics. I haven’t taken the exam yet (will in 3 weeks though) buy I’m confident that i’ll do good thanks to this guide.

Fantastic book
You’ll have a better understanding of the compiler/environment and you’ll pass the test. This book and questions busts your butt harder then the real test, so you’ll be more then adequately prepared. This is a book you want to keep around you long after you take your test.

Excellent book
I have passed my SCJP exam! The book was really helpful to either extend my java knowledge and helped me to passed the exam. I have spent about two months to prepare the exam and read this book about 3 times. Make sure you understand all the questions from inside out at the end of each chapter. I only used this book as my studying material (you would think that’s risky, isn’t it?) But it did work, although I did grabbed a few mock up exam from internet. But I didn’t have much time to do those mock-ups, otherwise i may can do better in the exam. I got 88%.

Excellent! Rare book!
The book is written with such clarity, precision and humor that are rarely seen in the IT education. The authors have done fantastic job at presenting complex material in an easy yet concise fashion.

Great SCJP book!
This book has a very light language and go deep in Java language. I recommend it if you really want to be a Java 5 certified!

The best SCJP book
This is a ’must read’ for everyone who intent to apply for the SCJP.
Worths the price.

The best SCJP book
This is a ’must read’ for everyone who intent to apply for the SCJP.
Worths the price.

Good for passing in the exam
As it proposes, you will be able to pass in the SCJP 5 exam if you decide to get this book.
A good book with a lot of exercises.
There are some error in the key section of two or three chapters. The mock exam is good as well but has some errors as the key section.

Well, I could pass in the exame with 86% of scoring.
I only got 10 questions answered on a wrong way of 72 questions.

Sorry for the poor English but I’m Brazilian.

I wish you all the best.
Good luck!

Good for passing in the exam
As it proposes, you will be able to pass in the SCJP 5 exam if you decide to get this book.
A good book with a lot of exercises.
There are some error in the key section of two or three chapters. The mock exam is good as well but has some errors as the key section.

Well, I could pass in the exame with 86% of scoring.
I only got 10 questions answered on a wrong way of 72 questions.

Sorry for the poor English but I’m Brazilian.

I wish you all the best.
Good luck!

Great
I don’t know this book is practical for real projects but what I’m very sure is this book is almost perfect if you want to pass the SCJP Java 5 exam. If you understand the materials and questions in the book, you can pass the exam easily. For me, with some backgrouds of Java, it took me a month to get the certification. Actual exam questions were easier than those from the book.

Sometimes practical, other times just academic and too tricky
This book does have some practical stuff in it -- like the coverage of file I/O. There is much to learn from this book but the questions at the end of each chapter and especially the final exam that is on the CD have too much trickiness.

Having tricky, super-difficult questions is not necessarily better at teaching you Java.

I’m thinking of skipping the rest -- including the actual SCJP 5 exam and doing something more productive with my time like taking the cattle drive at the Java Ranch dot com or skipping to a more practical Sun-Certified certificate such as the SCJD which is actual programming, and not an overly difficult multiple-choice exam.

Having super-hard, very contrived multiple choice exams is not the best use of my time and I can save $200 by skipping the exam.

Sometimes practical, other times just tricky and a waste of time.
This book does have some practical stuff in it -- like the coverage of file I/O. This book greatly simplified file IO for me on a real project and saved me time & money.

There is much to learn from this book but the questions at the end of each chapter and especially the final exam that is on the CD have too much trickiness. Having tricky, super-difficult questions is not the best approach at learning Java.

I’m thinking of skipping the certificate exam and doing something more productive with my time & money like taking the cattle drive at the Java Ranch dot com which involves real programming -- not multiple-choice exams. Or, I may skip to take a more practical Sun-Certified certificate such as the SCJD which is also actual programming -- not an overly difficult multiple-choice exam.

Having super-hard, very contrived multiple choice exams is not the best use of my time and I can save $200 by skipping the SCJP exam.

You want to pass? You need this book!
Yippie! I passed the SCJP 5.0 on 1 attempt, after I studied my behind off for 4 long months.

The SCJP exam is not easy. One of my co-workers took it the 1st time w/o using a certification study guide like this book and that person failed. (BTW, that person has a higher title than I do! I cannot say what title it is b/c that may hint that person’s identity ... ) This only shows if you take that exam w/o studying, or using wrong studying materials, you’ll probaly not pass ....

The book is organized by exam objectives, which is good because you know you’re not wasting time on studying something that you do not need to know for the exam. Also, there are "exam watches" that warns you about the potential traps and pitfalls on the exam. (And traps ... there are planty of traps!)

Put it this way, the exam is designed to make you FAIL if you are not prepared. (And the author tells you the exact same thing in the book.)

There are other guides out there, but I used this one and I passed. (My score was 87%, not the best, but I did not "just passed".) Also, I would strongly suggest you to buy some mock exams (exam simulators) and take as many of them as you can before the test. (I took 11 mock tests before I took the real one. Took me a month just to do that.)

Finally, do not drink or eat anything 3 or 4 hours before the exam, you do not want "to go" in the middle of a 3 hour exam.

You want to pass? You need this book!
Yippie! I passed the SCJP 5.0 on 1 attempt, after I studied my behind off for 4 long months.

The SCJP exam is not easy. One of my co-workers took it the 1st time w/o using a certification study guide like this book and that person failed. (BTW, that person has a higher title than I do! I cannot say what title it is b/c that may hint that person’s identity ... ) This only shows if you take that exam w/o studying, or using wrong studying materials, you’ll probaly not pass ....

The book is organized by exam objectives, which is good because you know you’re not wasting time on studying something that you do not need to know for the exam. Also, there are "exam watches" that warns you about the potential traps and pitfalls on the exam. (And traps ... there are planty of traps!)

Put it this way, the exam is designed to make you FAIL if you are not prepared. (And the author tells you the exact same thing in the book.)

There are other guides out there, but I used this one and I passed. (My score was 87%, not the best, but I did not "just passed".) Also, I would strongly suggest you to buy some mock exams (exam simulators) and take as many of them as you can before the test. (I took 11 mock tests before I took the real one. Took me a month just to do that.)

Finally, do not drink or eat anything 3 or 4 hours before the exam, you do not want "to go" in the middle of a 3 hour exam.

Study guide SCJP 5
I bought this book with a lok of expectations but found that this was certainly upto the mark. When I did my SCJP 2 - I had gone through Certification Guides from Khaled Mudgal, Jamie Jaworski, exam cram and phillip heller. I think this book has no stature against some of the names above. Threads does not mentions at single place about java.uti.concurrent package. The examples for Threads are not only boring but does not relate properly to the real world.
Book is organized with the approach where each objective is taken up separately buti would certainly say that we MUST use some other certification guide apart from with this book.

Regds,
CP

***READ THIS**** - Great for Learning
This book is a great learning tool. If you don’t know much about java this will teach you the basics. When going through this book understand that the review questions at the end of the section as well as on the CD WILL NOT APPEAR ON THE TEST. However, they are useful in understand certain tricks and rules that the test will throw at you.

Great, indispensable.
I sucessfully passed the SCJP 5.0 exam and this book was undoubtedly essential for my success. I also bought a nice package with 6 mock exams from whizlabs (http://www.whizlabs.com/), and that was essential too.



After this book i could finally understand threads and generics - these are really tough subjects, but the book makes them easy to learn.



Now I also understand all about the public, protected, private and default access modifiers.



I recommend everybody to get certified and to use this book when studying.

Good book
I am reading this book and I think that it is an excellent book.

Choices Are Clear
With reference to some other reviews about the two books, here are my two cents: If you are a beginner or not a Java expert, get Sanghera’s book (SCJP for J2SE 5), at least to start with. If you are an expert, Sierra’s book is fine. But this book is too difficult for the beginners. The authors of this book (Sierra and Bates) are very honest about it and disclose this fact in the Introduction of the book that this book is not for the beginners.
That said both books are execellent.

If you want the certification it is the book!
15 minutes per day!! Take notes of the tips and suggestions of the book.

Thanks Katherine Sierra for it amazing book!

Jose Diaz

Great Book - so, so test software...
I like the book very much, and think it would be hard to find a better one to help in studying for the SCJP 5.0 exam.

The software, well...
I plan on buying exam software else where...

SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide
It is a very good book and it came in good condition without any damage. Thanks alot.

the only book you will ever need
Simply put, this is THE book you need to pass the test. I bought it last year and passed on the test with a score of 86% with little effort.

By being written by one of the authors of the test, this book contains valuable tips and information regarding the SCJP exam.

Passing the SCJP 1.5 Certification with Success!!
This certification study-resource from Authors: Sierra & Bates is a winner! As someone who recently succeeded at the SCJP 1.5 exam, i can vouch for this book. The following review is thus for those interested in preparing for the exam and not quite sure whether this book is the right tool for the job.

I am a beginner in Java, interested in becoming a Sun Certified professional java Enterprise Architect ie: SCEA. I decided to start the trek to the java-technology apex with the SCJP programmer certification, whilst actively preparing for the SCEA accreditation.

I used the following books in preparing for the SCJP exam:
(Book 1.) SCJP Study Guide - (SCJP SG )
(Book 2.) SCJP Exam for J2SE 5 - (SCJP E5) (Sanghera)
(Book 3.) Agile Java - (a 5 star book!!)
(Book 4.) Head First Java - (a 5 star book!!)

Note: (due to review real-estate constraints, i shall limit this review to (Book 1.) ie: [The SCJP Study Guide] - (the current book in question). you’ll find a review for (Book 2.) on the customer review page for (Bk 2 #) using: Link to Book 2 .

Like most new-comers to java, I wanted to get-up to speed in java rather quickly. Therefore, the [SCJP E5] book from Sanghera was chosen as the first reading-reference, as it seemed concise, compact & condensed. However, if i had to do things-over, and choose which one book to use in order to scale the SCJP 1.5 exam -(whilst learning the Java language as well), I’d pick the [SCJP SG] from Sierra & Bates.

About (Book 1): [SCJP SG]: This book proved to be a more thorough read compared with the (SCJP E5) book from Sanghera. I obtained from it the finer level of details that i believe a beginner might require in order to have a better grasp Re: certain exam topics which were difficult to absorb from reading the (SCJP E5) Sanghera book alone. (Please refer to the (Book 2 #) Review link above, for details Re: the exam-topics in question.

However, upon finishing the (SCJP SG) book and answering the questions, i didn’t feel quite ready to tackle the real exam. A lot of my other green-horn friends, decided to brave the exam after using the (SCJP SG) alone & uniquely to study & pass the exam; And failed at the first attempt!

- What was missing was: good exam-revision practise material.

While the test-practise question material in Q&A guides from companies like: Testking, Fravo, Certkiller, offered good exam practise-questions, it was surprising to find that all that was done in these various Q&A documents, was to simply list the answers to the various questions wherever they could, but without providing any detailed explanations or analysis as to why any one answer was correct or another-one wrong!

searching led to a SCJP 1.5 Exam-Practise book targeted at assisting the exam-taker in this respect. SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Practice Exams (Exam 310-055) (Certification Press). This book is also from Authors: Sierra & Bates. However, this book isn’t due out till the 4th quarter of 2007 ie: (December 1, 2007)! (others): Java Programmer Certification Mock Exam.

-what i did about it: I had to go away and put-together my own exam-practise guide! based on a composite of various exam-revision material encountered during all of my time revising. I found that the time spent coding and verifying references, together with re-reading material about the J2SE5 spec and including detailed & verifiable (explanations + references) in the exam-guide compiled, proved indispensable.

As space is short, i shall include only a few of the key exam-revision practise resources which really helped below: (for details Re: other key resources used, u might want to refer to my customer review posting for (Book 2 ); see Link to (Book 2 #) Review above.

(1a.) The eplanet Study Guide For The SCJP Certification. Google: [ "tech groups yahoo + SCJP-Sun-Certified-Java-Programmer" ]; Is a good Q&A exam-practise + study-guide offering detailed explanations.
(1b.) Fravo SCJP 310-055 [fravo] (-OR-) Testking [testkingonline], (-OR-) Certkiller. They all offer the same compendium of 180 (Q&A)’s, featuring code-exhibits & simulations.
(1c.) For those who are able to, i’d equally recommend getting the 310-055(.pdf) Q&A document from Actualtests. It is a compendium of 224 exam-practise questions. you can download it for free from the ExamCollections site. This is an awesome site for exam takers! It would be even better if u could download the "(.VCE)" version of the Q & A pdf document , but u will need to download a copy of the VCE manager application as well, in order to view the questions. hint : ...Google: "vce manager"
(1d.) Turn to the Java certification success guide (Part 1: SCJP) from the (IBM.Com) site. Its free but, u’ll normally need to do an email registration in order to download it. Google: ["developerworks + java certification success"]. It is a short and concise (.pdf) document from the whizlabs group, useful in preparations for the SCJP 5 exam.

understand the stuff & leave no stone unturned.

Schedule, Sit and Ace the exam in 2hrs:55mins, when u’ve finished with these various exam-practise questions and study-guides.
The exam is comprised of 72 questions of which several are fashioned as drag & drop coding-scenario questions. Although, the pass mark is 59%, I think most people -(myself included!), view the exam as tough, because of its code intensive nature. I think reading, tackling & spotting possible coding errors in code-samples 6-30 lines long is tough under such time-constrained exam conditions, Plus, No credit is given for partial answers. However, on the up-side, it is do-able with the appropriate revision preparation regime.

for those wondering, i took the SCJP 1.5 exam on March 19th 2007. the passing-score achieved was: 98% ie: (71 out of 72 questions ). The pass-mark is 59%.

Good Luck!

next stops: SCBCD, SCWCD, SCEA, SCJWSD.

Cheers :-)

Good Book - Too hard
This was a good book like everyone else says, but I will say that it made the test seem a lot harder than it really was. I mean, I was flunking the book quizzes left and right and I was freaking out, but the real test was much easier and I got an 83. Lots of people would say "oh, well it over prepares you so you do well" and I understand that logic, but I stressed out my whole Christmas vacation and if the book would have been more upfront about it I might not have worried so much.

From best coverage on 1.4 down to worst possible on 1.5
In February, it took me only two weeks between purchasing previous edition of the book and passing 1.4 certification with near 100% score. Watch this: I memorized three simple questions in doubt and tested them after the exam - two of the three had wrong Sun’s answers. The book on 1.4 is excellent from almost any respect. Nothing else would get me on track that fast. Now, I am trying to understand what is new reading this new book on the 310-055 exam. The authors rested on the success of A+ rated previous edition and did terrible job with almost everything new, including exam sections dropped from 1.4 exam but existed for 1.2.

SCJP 1.5
If you wish to pass this exam this is the only resource you would need.

Coolest java book ever
i passed with 75%. this book is the coolest programming book i have ever read and i’ve been reading programming books for five years. highly reccommended.

Very well
It’s ideal for study the Sun Certified Programmer. It’s very comfortable to read and to study.

Good job
Congratulations for this work.

Book was delivered as you promissed. Easy to get it, cheap prize.

Thanks for all.

Excellent Book to pass SCJP 5
This is an excellent book to pass SCJP 5 exam. If you are a Java programmer and want to learn new features in Java 5 with certification objective in mind, go ahead and get this book.

Each of the new feature is explained clearly and there are short practise sections and Two minute drills in this book which are very helpful in knowing how much we grasped after studying a chapter.

I passed the exam with 79%. If you feel this is not a good percentage, it’s none of this book’s mistake. It’s my bad that I didn’t read the book fully ;-)

An old-time Java programmer
This book is for passing the SCJP exam only. It is very good for that purpose but not a very good book for learning how to be a good programmer. Even though there is a chapter for OOD but it is not a book to learn OOD either. But for the expressed purpose of this book by the authors, they did an excellent job.