Customer Reviews

OCP Oracle9i Database: Fundamentals I Exam Guide

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

In 2002, I embarked on my journey to become certified as an Oracle9i DBA. I just passed my Fundamentals I exam, by a margin of 2 problems(!) using this book as my exclusive reference book. The same goes for the 9i SQL Exam. I am constrained, both financially and timewise, so the Oracle Press books seemed like the best(only?) option for me.
Having said that, let me give fellow exam takers some pointers as to how this book can be most efficiently utilized.
The book is useful:
1. for those who want to tie in all the seemingly disparate elements that comprise what a typical Oracle9i DBA must know - you get a really good sense of what is going on in the big picture, and trust me, that is not an easy thing to grasp. The writing itself is excellent.
2. because it is the first book(as far as I know) that is written for 9i (remember I am in a rush to get certification out of the way).
Things could be better if:
1. They proofread the book more carefully - There were only few errors, but this is supposed to be an exam guide! I have a feeling the publisher was under a tight deadline.
2. The problems were too basic (relative to the actual exam)
3. The CD-ROM essentially replicates the problems in the text.
So to summarize, if you are in a situation similar to mine, and insist on getting certified in 9i, study every single bit of informaiton in the book and you will pass. If you have some money(in the thousands) to spare, it might actually save you alot of time and effort to take the training courses. One final option is to get certified in 8i, where there are many quality books that have stood the test of time, and then take the upgrade exam. By the way, if you want to share information and tips, I am thinking of starting a small support group for 9i newbies! Thanks for reading my spiel!!!

This book does a poor job of preparing you for the OCP DBA Fundamentals I Exam. The text book and accompaning testing software is loaded with grammer/syntax errors. In addition, the explanations are very brief and inadequate. Most importantly, the questions are not in line with the questions you will encounter on the exam. This latest book from author Couchman is a vast improvement over his previous works on Oracle 8 and 8i which were really simplistic. Although this is the only book at present for Oracle 9i certification, I strongly recommend waiting until the Sybex series are published. If the Sybex 9i books are anything like their predecessors - they will be EXCELLENT for preparing you for the real exam. In addition, the STS testing software is much more suitable than this books BeachFront quizzer. My advice is don't waste your money on this book.

Ok..I have today taken the Oracle Database Fundamental I
test and did completely rely on this book for the preparation.
I flunked by 1 point in the mastery section..
Ok..the book certainly helps prepare but it is certainly
not enough (unless you have good DBA work experience that
I do not have much).This book, if you follow every bit, you
will certainly get through the basic part of the Oracle
Database Fundamental I test (35qns for basic,25 pass; 25qns
for mastery,15pass in actual test).But there were several
questions in the exam for which you will not get the answer
in any part of the book.In actual test, some questions had
1 choice for the answer and some had possible 3 choices
(out of 5 or 6) and you do not know if it is a basic qn or
a mastery one. But I presume that those qns with 3 answer
choices fall under mastery one and were difficult. You will
rarely get questions of similar complexity in the book.
Actual test (for the mastery part) is far more tougher
than the sample qns in the book.
Anyway I will suggest if you do not have much DBA work
experience then try other sources for preparation too.
I was too confident before writing because the book of the
same author for SQL exam did let me get thru' easily.
So help yourself..

After using the first book in the series to pass the first exam, I was skeptical of the second book, but there was no other exam prep guide on the market for the 9i DBA exams.

I used the book as a warm-up and to know what was covered on the exam. I also used the online documentation that comes with Oracle9i in the areas that the exam covered. The more sources you read, especially those produced directly by Oracle the better off you will be. I read and re-read the material in this book. Thankfully though I also read the Oracle University 8i books on Architecture and Administration that I borrowed from people who had taking the classes. These were the greatest help. The exam wording came almost directly from these books.

The wording of the exam and the challenges it presented were more difficult than what the OCP book prepared you for. Had I not read the OU books the day before the exam I would have struggled a great deal more. Using multiple sources with no actual DBA I missed only 1 basic level question and "a few" more than that on the mastery section. This book has errors that do make studying confusing at times. I am happy to see the third book is by a new author and has no where near the number of errors the first two had.

I just passed the Oracle Exam on Sunday(56/60) and used this book, the STS, and the 8i ILT manuals to study. Of the three, I'd say that this book by far was the least helpful. A few things to make note of:

1. There are a lot of editing mistakes in the book. At several points, it starts to refer to Oracle 8i instead of 9i. Not a huge deal, but there are differences between the two and this gets confusing.

2. At several points, the book strays from the exam objectives. For example, I ended up studying about manual redo segments for 10 pages before realizing it's not even on the 9i exam. Useful information to have, but not something that should be included in an exam study guide. Again, this looks like another carry-over from their 8i book.

3. The chapter on NLS appears as an appendix, even though it is specifically listed as an exam topic. I went through the other chapters and the practice exams before realizing I still had more to go.

Overall, it's a good overview book, but I wouldn't rely on it as being my primary study guide by any means.

The book contains many typos, mistakes, misuse of therminology.
A person new to Oracle would need to do a lot of extra work to decipher it.
Look for other books to prepare yourself for OCP exam.

BTW, the other book by J.Couchman, "OCP Introduction to Oracle9i: SQL Exam Guide" is no better.

I would consider the Fundamentals I Exam Guide to be the most important Guide there is, as it should lay out the all fundamental components of the Oracle Database. This book does that, however it is poorly edited and very disorganized. I found myself having to re-read or go over certain sections because I could not make all the connections. Also, a good proof reading is needed. Too many typos and misspellings

I used this Oracle Press book, the Sybex book, and the Self Test Software prep questions to pass the Oracle Fundamentals I exam.

This book has received justifiable bad press. I bought it anyway, as I did not want to risk missing any material that might be presented in the "official" Oracle exam guide. I'm sure you'll buy it for the same reason.

The Oracle Press book was difficult to read. The issues go beyond spelling errors and the many "Oracle 8I" references that should say "Oracle 9i". I can correct these errors myself. This book has serious editing issues that will impact your ability to understand the concepts presented. The author knows his stuff but the editor really dropped the ball. Oracle should take pity on certified hopefuls and rewrite it.

However, not all is lost. You can avoid getting mired down in Oracle's presentation by printing the exam objectives from the Oracle web site and focus your studies around this outline. Consider buying the Sybex book as an added guide. Pull details from both books using your exam ojective outline. The only exam objective I found to be missing from the Oracle Press book was on NLS. NLS is covered in the Sybex book.

Good luck!

I read this book...
I found so many mistakes, that I never see before.
In a concept of oracle, in examples of questions, just type
everywhere. I don't know how somebody can use this book
for prepare to the OCP DBA Fundamentals I.

The book is useful if you want to have an idea about what the new oracle 9i OCP exam is about. However, the book was obviously rushed. There are many inconsistencies and wrong information. The same applies to the attached CD. Really deplorable for a book that is supposed to help you get the right answer at the test.
This book (at least in this edition) does not compare to the excellent standard of the much more reliable material for oracle8 and oracle8i similar OCP exam.
My advice to the potential buyer: Get the book to have an idea of the scope of the exams, but make sure you get the appropriate information from Oracle documentation (Administration Guide).
My advice to the author: Please, review your work!