Customer Reviews

Ocp: Oracle8i DBA SQL & PL/SQL Study Guide

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book and the Oracle Press book by Couchman to use in preparation for the SQL-PL/SQL OCP exam. This one was far better. There are a lot of sample exam questions, and some of the questions are tougher than what appeared the exam. I've been programming Oracle for about 1 year and wanted to get certified. This book definitely helped me pass the exam.

The authors explain the concepts very well. Some of the explanations, like for why you would want to use a specific rollback segment or why permissions on procedures have to be granted directly are handled better than I've seen anywhere else. The examples that go along with these explanations are clear and not contrived like some other books. The best part of this book is actually the sample questions and answers. The 300+ sample questions (and answers with explanations) do as much teaching as the text. I'm strong at SQL and getting better at PL/SQL, this book's 150+ pages on PL/SQL really helped

I also like the fact that the book came with an electronic version I could put on my notebook computer and not have to lug around the printed copy.

Thanks to Sybex and the authors for helping me get certified.

This is the best book I found in the market to get prepare for the OCP test 1 for Oracle 8i. This book specially highlights the differences between Oracle 8 and Oracle 8i and the self test software is excellent and very tricky. For any one who scored more than 80% in the self test software, passing the test 1 is not a dream. Sample questions are more difficult than the exam questions. Electronic version of the book is ideal because any time when I needed to continue reading the book just I needed to bring the CD with me.

I'm a citizen of Sri Lanka. There are no any training centres for OCP exams here. Just this book helped me to score 49 out of 57 that is 86% more than required to pass the test. Believe I'm new to Oracle !!!

I bought this book and the Oracle Press one to prepare for the exam. I think this one is far better than the Oracle Press one. The questions in Oracle Press one is too easy and the CD in it is useless. I like the CD come with this book. It has an electronic version of this book. It also has some flashcard you can download to your PDA. I love it. Overall, I highly recommend this book to prepare for the exam. It helps me to pass the exam (49/57).

The book is great for preparing the exam. Although it does not try to teach you every trick about PL/SQL, it outlines concept clearly for OCP exam purposes. I used this book and scored 52/57 in the exam in just a week period.

Great job! But if you want every glory details about PL/SQL itself, you need to go on with another book.

I'm roughly half-way through this book so far and thought I'd share some observations and maybe follow-up once I finish the book and take the exam.
For one, this probably IS the best book out there that covers this exam. Unfortunately, there really isn't much to choose from.
This book has a mostly-clear and understandable writing style, although certain topics seem to get glossed over and not explained very well. I get the feeling that it is geared towards those with a solid foundation in Oracle 8i Server. For those like myself who are going through the certification path to learn from the ground up, it can be a bit frustrating. There are many chicken-and-egg areas where the authors rely on terms and concepts from future chapters to help explain topics at hand. This is probably unavoidable and I wouldn't fault the authors for it, but it IS worth noting.
If I had a say in how this book were put together, I would use more hands-on lab work throughout the book.
Through what I've read so far, there hasn't been one moment where the reader is encouraged to try out new skills on their test database - and the book comes with a copy of Oracle 8i Server for NT, so there's no excuse for it.
The authors should go through Sybex' CCNA Study Guide to see how hands-on labs should be laid out and encouraged.
For those examples where I can follow along with my test database, it's nice to reinforce what I've learned by trying it out. Unfortunately, many of the examples given do not mirror the test database that Oracle 8i Server comes with, and at this point I lack the skills to create such a database on my own. Sybex would do well to offer scripts on their website that recreates all the fictitious databases and tables used throughout the book.
Another thing I find lacking is that Exam tips are few and far between. Throughout the first 200 pages or so, I've counted 3-4, maybe 5 tips on what to look out for on the exam. I would expect more heads-up info on the exam from a study guide.
Still, as I said, this is probably the best book for the exam. For it's good points, the authors do have a good, comfortable writing style that doesn't get bogged down in industry jargon and I have learned a lot so far.
The book comes with a CD that includes Oracle 8i Server, a pdf file of the book (which requires the CD to be in the drive, sorry to say), and a few other odds and ends, including practice exams.
-Incidentally, my database would not install from the CD that came with the book. Lucky for me, I had bought the DBA Certification Kit that includes all the books for all 5 of the DBA exams. The disc from the 2nd book installed the database without a problem. Not sure if they had a defective run of CDs or if it was just mine.
I'd love to give this book a 3.5 because it truly is better than a 3 but for all the faults I've noted, I don't consider it a 4/5 book. Still, I'll give it the benefit of a 4 considering the lack of competition out there.

*Update 12/10/2001
Well, I just passed the exam with a 45/57 (39 is req'd).
This book definitely played a major role in allowing me to pass this test. I would not rely on it completely and I would recommend Michael Ault's Exam Cram as a companion guide.
I still stand by my comments that I would like to have seen more interactive exercises encouraged, but the amount of exam tips did pick up in the latter chapters of the book and were quite helpful. I'll stick by my 4/5 rating for this book and reiterate - while it's not perfect, it's probably the best for this exam.

I am studying for my exam and have read the Instructor Lead Training (ILT) book that I borrowed from a friend. When I do not understand something, I go to this book for an easy to understand explanation.

Each of the ten chapters have about 20 review questions and there are two practice exams on the CD. There are some things that was not covered in the ILT book are covered in this book.

Contrary to the previous commentor, this book is a very good study guide.

Well, I thanked the authors of this book,because it was the only material that I used to pass the exam, but the problem I noticed is that the scope of the books is wider than the exam,hence I read a lot of (OP) out-of-ponits, any which way I passed.The flashcards were wonderful too.

This book is really good for the exam preparation. The practice tests are thorough and complete. I would recommend keeping the Complete Reference book handy when preparing. I just took the exam and scored high. This book addresses all topics in the exam.

I just completed the exam several hours ago and failed it with a 27/59. I am making this posting so that test takers can get a range of opinions and NOT get the perception that everybody passes the exam. First, I would like to say that I studied for this exam for three days. My recommendations are to: Study this book thoroughly and not to cram for the exam. Study each chapter thoroughly and each concept thoroughly. There are over 23 different concepts that the real exam tests. The test is very broad and doesn't concentrate on any specific area - that is what makes it so hard. However, I do recommend knowing all the information in the book thoroughly before taking the exam. If I would have done so I would have done alot better on the exam. Also, I would not recommend cramming for exam.

This book is great to get through the book,but not up to the mark.It doesn't take you to the details which is required for the exam.Better to find some other books along with this.
I, passed the exam using only this book (40/57),but it didn't fetch the mark I desired.I am new to oracle,so it was tough for me to get through this exam by concentrating only on this book and in a time of 15 days,not for the beginners!
IF U ARE A BEGINNER try to find some other books along with this.Best Of Luck!