Customer Reviews

Oracle8 Certified Professional DBA Certification Exam Guide

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

I recently took and passed the first of four Oracle exams to gain Oracle DBA certification. I used as my basis for study the first five chapters of this book, for which I had paid handsomely. Based initially on some of the reviews here, I realized I was in trouble for the test, which I thought would be a cakewalk since I understood the book. I turns out that much of what is on the test simply isn't in the book; and also the explanations are often a bit murky. For example, there was a date-formatting question using a syntax you won't find in this book. The sample test from Oracle is a much better indicator of the types of questions you'll see on the test. I gave up on studying this book, and instead studied "Oracle 8, the Complete reference" by Koch & Loney. That was enough to get me over the bar. However, that book will only be good for the first test.

I gave it two stars anyway, due to the fact that it is trying to cover a lot of ground, and you will learn from this book, especially if you are new to oracle. But overall, this book in no way delivers on the promise it makes of being the "ultimate preparation kit".

I am an IT consultant and Oracle DBA with 8 years of experiencein high-end technology, working for a large international bank in Riode Janeiro, Brazil. I decided to become Oracle certified because it would certainly give me more visibility in my work. Now, I am an Oracle8 OCP DBA with an average score of 97% in the five exams of the Oracle8 DBA track.

I must admit it was very difficult at first to find out what the best way would be to prepare for the tests. It took me some time to understand that the exams are entirely based on the original Oracle course books and that the practice tests offered by Self Test Software are a superset of the real exams. Now I have a keen perception of what the whole process is all about. The real trick to get a 90+% score is to attend the Oracle classes and cram with the STS practice tests. However, this is a rather expensive way to study, since each course costs around US$ 1,000 and each practice test costs US$ 99, not to mention the exam price itself (US$ 125).

When I fist set off my study, I bought Mr. Jason Couchman's Oracle8 DBA Certification Guide by Oracle Press. Bad choice... It was completely out of synch with the real exam contents and had a lot of typos and gross conceptual errors. I do feel sorry for those people who were caught unawares buying the big red book. I wonder how Oracle signed off on it.

As a last resort, I borrowed the original course materials from an acquaintance.

I bought the first edition, but returned to the bookstore within a week. Why? Piece of junk! One of my friend didn't take my advice and bought the second edition. I reviewed it. Can you believe it? No improvement at all! Especially there are still errors all around the book, even in the "solution" to the exercises. My suggestions: Do not even try to read this book if you are new on Oracle. It will completely confuses you and give you wrong concept about Oracle. It is ironical that Oracle itself published a book like this containing all kinds of incorrect information about its own product!

This book fails to cover many of the things that one needs to know in order to pass the OCP DBA exams. I found that I needed to order practice tests in order to learn many of the things that should have been discussed in this book. Perhaps the book would be sufficient in the area of test preparation if you already have some familiarity with Oracle or database administration, in general, but if this is all new to you, you'd be wise to order supplemental review materials.

This book will NOT prepare you take the Oracle 8 exams. The questions in this book are much too simple compared to the ones on the actual test.

my experience with this book was very bad. the contents are far too simple as compared to the actual exam. I guess this probably is a good book for oracle beginners, i definitely would not recommend it to people who wish to be certified. oracle online books have everything one needs to pass all exams.

After reading few reviews I thought I should add few words about this book. I am an Oracle professional for quite some time. This book is good for someone with little Oracle experience. I teach Oracle database administration and I have found information in this book very useful but not good enough for you to pass exam. This book is best if used with Oracle 8i DBA Handbook and Oracle8 Pl/Sql programming book for more detailed/explained information chances are you will pass your Oracle certification exams. This book guides you through OCP exam with limited examples with little explanation. But, there is lot more to cover in Oracle than this book with over 1000 pages.

I compared this book with the actual Oracle training books (that the exams are based off, the ones given in the Oracle Instructor Lead Class) and Jason's book clearly does not cover the subject well enough to pass the exam

I tried to using the book to pass the free practice exam from the Oracle website and the book didnt even cover or properly prepare you for half of exam. This book in no way prepares you for the OCP exam. Do not waste your money.

This book is nothing more than a lot of fluff. I originally depended on this book and did not pass my first exam. I have now learned to rely on multiple sources and compare info. This book is really bad and contains numerous errors. DO NOT DEPEND ON THIS BOOK. Is this guy really a DBA?