A Programmer's Guide to Java SCJP Certification: A Comprehensive Primer (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

Khalid Mughal (Author), Rolf Rasmussen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This book will help you prepare for and pass the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform SE 6 (CX-310-065) Exam. It is written for any experienced programmer (with or without previous knowledge of Java) interested in mastering the Java programming language and passing the SCJP 1.6 Exam.

A Programmer’s Guide to Java™ SCJP Certification, Third Edition, provides detailed coverage of all exam topics and objectives, readily runnable code examples, programming exercises, extensive review questions, and a new mock exam. In addition, as a comprehensive primer to the Java programming language, this book is an invaluable reference tool.

This new edition has been thoroughly updated to focus on the latest version of the exam (CX-310-065). In particular, it contains in-depth explanations of the language features. Their usage is illustrated by way of code scenarios, as required by the exam. The companion Web site (www.ii.uib.no/~khalid/pgjc3e/) contains a version of the SCJP 1.6 Exam Simulator developed by the authors. The site also contains the complete source code for all the book’s examples, as well as solutions to the programming exercises.

What you will find in this book:

• Extensive coverage of all the objectives defined for the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform, Standard Edition 6 (CX-310-065) Exam
• An easy-to-follow structure with chapters organized according to the exam objectives, as laid out by Sun Microsystems
• Summaries that clearly state and differentiate the exam objectives and the supplementary objectives to be covered in each chapter
• A list of Sun’s objectives for the SCJP 1.6 Exam and a guide to taking the exam
• A complete mock exam with new questions (not repeats of review questions)
• Numerous exam-relevant review questions to test your understanding of each major topic, with annotated answers
• Programming exercises and solutions at the end of each chapter
• Copious code examples illustrating concepts, where the code has been compiled and thoroughly tested on multiple platforms
• Program output demonstrating expected results from running the examples
• Extensive use of UML (Unified Modeling Language) for illustration purposes
• An introduction to basic terminology and concepts in object-oriented programming
• Advice on how to avoid common pitfalls in mastering the language and taking the exam
• Platform- and tool-independent coverage
• Information about the SCJP 1.6 Upgrade (CX-310-066) Exam

From the Back Cover

This book will help you prepare for and pass the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform SE 6 (CX-310-065) Exam. It is written for any experienced programmer (with or without previous knowledge of Java) interested in mastering the Java programming language and passing the SCJP 1.6 Exam.

A Programmer’s Guide to Java™ SCJP Certification, Third Edition, provides detailed coverage of all exam topics and objectives, readily runnable code examples, programming exercises, extensive review questions, and a new mock exam. In addition, as a comprehensive primer to the Java programming language, this book is an invaluable reference tool.

This new edition has been thoroughly updated to focus on the latest version of the exam (CX-310-065). In particular, it contains in-depth explanations of the language features. Their usage is illustrated by way of code scenarios, as required by the exam. The companion Web site (www.ii.uib.no/~khalid/pgjc3e/) contains a version of the SCJP 1.6 Exam Simulator developed by the authors. The site also contains the complete source code for all the book’s examples, as well as solutions to the programming exercises.

What you will find in this book:

• Extensive coverage of all the objectives defined for the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform, Standard Edition 6 (CX-310-065) Exam
• An easy-to-follow structure with chapters organized according to the exam objectives, as laid out by Sun Microsystems
• Summaries that clearly state and differentiate the exam objectives and the supplementary objectives to be covered in each chapter
• A list of Sun’s objectives for the SCJP 1.6 Exam and a guide to taking the exam
• A complete mock exam with new questions (not repeats of review questions)
• Numerous exam-relevant review questions to test your understanding of each major topic, with annotated answers
• Programming exercises and solutions at the end of each chapter
• Copious code examples illustrating concepts, where the code has been compiled and thoroughly tested on multiple platforms
• Program output demonstrating expected results from running the examples
• Extensive use of UML (Unified Modeling Language) for illustration purposes
• An introduction to basic terminology and concepts in object-oriented programming
• Advice on how to avoid common pitfalls in mastering the language and taking the exam
• Platform- and tool-independent coverage
• Information about the SCJP 1.6 Upgrade (CX-310-066) Exam

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1038 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 3 edition (December 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321556054
• ISBN-13: 978-0321556059
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (211 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #65,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

  #97 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Java
  #5 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Certification Central > Java

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

98 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highle recommend it, October 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Programmer's Guide to Java (tm) Certification (Paperback)

I passed the Java 2 certification exam on first attempt. And I owe this convincing success to this book. The Java 2 certification exam mainly tests language fundamentals. This book covers fundamentals very very thoroughly. The chapters on difficult topics such as Threads and Inner classes are also very well written (not just glossed over as in some other books). The book is written is a simple and rigorous style, with no plaff! It is very easy to read and to understand. There is no wastage - of paper or words (like some other books in the market!) and very few typos. I found the code examples to be adequate and complete. The review questions are representative of the exam questions and a shade tougher, making the actual exam seem almost easy. The answers to the review questions are annotated leaving in no doubt the reason for the choice of answers and this I found to be very useful. The mock exam provided in the appendix has an interesting collection of questions - some of them are quite tricky. I just wish that the mock exam was provided on a CD, in a simulated exam environment. All in all an excellent first book for preparing for the Java 2 certification exam. Armed with this book and taking a few of the simulated mock exams available on the net will make passing the exam quite easy. Actually, this book is excellent for understanding Java language fundamentals that I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a sound introduction to the language!!

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely thorough, September 8, 2000

By	J. Gulati (Pasadena, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Programmer's Guide to Java (tm) Certification (Paperback)

This book is full of information and covers each topic in great detail. For the novice, I suggest that one use this book along with Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Java. Both combined make an excellent resource for the certification exam.

Pros: 1> The coverage on language fundamentals, inner classes, overriding, overloading, and event delegation model is excellent. The explanation is clear and concise. There is a steady flow from one concept to another. 2> The best part of the book is that it has review questions after every 10 pages or so. The questions are very tough but then they really test you for thorough understanding of the concepts. 3> The book with its thorough analysis of the Java language can be daunting at times (enough to give up the exam preparation). This is both a pro as well as a con of the book.

Cons: 1> AWT and I/O is better covered in Roberts' Complete Guide to Java 2 certification book. 2> Additional topics on Swing and Javadoc are not part of the exam curriculum.

Suggestions: 1> The mock exam in the book is much tougher than the real exam. 2> Take all the mock exams on the internet. See the site www.jchq.net

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From a non-professional programmer's standpoint, August 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Programmer's Guide to Java (tm) Certification (Paperback)

This review is written for readers who are in similar situation as mine.

My background:

-My experience with Java was minimal (2 University classes). -I didn't have work experience in Java.

My thoughts on the book:

This book covers everything you need for the Java 2 exam. It even covers topics such as Javadoc and Swing. You are told if a chapter is related to the exam objectives or not - the author categorizes the chapters' objectives (and sub objectives) into Main or Supplemental ones so you can skip a chapter (or a section) that you don't need for certification purposes.

The wording is concise and straight to the point. The terminologies and notations are based on the standards used in the industry (UML is used extensively in this book). The chapters are not closely tied so you can jump from one to another pretty easily. The concepts are defined and explained very thoroughly (important for certification) - this is the strongest selling point of this book. The practice questions and the mock exams are very good (make sure you do the written mock exam at the back of the book) and they expose one's weaknesses in the language quite effectively.

The book's website has corrections and a mock exam engine.

This book helps you master the language concepts in addition to passing the exam.

My preparation:

I took 3 months of 4-5 hour nights to study the material in this book. I have another book but that book looks like kindergarden material once you've read Khalid's book.

I did more than 15 mock exams and experimented with codes to clear my doubts.

My result:

Passed with 90%

Hope this helps.