Java 2 Certification Exam Guide for Programmers and Developers
Author: Barry Boone, William R. Stanek
List Price: $59.99
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ISBN: 0079137407
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media (22 December, 1999)
Sales Rank: 46,016
Average Customer Rating: 2.15 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 2 out of 5
I want my money back!
The true test of the Java 2 Certification Exam Guide is to actually take the Java 2 Certification exam and see if you pass.But that's something I'm not going to risk after reading this book.
While there's thoughtful treatment of many Java issues, from the mundane to the esoteric, the presentation of these issues suffers from errors in both substance and typography.
Consider chapter 2, Java Programming Essentials. As you read through the chapter, you manage to ignore the various typos, after all, you already know Java, you're just trying to study for the exam. (It's just annoying to have to put up with them.)
You work through the exercises, and get philosophical as the authors ask you a question about a method that isn't even defined in the code sample they present. Are you supposed to use your imagination? I don't think that'd be a good idea on the actual exam.
Finally, you get to the end of the chapter to check your answers. Chapter 2 has exercises numbered 1 through 17. But the answers are numbered 1 through 19 ... and the answer for 17 doesn't have anything to do with the question for 17! You toss the book down in disgust.
That's unfortunately representative of much of the rest of the book. It seems pretty clear that the authors, the editors, and the publisher were rushing to get this text out. More's the pity, the book had real potential, with a lot of breadth. Maybe these problems will go away in a second or third edition ... but maybe Java 3 will be out then, too!
Rating: 1 out of 5
tossed it in the recycling bin
the typeset used for the example did not render correctly when published, there were typos enough to make me think the work was never proofed. all that is not ideal, but once several incorrect assertions regarding language constructs and behavior were spotted, into the recycler it went. this book helped my efforts at certification in a very round-about way. if the reader was less aware of the mistakes, following this book could have a negative impact on their exam.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Make up your own mind...
Its pretty obvious a group of people decided to bash this book and that did a real number on book sales I bet to the benefit of all the other Java certification books no doubt. I've used several editions of this book. The 3rd edition published in 2002 is what I am using right now to study for the exams. The book is excellent and well written.
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