ok thanks but I was also recommended to use
SCJA - Sun Certified Java Associate Certification Study Guide for Java 5,
J2EE and J2ME Technology from ExamScam.com - The Pre SCJP, Programmers Certification by Cameron McKenzie.
Are they both very similar? Which is better for someone who has programming experience in Perl and beginner experience in Java?
The book by Cameron had 6 reviews of which 1 was bad and that said:
This book was decent. It gives you a good high level view of Java basics as well as a good overview of J2SE, J2EE, and J2ME technologies. It doesn't bog you down in code, and it's easy to get through multiple chapters in a single sitting.
What I didn't like about this book were the
test questions. A good number of the questions you're asked in these little exam snippets are never covered in the chapter being tested over. It's frustraing seeing questions littered with acronyms that were never even mentioned in the chapter (or the rest of the book). This is especially evident in the J2EE sections. The fifteen question mock exam was also a HORRIBLE MESS! About half of the questions were never mentioned in the preceding chapters, and the answer key didn't even match up with the questions.
Luckily I knew a good deal about Java before hand or I never would've passed the test. This book needs to be put through a more stringent editorial process. It's good for an overview of the various Java technologies, but I wouldn't rely on it to pass anything.
The only negative review on the SCJP book was this book is not for beginners as below:
This book is not for newcomers to the Java language. However, if you want to get the idea of just what to expect for the exams, what kind of questions you are likely to get asked and pitfalls to avoid, this is the right book.
Each chapter got lots of exercises to review the subjects. Highly recommended if you are going to take the exam.
please reply.
thanks
derek