Tricky question wasn`t tricky because of the knowledge
you should have to answer it. It was tricky, because many "integer" calculations was needed to answer it - I`ve spent 30min on it and I`ve given up finally.
What are my tips for test takers? I can only tell how I was prepearing.
1) I`ve read K&B Study Guide 1.5 very carefully. I`ve often used pencil to underline important parts and to make notices like: "!!! Remember it", "!!! That`s clue" and so on. Then, after having read each chapter (and just before the exam) I was moving back to remind these important parts.
I`m sure, it`s no use to study other materials, because all what is needed on the exam is in this study guide (Ok, maybe without the fact, that "System.out.printf("%b %b",342376,"xcjkk"); gives "true true" and that Locale.getDefault() method exists)
2) I`ve taken some (five) mock exams to feel better
Mock exams at the end of each chapter were much more difficult, than on the exam. I`ve taken them just after having read each chapter and I scored between 50% and 90% spending even 2 hours for 14 questions (because these tests were really hard).
Then, but not until having read the whole book, I have tried Whizlabs tests (4 of 6 available full 72-question tests). I`ve scored: 85%, 75%, 72%, 80%. But I`ve noticed that many API features in these questions weren`t mentioned in the K&B guide... and didn`t occured on the exam. So, don`t panic when you see new things in Whizlabs, probably they`ll not be present on the exam.
Finally, the day before the exam, I`ve taken "Learn Key Master Exam" attached to the book scoring with 78% (Bert, I`ve found a few incorrect "correct answers" there ... and I don`t mean little mistakes)
3) During the exam, I`ve read each question and each peace of code very carefully (to be sure, that class, main method, constructors and so on.. is declared correctly). Only after that I was thinking about actual problem.
I`m sure, that what I`ve described above is enough to have 100% correct answers. Really!
I wish all You good luck and satisfaction of being sun certified
Marcin