posted 16 years ago
I suppose it would be hard to find a chapter in Head First EJB that is still fully valid for EJB 3.0 and the new SCBCD exam - the changes really affect most subjects. As far as I know, message-driven beans have changed less than other types (but even there, some things have changed, for instance, the use of annotations concerns all subjects, even message-driven beans).
So, if you only want to read things that are still relevant in EJB 3.0, it probably does not make sense to use Head First EJB, at all. However, even if there are many changes in almost all areas of EJB, EJB 3.0 is still based on earlier versions of EJB, and it may make sense to learn both the legacy versions and EJB 3.0 (there are still many more applications with earlier versions of EJB out there). This is a certain detour, and you must make sure to know the differences between the versions well (there are special books about the differences, and books about EJB 3.0 often describe the differences to earlier versions). This is a detour and probably means that you overall need more time for preparing, but on the other hand, it may also be useful to know not only the most recent version of EJB, but also its history, and then Head First EJB is a very useful book. I don't know whether such a detour makes sense, but I already have books both about EJB 2 and 3 and about the differences, I don't have any need to rush to the SCBCD exam, therefore I have decided to take this route. I will first practice the old EJB (mainly with Head First EJB), then practice with a book for people changing from EJB 2 to EJB 3 and only then practice EJB 3.
SCJP 5.0 (93%), SCWCD (98%), SCJD (377/400), SCBCD (100%)