Which Book for SCWCD 1.4 ??

[Seenu Reddy]

Hi All,

I have cleared this monday SCBCD and my next plan is to write SCWCD 1.4. Could you suggest the book for exam point of view. I have rich experience on the JSP and servlets. I want the book in exam point.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Regards,
Seenu

[Vishnu Prakash]

Head First Servlet and Jsp

This book should be more than sufficient if you have experience in Servlet/Jsp

[Hong Anderson]

SCWCD Exam Study Kit 2nd. ed.

[Seenu Reddy]

Vishnu / Kengkaj,

I went ahead and perchased the SCWCD Exam Study Kit 2nd. ed. book.
I went through the HF book and i thought it is for new to web appications. This is just my view only.

Thanks,
Seenu

[Alexander Kolesnikov]

I would agree with this. Am reading two books in parallel, preparing for my exam, the Kit goes easier. The HF puts a lot of lace around things you already know. And I am stupid enough to read everything thru... If you have some experience, you might prefer some more condensed stuff. I just hope Kathy and Bert will write something as good for SCWCD as their SCJP guide.

[Ken Januski]

Hi,

I'm also reading both books in parallel. I passed the original SCWCD a few years ago but want to do the 1.4 version in order to learn a bit more about tags, EL, etc. I used the first version of the Study Kit for that certification and was happy with it. I wasn't really that fond of Head First Java so I've been surprised each time I find myself impressed with HFS&J. JSP and Servlets have gotten pretty complicated (maybe too complicated) and I think HFS&J does a good job of making sure you understand the simple structure below the complexity, like why in the world you'd want to use EL. (though I still feel that everyone is trying to convince themselves that mixing html and code is far worse than it really is but that's another question). In any case I think that HFS&J really does make sense of all this, and by berating you into doing the exercises, probably does a better job of getting you to learn it. On the other hand if you already understand the logic of jsps and servlets and just want to cover all the technical details that will help you pass the test then maybe the Study Kit is better. I know that the humorous aspect of HFS&J will just be too much for some people and a breath of fresh air for others. All in all though I like them both but HFS&J is no doubt much more humorous than the Study Kit. I'd almost go so far as to say that you ought to pick up HFS&J and look at the pictures when you're in a foul mood. They'll bring a smile to your face. I do think that makes it a little easier to pick up the book when you really don't feel like studying anything.

[Peer Reynders]

If you are using the SCWCD Study Kit 2nd Ed. make sure that you have a good look over the posts on the book's SCWCD Exam Study Kit (1st and 2nd Ed.) forum since the beginning of last June. And definitely keep the relevant specifications nearby:

JSR-000152 JavaServer PagesTM 2.0 Specification (Final Release)

JSR-000154 JavaTM Servlet 2.4 Specification (Final Release)

JSR-000052 A Standard Tag Library for JavaServer PagesTM (Maintenance Release)

The errata is seriously lagging behind the discovered shortcomings. I lamented the lowering of standards in the 2nd Edition in my first post to the What is HFSJ? thread.
[ October 29, 2005: Message edited by: Peer Reynders ]

[Sara Olsen]

I bought Head First Servlets & JSP this week, and have already gone through half the book. I've been working with J2EE for a while, and most of topics are well known to me already, but I must say it an amazing book! I just love it :=)

I read it like another crime book or something, which I just can't throw away

Don't know if it's enough to pass the exam, but it's good reading anyway, and cheap, so I would suggest this book to everyone!

[Nicky Eng]

HFSJ ya.....!!! good luck...