SCJP prep: best books as of March 2002?

[Al Pearson]

I'm looking for books for the SCJP exam, and plan to buy two or three books (already have Bruce Eckel.) I get the feeling that the following were good bets...
- COMPLETE JAVA 2 CERTIFICATION STUDY GUIDE by Roberts, Heller and Ernest
- JAVA 2 EXAM CRAM by William Brogden
-A PROGRAMMER'S GUIDE TO JAVA CERTIFICATION by Khalid A. Mughal and Rolf W. Rasmussen
when they were first published, but what about today (March 2002), when the curriculum has been revised (I suppose)? Are they still a good buy or is there other stuff thats more appropriate?

thanks in advance for guidance,
Alan

[Sam Tilley]

I have the first 2 and find them excellent material. From perusing different java sites i have found just about everyone says you should buy Bill Brogden's Exam Cram. The other 2 i think are quite familiar in approach so i would pick one as your other book.
As Roberts and Heller set up the Java exam initially from what i can gather i went for that one. Straight from the horses mouth i hope.
If you mix these in with a few online exam tutorials i think you will have enough to go on. For further information from one of the cattleranch moderators (who passed with 93%) go to Maha Annas site at
http://www.javaranch.com/maha/index.html
Cheers
Sam

[Al Pearson]

Thanks, Sam, the Exam Cram looks a safe bet so I'll get that, but I'm in doubt about the others.
R&H was published 09/2000 (Sybex say the R&H book is due to replaced in the June 2002 timeframe with the 3rd Edition, tho I cant wait till June).
Mughal&Rasmussen was published in 08/1999.

Has the exam content changed significantly since these books were published?
Alan

[Valentin Crettaz]

The RHE is accurate regarding the current objectives of the SCJP certification.
The SCJP exam has been rewritten during the second and third quarter of 2000 and the book went out of press in September, I guess the book is up-to-date.
Maybe Michael could shed some light on this, but I think you can safely buy it...
[ February 20, 2002: Message edited by: Valentin Crettaz ]