Hi guys,
I passed the OCAJP7 today. I haven't registered before, but used the forums to read some posts. I have a year of
Java dev experience behind me.
To prepare I read OCA Java SE 7 Programmer I Study Guide (Exam 1Z0-803) (Oracle Press) by Robert Liguori and Edward Finegan.
I also used
OCAJP Oracle Certified Associate Java SE 7 Programmer Practice Exams by Hanumant Deshmukh.
I don't think I really needed the first book. It basically just brings all the content that's covered in the exams together. The second resource is very valuable though and quite cheap (I bought the kindle version for $10 on Amazon). There are 6 exams that are super hard. I only managed to get more than 77% for one of them. It does prepare you really well for the exam though.
The exam was tricky, but I didn't feel like there were any questions that are designed to catch you out. My advice to pass would be to buy those practice exams and work through all of them.