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OCP 8 book

 
Greenhorn
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Howdy ya'll,

The last Java programmer cert I completed was SCJP 1.4. I'm planning to start studying for the Java 8 upgrade exam (1Z0-813). Can you please confirm the following:


1) The best book currently for the exam is Jeanne's and Scott's "OCP: Oracle Certified Professional Java SE 8 Programmer II Study Guide". Are there others I can compare this with?

2) Does this book teach you the method signatures which we should memorise (such as the JDBC-related methods) ?

3) Small concern I have about this book is the amount of errata. Is it really that bad to a point where it will distract me? I don't mind referring the errata page before a chapter. But in general is the above book easy to read? It has less pages than the typical K&B books for such an exam.

4) Anything else I should know before I purchase the book? Any discount offers , or second edition planned soon?

Thanks
 
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Howdy Sam. Great questions!

1) Apress has a book too. I'm not comfortable commenting on a competitors book so I'll leave this question there.

2) Absolutely!

3) We believe in posting every single error no matter how trivial online. Here's why. You can see Kathy & Bert also have a long errata list. I don't think it will distract you. I'd actually be wary of a cert book that didn't have a long errata list. There's something about cert books that attracts errata. And I'd rather know that the author posted them all online. That way if something doesn't look right, I know other readers have identified all the problems. Or at least I can ask. Cert exams are tricky and there is often something that looks wrong, but is in fact correct. This means you get to learn the tricks.

4) Amazon has the most discounted price if you are in the US.
 
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Hi Sam,

Since you asked about other books - please check out “Oracle Certified Professional Java SE 8 Programmer Exam 1Z0-809" (http://amzn.com/1484218353).

All the very best for your OCP8 exam!
 
Greenhorn
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I just passed the same cert today with a 91% using the Jeanne's and Scott's book and the Enthuware material, I upgraded from Java SE 6.

You can find my small review in the following post:
https://coderanch.com/t/664011/certification-results/certification/Passed-OCP-Java-SE-Upgrade
 
S G Ganesh
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Hearty congratulations, Ros
 
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Hi Sam,

The extensive errata is a good sign, it means the authors have an interest in keeping the book up-to-date, and it also means that the end product has been ratified by a number of other readers as well as the authors. Always check the errata before reading a chapter and make sure you annotate the book with the corrections. I'd say the key to having a good grasp of the concepts is not relying on a single source of truth, but checking the API as well and writing some code to test anything that is not crystal clear. If you are still not sure after that, post a message here. People - often the authors themselves - are very helpful and quick to answer.
 
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