OCP: Oracle Certified Professional Java SE 8 Programmer II Study Guide: Exam 1Z0-809 1st Edition

Excellent book for Java advanced level. Easy to read with clear understanding.Reliable seller. Used book sold as "very good" but more in a "like new" condition.

I have been a Sun Certified Java Programmer since 2000. Over the years Java Programming Language has evolved so much that I finally decided to take Oracle Java 8 upgrade exam 1Z0-813. I started by searching online to find the best preparation resource. All the information I found points to this book so I bought one from Amazon and used it for the exam. Now I can testify that this is indeed to best book for my purpose. The style of the writing is conversational and easy to read. Not only do the authors explain the new concepts clearly, they provide abundant information on language subtleties and exam tips and notes as well. I can feel the authors' passion for Java Language while reading through the book. Although the book does have quite a few typos and errors which are listed on [...], it is indeed invaluable and indispensable for me to pass the upgrade exam with 88%. I don't hesitate to give it a five-star.

I used this book in order to prepare for the Java 8 Programmer II exam. After studying for around 4 months, I was able to pass the exam with a score of 83%. I also used the mock exams from enthuware to help prepare.The book covers all the areas that are being tested. The exam is difficult so try to study as much as possible.As others have indicated, there are some code bugs in the book, but if you are typing and compiling the examples, you will figure out the correct code.I used the book, I passed the exam. That is all I wanted so I will rate this book 5 stars as it fulfilled its role as a test prep book.

For the most part, this book does an excellent job of providing what it promised, which is preparation material for the OCP Java SE 8 Programmer exam; I passed the exam shortly before writing this review and I can guarantee that it covers just the material you need. However, as a fair warning, do not pick this book expecting a comprehensive, in-depth guide to Java 8, because that's not what it's trying to be; while it does often explain content that's out of the scope of the exam, it never does so with true depth, and it often mentions and then skips concepts that might be fundamental to Java 8 but not to the exam. This is perfectly fine for what it's trying to accomplish and it didn't affect my rating.In terms of content and completeness for the exam, the book explains the Streams API, Functional Programming, Generics, the Collections API, and Advanced OOP more than enough, which is good, given that the exam mostly focuses on those topics. As a bonus, the book explains two additional design patterns that aren't part of the exam (Factories and Builders). However, it was a bit lacking in the smaller parts of the exam like JDBC, and I will admit that I lost a few points because of it, even if not much.My biggest problem with this book is the provided testing environment, which feels a little mediocre in practice; the questions and answers rarely but consistently suffer from tiny mistakes that could've been solved by testing the code samples or using better wording, and the explanations are good but could sometimes provide more details, especially if you prefer to learn primarily by practicing with the tests rather than reading the book. Another con is that your right to the tests expires after a year, which personally didn't bother me at all, but maybe someone else could need more time.Overall, this book is worth its price and you'll pass the OCP exam with a good but probably not perfect score if you decide to rely only on it.

The book is excellent with really hard questions that condition you for the worst of the exam. The Java 8 OCP upgrade exam is a lot of work, even if you've been certified on previous versions. I was surprised when I passed the real exam with 93%, even though I only went through the book and online questions 1-2 times, rarely exceeding 80%. The ways they trip you up are downright sick, but it's all worthwhile when you get that passing score. I would recommend getting caught up with Java 8 and not waiting for Java 9 next year. There is just too much to absorb.

Despite the book doing an excellent job at conveying the concepts and covering the exam topics. I do believe if you're buying the book for the Java 6 or prior exam (1Z0-813) you'll be unpleasantly surprised. Despite also having a "dedicated Appendix C" section for this segment of audience...1. The book does miss a few topics that WILL show up on the exam (e.g. Glob patterns for file search and any coverage of PathMatcher interface)2. The bonus exams that are provided are truly not targeted for you, it's rather for Java 8 OCP not the upgrade (e.g. a ton of questions about JDBC and design patterns which have ZERO place on the actual exam)All said, I will say the most valuable part about this book was explaining the answers to questions. The authors Not only tell you why the answer was selected but describe in great and helpful detail which each other answer was wrong. I also believe that the "Real World Scenario" notes are good best practice guidelines. Over all, I would buy it for education and I would never rely on it alone for the test if you're planning on the upgrade exam.