The Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide: Programmer's and Developers Exams (With CD-ROM)

Welcome to the completely revised edition of the market-leading Java exam preparation guide from Sybex! Authors Simon Roberts (the lead author of the Java exams), Philip Heller, and Michael Ernest have completely revamped their book, writing five new chapters on the tough Developer's exam and adding lots of new questions (200 new ones in the book and on the CD). In response to reader feedback, we've cut out the long API reference that was in the previous edition and replaced it with more meaningful content. Finally, the CD now contains a fully searchable electronic edition of the book.

Newly revised and updated for Java 2 standards, the second edition of The Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide is packed with information on what you'll need to know to pass both the Sun Java Programmer and Developer Exams. With Java certification becoming ever more popular, this title is an essential resource for anyone who's preparing for it.

The cover of the book asserts that one of its team authors actually contributes questions to Sun's tests.

The goal here isn't so much to beat the testmakers (although the book has plenty to say about test-taking strategy) as it is to master the finer points of Java that you'll need to understand to succeed on the exam. The focus is on the areas that Sun has defined as important. The Programmer Exam--the first level of Sun certification--is covered first. Basic language features are reviewed, such as access specifiers, operators, and other keywords that will help make you an expert. (Some sections explain with great clarity the mysteries of Java's "extra" shift operator and other features.) Other chapters cover threads and multithreading strategies, as well as user-interface design with layout managers (which Sun considers important).

The second half of the volume concentrates on the Developer Exam, a more free-form exercise in which programmers write custom code, based on a specification from Sun. Two case studies, one for a room-scheduling application and another for a trouble-ticket system that tracks requests for technical support, illustrate this test. As the solution is presented, you'll learn how to build custom client/server software, and how to use Remote Method Invocation (RMI) and other advanced techniques. There's also advice for the best programming styles and choices for passing this challenging exam.

As in the previous edition, each chapter in this book concludes with sample questions (about 10 each) to help you study. In the new edition, there's now a full sample Programmer Exam (both printed and on the accompanying CD-ROM), which simulates the length and format of the real thing. In all, the new edition of this previously bestselling title will continue to provide helpful preparation for anyone who seeks Sun certification.

Despite the bulk (over 900 pages), this book actually makes for quick reading, and will help anyone decipher some of the more difficult aspects of the Java programming language. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• Introduction to Sun certification and the Programmer Exam
• Java language fundamentals: primitive data types, literals, arrays, and garbage collection
• Java operators up close (including evaluation order and the shift operators)
• Access specifiers (public, private, default, and protected)
• Converting and casting rules in Java (including promotions)
• Flow-control statements
• Exception handling
• Object-oriented design primer
• Overloading and overriding
• Inheritance and subclassing
• Inner classes
• Threads and synchronization techniques
• Using the Math, String, and StringBuffer classes effectively
• The Java 2 Collections API
• Layout managers
• Event handling
• AWT components
• Painting
• File I/O
• Introduction to the Sun Developer Exam
• Sample room-reservation case study
• Working with Java databases
• Creating a client/server system from scratch
• Remote Method Invocation (RMI)
• Multithreading issues
• User-interface design with Swing
• Trouble-ticket problem tracker case study
• Using Swing JTable, JTree, and other Swing controls
• How to submit finished exam work to Sun
• Tips for the follow-up exam
• Sample Programmer Exam (including CD-ROM version)
• The future of Sun certification