Naturally, the book covers all the topics you need to pass the exam and includes questions to reinforce your knowledge. There are code snippets throughout to highlight key ideas. There are some full working examples of tricky things like tag files, custom tags etc. So the book provides all you need to go from beginner to certified professional, as the exam is a theory
test, even with "performance-based" questions. You don't have to write code to pass.
However, I always drum home the message that you need to practise what you learn yourself - this is not to pass the exam, this is to make you a decent and more experienced programmer. And that's really what doing the SCWCD (or any other cert) is about: learning, gaining experience, demonstrating the knowledge you have.
Charles Lyons (SCJP 1.4, April 2003; SCJP 5, Dec 2006; SCWCD 1.4b, April 2004)
Author of OCEJWCD Study Companion for Oracle Exam 1Z0-899 (ISBN 0955160340 / Amazon Amazon UK )