* Welcome Khalid Mughal & Rolf Rasmussen

[Henry Wong]

This week, we're delighted to have Khalid Mughal & Rolf Rasmussen helping to answer questions about the new book A Programmer's Guide to Java SCJP Certification.

The promotion starts Tuesday, April 21st 2009 and will end on Friday, April 24th 2009.

We'll be selecting four random posters in this forum to win a free copy of the book provided by the publisher, Addison Wesley.

Please see the Book Promotion page to ensure your best chances at winning!

Posts in this welcome thread are not eligible for the drawing.

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Welcome Khalid and Rolf!

[Arka Guhathakurta]

WELCOME TO JAVA RANCH K.Mughal and Rolf Rasmussen. I have read your book for SCJP5. It is a good starting book for SCJP. Is this new book meant for SCJP6? However I do not know why topics like File I/O and serialization aren't covered.

[armando fonseca]

Arka Guhathakurta wrote:WELCOME TO JAVA RANCH K.Mughal and Rolf Rasmussen. I have read your book for SCJP5. It is a good starting book for SCJP. Is this new book meant for SCJP6? However I do not know why topics like File I/O and serialization aren't covered.

Yes , the new book is for scjp6 . I'm using khalid's book and is an A+. I also have the K&B and both are good in their own that is very difficult for me to say which one is better. Let me put it simple,
k&B = It tells what you need to know for the test. - better for people who already knows how to program.
k&R = k&B + a little more explanation. - better for people just starting to program.

I like to use both because you can a different perspective of each topics!

cheers,
Armando

[Meemanage Chanaka]

How to win a book ? I want to know

[Devaka Cooray]

Meemanage Chanaka wrote:How to win a book ? I want to know

Welcome to JavaRanch, and please check this.

[Sagar Rohankar]

Welcome Khalid & Rolf. When a Best SCJP books author met with the Best SCJP forum, no one ask for more !

[Klaus Schuster]

WELCOME TO JAVA RANCH K.Mughal and Rolf Rasmussen. I have read SCJP 5. It was a great book preparing for the java exams.
Can you tell me the major differences between SCJP5 and SCJP6?
Maybe I start making the first exams after reading SCJP6.
Thanks,
Klaus

[Sagar Rohankar]

Klaus Schuster wrote:
Can you tell me the major differences between SCJP5 and SCJP6?

This is a welcome thread, so better ask this question in a separate thread OR best way is to check out the SCJP FAQ's.

[dvb sagar]

ohh.great...will see who are those lucky chaps!!!

[Bishwajeet Paul]

let me participate too.. wish me luck

[Amit kull]

I am a SCJP -5.0. I used Kathy-Bert's book to prepare for the exam.
I have read Khalid's book for 1.4. I really like the topic about threads. Does this book contain detailed explanations about generics and enums which were not there in the old edition?

[Dhinesh Rajendran]

wish me luck to get the Book

[Steve Adam]

Hello Khalid & Rolf,
Wishing you all the best for your new book.

What exactly can we look forward to in this book compared to other books of yours?

I just wish I become the lucky person to win your book.

Regards,
Kunal Alshi

[Sultan Khadar]

Khalid Mughal and Rolf Rasmussen's Book for Java 5 is a very useful guide to not only clear the exam but also for getting a hands on experience on java 5.0 new topics. The book is self explanatory with good practice questions.

This is a very good book for the aspirants who wish to clear the test.

[Alex Bognetz]

Hi, I'm Alex from Italy, I don't know if I can win the book since I'm abroad but at least I gave it a try

[Raghavan Muthu]

That's a great news

Welcome Khalid and Rolf!

[Mahmoud Metwaly]

Great to hear about the new book! Welcome Khalid and Rolf!

The problem in preparation for SCJP IMHO is that many programmers I believe need more and more examples in the preparation books (something like those we use in real life) to have a better and deeper understanding on each of the things we learn.

So will the new book contain enough code examples especially in the area of Generics and Collections to help its readers have a better understanding?

Thanks in advance for your time

[Khalid A. Mughal]

Hi, folks!

We encourage you to checkout the website for the book:
http://www.ii.uib.no/~khalid/pgjc3e/

As the title says, it is a **comprehensive** guide for the SCJP 1.6.
No holds barred!

I will happily take your questions during the promotion period.
Fire away!

[Ulf Dittmer]

let me participate too.. wish me luck

wish me luck to get the Book

I just wish I become the lucky person to win your book.

I don't know if I can win the book since I'm abroad but at least I gave it a try

Please read the first post in this topic carefully - anything posted in this topic is not eligible to win. Please participate in the other topics, or ask questions yourself to become eligible.

[Ankit Garg]

Its an honor to have you here Khalid & Rolf. I hope everyone will learn a lot from you both ...

[Khalid A. Mughal]

Some remarks on A Programmer's Guide to Java SCJP Certification:
A Comprehensive Primer
3rd edition.

The 3rd edition covers SCJP 1.6.
Of course you can use it for SCJP 1.5 if you are so inclined.
The 3rd edition covers, among other topics for SCJP 1.6, files I/O and serialization.

The major differences between SCJP 1,5 and SCJP 1,6 are:
- Console class
- Navigable collections and maps
These are covered in the new edition.

You will find enums and generics (+ collections) covered extensively in the 3rd edition.
I am proud of the chapter on generics.
Give it a try. It will be worth the effort in understanding this difficult topic, which many Java books shy away from.

In addition to extensive coverage of the topics, you will find that nearly every major topic has review questions to reinforce the salient points.
Annotated answers in the book are also included.
In fact we have beefed up the material from earlier edition with more review questions.
Try the mock exam simulator when you think you are ready to take the exam. :-)

The book is galore with code examples that you can readily run and experiment with.
Just download the source code for all the examples and programming exercises from the website.

Reader have told us that they keep our book handy, even after they have taken the exam.
Experienced Java developers have told us that they have learned a thing or two by dipping into our book.
Tell us your experience.
We value any feedback you might have.

[patt rich]

I am planning to take the SCJP exam sometime soon. I was preparing myself to take the SCJP 1.5 certification. Now that this book is going to be available, I am wondering if I should take the 1.6 certification. Any suggestions friends?

Thanks

[Justin Bleach]

I've taken the SCJP 1.6 exam twice and failed it. Some of the examples I've seen on the exam and what I've studied from books are so far fetched that if anyone was programming in Java in the ways the exam postulates they should be in another profession. One book I used to prepare, which I guess is the same book most people around here use, does in fact cover the exam very well but does not prepare you to tackle the absurd samples of code you get on the exam. My question is: does your book cover bizarre, unnatural, pieces of code? I still plan on taking the exam, again, but want to find a book that will teach me how NOT to program, so I can learn bad practices for the exam!

[patt rich]

Justin, I am using Kathy-Bert's book for 1.5 certification. And I guess this book is not for beginner. I like that book. At the same time I liked Khalid Mughal & Rolf Rasmussen's SCJP 1.4 certification book and that book is really good.
Anyway I guess I am leaning more towards taking 1.5 exam after hearing from you.

[Ankit Garg]

patt rich wrote:Anyway I guess I am leaning more towards taking 1.5 exam after hearing from you.

If you were thinking about giving SCJP 1.4, then I'm afraid you can't. It is over. You can't give SCJP 1.4 now. And instead of going for SCJP 5, go for SCJP 6. As khalid also pointed out, there is only slight difference between the two...

[Baren Nayak]

Hi,
Welcome Khalid and Rasmussen, I have read the certification guide from you guys for JDK 1.4. Its great for beginners like me.
Looking forward lay my hands on the book.

[Muhammad Saifuddin]

Hi Authors,

Welcome to Javaranch..

[Riffle Chris]

Hi good morning,
Does your book address what is needed for the SCJP6 Upgrade exam(from 5)? I passed the SCJP 1.5 exam and would like to upgrade. Does the book offer a practice exam in the book and maybe online also? How many practice questions are offered? Does the SCJP6 exam have all those questions with answer choices like: "Not enough information provided to answer the question" ? -- those are hard.
Thanks!
Chris

[Muhammad Saifuddin]

Khalid A. Mughal wrote:
We encourage you to checkout the website for the book:
http://www.ii.uib.no/~khalid/pgjc3e/

Thanks for the link..

[Christian Caesar]

Khalid A. Mughal wrote:Some remarks on A Programmer's Guide to Java SCJP Certification:
A Comprehensive Primer
3rd edition.

The 3rd edition covers SCJP 1.6.
Of course you can use it for SCJP 1.5 if you are so inclined.
The 3rd edition covers, among other topics for SCJP 1.6, files I/O and serialization.

The major differences between SCJP 1,5 and SCJP 1,6 are:
- Console class
- Navigable collections and maps
These are covered in the new edition.

You will find enums and generics (+ collections) covered extensively in the 3rd edition.
I am proud of the chapter on generics.
Give it a try. It will be worth the effort in understanding this difficult topic, which many Java books shy away from.

In addition to extensive coverage of the topics, you will find that nearly every major topic has review questions to reinforce the salient points.
Annotated answers in the book are also included.
In fact we have beefed up the material from earlier edition with more review questions.
Try the mock exam simulator when you think you are ready to take the exam. :-)

The book is galore with code examples that you can readily run and experiment with.
Just download the source code for all the examples and programming exercises from the website.

Reader have told us that they keep our book handy, even after they have taken the exam.
Experienced Java developers have told us that they have learned a thing or two by dipping into our book.
Tell us your experience.
We value any feedback you might have.

Is there a CD/DVD in the book with examples - for people who do not always have an internet connection?

[nav katoch]

Hi Khalid,

Thanks for your time sharing through this thread. I have heard a lot about your book at work and in this forum as well. To be very frank, the price range is not affordable to most of the people per my opinion. Could you please give a second thought regarding the price? I will highly appreciate your comments. I would like to buy your book if reasonable price or discount is offered. On the other hand, most of the people have lost their jobs or are losing jobs due to lay-offs. I hope you will consider this point in your discussion.

Thanks again,

[Mourouganandame Arunachalam]

Welcome Khalid Mughal & Rolf Rasmussen .....

[Anthony Hollis]

Hello K.Mughal and Rolf Rasmussen, I loved your SCJP book 2nd Edition. I'm looking forward to getting your new book as well.

Welcome to Java Ranch

Just like K&B you have an awesome way of approaching the subject and making a person think. I definitely recommend both books (K&B and yours) as they make for a killer combo.

[Himalay Majumdar]

Hi Khalid,

I wont prefer reading more than one book for the exam, rather I would read a book more than once.
But I would definitely like to have a look into it, K&B has impressed me alot. I hope it does the same and simply brings out many SCJP twist making it a book to cherish.

Good luck

[Christian Kindler]

Can I use the included moc exam on any operating system (which has a java jre)? The exams that come with the K&B book are useless on a non-windows computer, which is a little bit "suboptimal" for a book which covers a platform independent language...

[Khalid A. Mughal]

patt rich wrote:I am planning to take the SCJP exam sometime soon. I was preparing myself to take the SCJP 1.5 certification. Now that this book is going to be available, I am wondering if I should take the 1.6 certification. Any suggestions friends?

BTW, the book is available right now: http://www.amazon.com/Programmers-Guide-Java-SCJP-Certification/dp/0321556054/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240332551&sr=1-1

Why go for an exam that is soon deprecated?
Go for SCJP 1.6 by all accounts.

[Khalid A. Mughal]

Justin Bleach wrote:I've taken the SCJP 1.6 exam twice and failed it. Some of the examples I've seen on the exam and what I've studied from books are so far fetched that if anyone was programming in Java in the ways the exam postulates they should be in another profession. One book I used to prepare, which I guess is the same book most people around here use, does in fact cover the exam very well but does not prepare you to tackle the absurd samples of code you get on the exam. My question is: does your book cover bizarre, unnatural, pieces of code? I still plan on taking the exam, again, but want to find a book that will teach me how NOT to program, so I can learn bad practices for the exam!

Our book prepares you for many of the code scenarios that the exam throws at you.
We have tried to avoid making the book full of weird code examples.
A few best practices tips are provided along the way.

[Khalid A. Mughal]

Riffle Chris wrote:Hi good morning,
Does your book address what is needed for the SCJP6 Upgrade exam(from 5)? I passed the SCJP 1.5 exam and would like to upgrade. Does the book offer a practice exam in the book and maybe online also? How many practice questions are offered? Does the SCJP6 exam have all those questions with answer choices like: "Not enough information provided to answer the question" ? -- those are hard.
Thanks!
Chris

We have an appendix in the book that specifically gives details of the upgrade exam topics and provides concrete references to where in the book each of these topics are covered.
By working through the references provided in this appendix you can cover the required topics AND take a crack at the review questions for these topics.
We do not provide a practice exam for the upgrade exam.
No, we do not have exotic choices like "Not enough information provided to answer the question".

[Khalid A. Mughal]

Christian Caesar wrote:

Is there a CD/DVD in the book with examples - for people who do not always have an internet connection?

No, there is no CD/DVD.
Information tends to get deprecated fast. That is why we provide extensive material on the book web site.
I suggest you pop down to the Internet cafe on the corner and download what you need. :-)