Professional Training Books

This book has good organization; yet lacks the delivery of the goods. Touches on the subjects briefly; sometimes confuses the issues completely and shrouds things in more mystery than necesarry. The test questions are riddled with mistakes. Obviously whoever wrote them did not read it or any other reference materials. In short, need more and better meat than this to pass.

There are some small errors, but the book has good examples and covers most of the exam topics. It's easy to read and well organized. Since there aren't so many OCP study guides, you should give it a try.

This book gives an excellent summary of the OCP-required knowledge base. I read it, and then read the Coriolis Exam Crams and Oracle Performance Tuning (Gurry, Corrigan). My only (minor) criticisms are the confusing PL/SQL section and the lightweight treatment of Tuning. Overall though, a very worthwhile purchase.

The book is well written and provides the student with good working knowledge of Oracle 7/8. But the materials seem to be slightly out of sync with the exams. Some subject areas are covered in greater detail than necessary for the exam. A few of the exam question topics were not covered in the Training Guide. The book's review questions do not properly prepare the student for the complex type of questions on the exam.

I felt this book had the best exams and chapter review questions.

Nonethless I recommend you read all the OCP books out there, and take all the sample exams you can get you hands on.

I have taken 6 of 7 exams for MCSE. I agree with the previous review that this is a very difficult exam. I doubt that any one book will do it for you on this one unless you have a lot of hands on experience.

The book covers all the basics but you must also know the following that this book does NOT cover:
1. Know your T-SQL very well.
2. Know all about indexes and how they affect performance.
3. Know some about db design, keys etc.
4. Know how to diagnose poor query performance.

Good Luck

I've worked on SQL Server, taken this exam, and tutored others in SQL Server. Overall this book is as at least as good as the competition. It is much better written and editted than most other books on SQL Server, although as some other reviewers have said you sometimes hope for more detail. This book alone won't prepare you for the test, but it is a required one in my opinion. Some other good books are Sybex's "Mastering SQL Server 2000", Microsoft's "Inside SQL Server 2000", and of course SQL Server's "Books Online". Practice tests like Transcender or the Microsoft Readiness Review are an absolute requirement to pass the test, which is in my opinion one of the harder ones given by Microsoft.

A book that was a totally self sufficient standalone preparation for the test would be several times the size of this volume! This one is as good as anything available.

Though I have not yet taken any exam (aiming for mcdba), I find this book really good. I am one of those who wants to learn a bit a theory as well, not just the practical parts. And I find this book to cover all of my expetations... A little minus for the boring chapters about upgrading Sql-s 6.5 and 7.0 though:), I hope that when I get to the age when I am supposed to find me a work (and hopefully something that has with sql-s to do) that they have done the upgrading before I arrive:D

I just recently started my SQL class, so I don't know everything, but I do know that as far as books go, this one isn't bad. For people who just want to get a paper certifiction as soon as possible...and then get fired job after job after job because they still don't know..., I suppose it isn't so hot....maybe that's why these kind of books get a lot of bad reviews. Here's a hint: I think it was meant to be used in a course with an actual instructor, and yes, you just might have to think and put some time in on it. SQL takes a good year to get down anyways, this book is just meant to introduce concepts, terms, and other information.

I started studying for the exam with this book and I noticed that this book has poor information for the following areas:

Clustering
DTS packages
Stored procedures, triggers, views.

I recommend to look for the 70-229 training book to complement to this one and study the books online.

This book contains useful information for the following areas:

Installation
Upgrades
Replications

This book is a triumph and was invaluable to me. Obviously well crafted and superbly done, it is clear, concise, and 'user-friendly'. I am not familiar with Dunigan's previous editorial efforts, but I will be anxiously awaiting future works.

Using this book, I was able to find the areas that I was weak in. I then was able to concentrate on these spots more thoroughly. I then took the practice exam on the accompanying CD to finish off my preparation.

This book was actually a hinderance to gaining an MCP qualification. I could not find one chapter that did not have an error within the questions. Loosely phrased and actual wrong answers, riddled throughout. The only help this book would be is to know the subject and spot the mistakes. Useless. Quite scary really that people make money from this,. requires a thourogh profreading. Stay away

My review that appears at the beginning was NOT submitted for this book! It was submitted some time ago for an earlier New Riders NT Workstation book ISBN 1-56205-769-3. My review (and possibly that of the others) was apparently migrated from that book (I thought it was unusual that this recently-released book already had five reviews).

This book is absolutely the worst technical book I have ever read. Too many typos to recollect. They rushed this book to press to make a buck - I paid the price in $ and misery wading through all of its errors. What was really bad was all the instances where the authors did not know what they were writing about - not just typos, they had no clue what they were writing about. Tim Crouthers and Luther Stanton are two authors that I will definately stay away from now on. Live and learn. It's very difficult to study for a test relying on a source that provides no confidence. A happy note - when I realized I had been taken, I redoubled my efforts and passed Workstation. Of course, I attribute my success to the Microsoft Press books I purchased, not this rag. Bad call New Riders.

I suggest that this book is valuable mainly for its interview tips. That portion of the book is extremely helpful!

Dentistry is the epitomy of aesthetics and sport, the last frontier of plate tectonics if you will. To expect anything other than pure tooth decay from an uncertified mouth doc is being severly optimistic and outright outlandish. Prefer to go to school if you're able, and take a look at a few books if you have the time. This particular specimin can only be valued for its list of third world dentistry schools for the super dunces who have their hearts set on drilling and filling for the rest of their lives. Ougadougu University in Burkina Faso does have a top rate program, unfortunately in this country they still perform vivisection, and for dentists, that means no laughing gas and no skull models, you get a live student for your entire studies. If you accidentally kill him or her you must pay a small fee. Schools to steer clear of are La Universidad Del Diente de Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Lake Baikal School of Dentistry and Horse Medicine, The Skojpe Institute for Cosmetology and Dental Technology, and NYU.
If you are not a good student and are planning to open an denists office in a low income neighborhood, school and certification might not be the right choice for you. The bottom line to any dental degree is that its a pain in the ass, expensive, and extremely boring,and certification is just a safety net, especially in the ghetto, where the surgeon general could really give a damn about what's going on.
Just don't do anything stupid like sell lizards out of your office.

There is some information in this book that you might find helpful if you have other books to fill in the gaps. I found that this book was written with the assumption that the DAT in identical to the MCAT. (IT ISN"T!!!!!) She tells you to study stuff that won't be on the DAT....(e.g physics, discribes the process of testing as though it was also the same as MCAT.)
I wouldn't recommend this book if it is the only book you are going to buy. But if you just want to get an idea of what might be needed, then it will lead you in the general direction.

This book is an easy read, however, much of the information is out of date. The book was written in 1999 and many things have changed since then. Also, the author has never applied to dental school and therefore doesn't really explain the ins and outs of the dental school application process. If you want to get accepted to dental school, check out the Ultimate Dental School Admission Guide instead at www.dentalschooladmission.com Just my 2 cents.

While at the bookstore, I took a break from filling out applications and this was the only book that they carried which was created specifically for dental school applicants.

The book is easy to read, but I didn't find it very useful. The information in there is pretty basic and generic, nothing that most people don't already know about how to get into school (ie - observe at a dentist's office, keep your grades up, do well on the DAT). On the plus side, the book does cover some studying tips, and in the back there are blank pages to record your own application process.

I would recommend that you peruse the book if you happen to fall upon it at the book store -- I've seen it at several around town. However, I wouldn't recommend purchasing it unless you are looking for some elementary guidance.

With five days until the FE, I decided to purchase this book. Given the choice again, I would still purchase it because it gave me an idea of what would be on the test, which is the greatest asset the book provides. In fact, some of the example problems were very similar to the actual test questions. The book does contain numerous errors, however, and the solution explanations are generally inadequate. I felt swindled after looking at the poor proof-reading of the text.

You might be better suited by downloading a free copy of the pdf of the equations given during the exam, which you can find by typing "fundamentals of engineering supplied reference handbook" in a search engine. Since the questions on the AM test are fairly general, look over the examples of the first few chapters of your engineering books.

The book might appeal to some because of its massive size - "If it's this big it's gotta be good." I don't like paying the high price and lugging around this type of large exam review book and would buy a smaller one given the opportunity.

I bought this book because it was the only one that B&N had. While reviewing it, there have been a few times where I've said to myself, "Wait a minute. That makes absolutely no sense." I thought it was just me until I heard from other people as well about all of the errors. There are some blatant errors in examples in this book, such as units conversion or solving for something completely different than what was asked. And if the errors in the examples are this bad, it makes me wonder what sort of errors are contained in the review sections. Personally, I just ordered the same style book from another publisher, and I'm going to throw away this book when the new one comes.

The reviews covered the test subjects and excellent explanations on the exam questions

I bought this book (and the PM version) to restore my years-ago university knowledge. I read virtually all of the PM book, and a wide but more random swath of the AM book. I did pass the FE on the first try, for what that's worth.

The good: the questions in the book were of the same type and difficulty as questions on the actual exam. The reviews are decently written, though I admit I don't usually do more than briefly follow worked problems and focus instead on the text. What I particularly liked about the review sections was their independence: I felt quite normal skipping around things that I more or less remembered.

The bad: the book is fat, includes a lot of extra material and, yes, blatant errors. Also, the problems are usually tough to follow, and the reviews assume you have (or had and can quickly recover) a thorough knowledge of the subject. Fluids still confuse me, for example.

Overall I was happy enough with the texts, especially given their price compared to others of the same kind. They restored enough of my memory that I at least knew something about each exam question... and given that I haven't used most of that knowledge for years that's saying quite a lot!

The book help me review for the exam but it could be much better. Basically, If I'm finding mistakes in the book, something is wrong. I found some sample problems with units that were incorrect (ie Pressure, N*m^2 instead of N/m^2) and a few times the worked exam problems would be have different units or would be change from meters to millimeters.

Overall, the book did help me during the exam, but if I was going to do it over again, I would purchase a different review book.

INTRO:
The SSCP exam and certification is a great way to make headways into the IT Security world. The exam requires 1 year of experience and application via (ISC)2's website. This book does not contains the most up to date information, but is a great companion to the Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) that (ISC)2 has published more recently (2006).

EXAM:
This book should cover all the material (7 domains) tested on the exam. It is a prudent measure, to use more than one resource to study for any IT exam. I would also recommend the practice exams offered by (ISC)2.

CONCLUSION:
If you want to learn about the fascinating world of IT Security, have passed CompTIA's Security+ exam and are looking for a challenge, or do not have the years of work experience to qualify for (ISC)2's CISSP exam, this book is for you. I would also add the yellow book published by (ISC)2 for a complete body of study material.

The SSCP DVD and Training System was probably the most useless training mechanism I have ever used. The book is divided correctly, however it fails to cover important information on the exam. Some chapters are unclear, and overlap to an extent where it becomes unclear as to what domain you are actually covering.

The DVD was the biggest disappointment of all. It is a quick PowerPoint presentation with the author in a PIP window giving an overview of "key points".

Needless to say I used this as my single point for studying and FAILED the exam.

DO NOT BUY!!

Well, as far as test preparation books go, this is an OK resource. I would not call it stellar, but it's not drivel or a waste of time either. The information is presented fairly well, but as others have noted there is a lot of repetition and the grammatical errors and typos ARE distracting.

Bottom Line -- Will the information help you on the test? Yes. Is it all you need to pass even with experience? No. Is the information accurate? Yes, I think so.

I would suggest an SSCP candidate compliment his/her studies with the "other" book that's out there as well and all the freebies available on the Internet. Case in point, the Syngress book did not cover such topics as Continuity Planning in as great of detail as the other book. While not a reason to drop the Syngress book like a rock, if the SSCP candidate is looking to really learn the information, this is essential information to know and have to solidify the base understanding.

With respect to the DVD, I can appreciate the other reviewers' feedback. While I didn't *zing* it across the room after 15 minutes of listening, I do agree the injected humor seems forced and the author/narrator a little elitist in his approach. However, if you are not familiar with Information Security, the topics covered are indeed worth listening to via the DVD forum.

With lack of number of preparation books out there, the Syngress study guide is not bad on the whole.

I ordered this book with the intent that it would be my primary SSCP test preparation guide aside from my own education and experience. However, upon reading the first few chapters the lack of quality editing and attention to detail was apparent. In the second chapter alone there are numerous typographical and grammatical errors and at least one clearly incorrect diagram (pg. 33). Some of the wording is confusing and makes me wonder if the authors understand what they are writing about. Because of these obvious errors, I can't trust that the information this book contains is correct.

The DVD that comes with this book basically contains a series of powerpoint presentations given by the book's editor where each presentation covers a different CBK domain. These presentations do not go very deep into the domains and offer little in addition to the material covered in the book. I found the DVD to be of little use to me, which may be because of my particular learning style, but others might find it to be somewhat useful.

My advice to anyone looking for an SSCP test prep guide is to order "The SSCP Prep Guide" by Debra and Michael Isaac and pass on this book unless you absolutely must have the DVD training system. "The SSCP Prep Guide," published by John Wiley & Sons, is definitely of much better quality than this book and is also great as a reference book. Whatever you do, do not count on the "SSCP Study Guide and DVD Training System" to be your primary test preparation resource.

First, let me start by saying that I am one of the authors of the SSCP Study Guide and DVD Training System. I recommended the book to an associate of mine and he alerted me to the bad reviews this book was receiving, so I would like to clear things up.

As of the time I wrote this, the book received 3 1/2 stars based on 5 reviews. The first review gave 1 star with the title "Do not buy". It seems that this harsh review was posted after the reader failed the exam. At the end of the review the reader stated that "...I used this as my single point for studying and failed the exam". I can assure you that this is a good study guide for the SSCP exam, however I would NEVER use only one point of reference for ANY exam or anything else important in life.

The next 3 reviews are the EXACT SAME REVIEW giving the book 2 stars with the title "Poor Editing, Bad Reference Book". In this review it is unclear if the reader actually read the entire book or is just trying to promote another book.

All authors of the SSCP Study Guide and DVD Training System have been through and passed at least one (ISC)2 exam. These are NOT easy exams. They cover a vast amount of material that can be overwhelming. The SSCP Study Guide and DVD Training System book does however cover a vast majority of the information you will be required to know for the exam. If you have the required experience and the desire to pass this exam I would suggest the following:

- Buy this book
- Read through this book and pay attention to the subject matter covered. Many subjects in this book have entire books written about them. As you hit a subject that you don't understand, or need more in depth coverage to understand; study it separately. Then come back to this book.
- Don't take the exam until you are comfortable with all the Domains covered in this book.

The SSCP is a hard exam. Studying for it is a tedious task. This book makes that task A LOT easier. We have passed this exam based This book can and will help you pass the exam. Good luck.

This certification manual is for Sun Certified Programmers on a Java 2 Platform who are using servlet and JavaServer Pages (JSP) APIs to develop Web applications using the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE). The certification consists of one exam and requires Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Platform status. Readers preparing for this exam will find our Training Guide series to be the most successful self-study tool in the market. This instructional reference is consider as their "one-stop shop" because of its teaching methodology, the accompanying ExamGear testing software, and superior web-site support at User Level: Intermediate, Approx. Page Count: 504

Sun's certification exams are challenging. They demand careful preparation and thorough study. And they call for careful self-assessment.

The book offers only a point-by-point exposition of Sun's own objectives for the exam. While this fidelity to the exam objectives is laudable, it presents very little material beyond regurgitation of the Servlet API, example code written by others and little material of practical use in developing web applications with servlets and JSP. Sun puts much thought into its exam objectives and they strive to make the exams more than mastery of API trivia. This book It seems that the author has little experience with servlets and JSP outside of writing the book and is unable to illuminate why Sun considers its exam objectives are important.

I mentioned the certification exams call for careful self-assessment. It easy to wear your Hiliter to a nub but practice exams are crucial testing your mastery and indicating areas of further study.

Unfortunately, the three practice exams included in the book haven't even had the passing glance of an editor. Questions call for two multiple choice answers and the answer key gives one or three. Fill in the blank questions are answered in the key as multiple choice. Other answers to questions are flat out wrong. Beyond these obvious errors, a sizeable fraction of the questions are confusingly worded.

And then there is the included CD. The book advertises it as containing a "powerful, full-feature test engine." What it neglects to mention is that the engine is a Windows application. Is it so much more difficult to develop a Java test engine that can be run on a variety of platforms? Isn't that the Java way? Or, failing that, mention somewhere in the book the system requirements for the CD?

If you use this book as the only study source, you will be in trouble. The book omits topic Section 7 - Designing and Developing Thread-Safe Servlets. Rely on other certification books - like SCWCD Exam Study Kit or Professional SCWCD Certification. Use this book as a supplement

Being an experienced web developer I found this book to be pitched at the right level to fill out the blanks in my knowledge. The author explains up front that the book is not a comprehensive work on servlets and JSPs, but covers the areas that are on the exam. He also states that you will have to refer back to the appropriate Sun specifications if you want to fill out your understanding - which I found at some points, I needed to do. With further reading lists provided at the end of each chapter this is not a spoon-feeding book - but it does point you in the right direction.

The material is well covered and some additional real world information is given.

The book's major let-down is the review questions. They are extremely poorly worded - to the point where you question whether the answers you got "right" are actually right. Questions that ask you to pick two answers may actually have one or three when you look them up in the answers section. This is such a tragic oversight that I had to question whether anyone even cast an eye over it in the editing process - a real embarassment for the publisher.

The book is not bad, though. Well covered and on the level. However, if you want to see how you are progressing you would do well to use one of the many free sample exams available on the web, because the review questions are so hopeless.

I found the practice questions at the end of each chapter to be disappointing. Some were irrelevant to the test, many were confusingly or ambiguously worded and some of the answers given were flat-out wrong.

If you only want to use one book I recomment SCWCD Exam Study Kit: Java Web Component Developer Certification by Hanumant Deshmukh, Jignesh Malavia.

The book made me think of a big box full of broken china. There is a lot in there, and if you are willing to work very hard you could make it usefull. SMS is a very complicated product and cheif among the goals of the writers should have been to make clear how the peices of the app. fit together. Look for another book.

700 + pages and for what. The book will start to detail a feature that it has not mention up to that point in the book. As for MCSE,this book is about 30% of the test. For the time that is need to read/skip around, you could be reading the online help file for MUCH better test prep "book". At least it reads like a "book". MS Press should laugh out of business, when they can't print a book on their own product. Run don't walk to buy any other book on SMS 1.2

This is a fairly comprehensive book at over 700 pages. There is a lot to take in if you are using it as study material for the MCSE exam. I felt the information could be better organised as it gives you information on a particular topic and then a few pages later on it gives even more detailed information on the same subject, why not keep it all together? A lot of the text is simply duplicated from Microsoft's TechNet CDs and some use of colour would have been useful. Overall though a good study guide to SMS 1.2

I was very pleased with the amount of information given in this book. The depth of the material covered was sufficient to succeed in the "REAL WORLD".

The Distributing Software section was very in depth and gave me the necessary information to actually use the software in the manner described.

The book thoroughly prepared me for Exam 70-018.

Compared to other SMS reference books, this book is worth every penny and I highly recommend it!

Very incoherent and does not prepare you for the MCSE test. The book keeps jumping around... The CD is a definite thumbs down also! Run as fast as you can to buy another book!!!!!!

I had high hopes for this book what with Dr. Allen's apparent endorsement and Jay Cross writing a positive review of it. I found the book dry and boring. I started each chapter with the hope that it would reveal something useful that could be readily applied, but each chapter ended flat. I found a great deal of wisdom in Dr Allen's books. I was hoping that this book might give me somewhat of a different perspective that would expand upon (and even disagree with) the instructional design perspective in Dr Allen's books. Instead it caused me to want to go back and re-read Dr Allen's books to see if my present experience level would cause me to find new meaning. (Micheal Allen's Guide to E-Learning and Creating Successful e-learning)

I give this book 2 stars because Clark Quinn does include some examples. I think that this book would have been far more worthwhile if it was written around these examples. I would have liked to see him explain an idea and then really delve into how he applied that idea in the examples he shows in the book. Instead the examples seem somewhat removed from what the author is primarily saying in each chapter.

a very basic overview fo the situation; does not include major players like BTS, SMG, Real Learning that are the worlds number 1 in simulation these days from invoicing and development of simulations.

I have yet to finish this book; however, for the portions I have already read, I am not impressed. To begin, his expanded usage of the English language is unnecessary for the simplicity of his context. He also has multiple run on sentences that can be as long as 64 words! Also, "his" concepts are more or less variances of colorations of others theory's. The first half of the book is lofty, very wordy and lacking clear definitions. Perhaps this may be a test to see if I can Engage in learning.

Also to gain my credit I am a student of new media including Flash and have read multiple books based on learning through interactivity.

I will be brief. That's the way you feel when you're engaged in an eLearning Simulation Game. You get swept up in it. You're turned on. You block out life's static in order to reach your goal. Clark's book is like that. BUY THIS BOOK!

I've known and worked with Clark Quinn for several years. He's written a very good book. Like the e-learning it advocates, Engaging Learning is fun, accessible and, well, engaging. Working from a solid theoretical framework, Clark explains why learning should be "hard fun" and then shows how to create that kind of e-learning. He includes several detailed case studies. As someone who develops e-learning for a living, I appreciated his pragmatic approach and acknowledgement that e-learning can be developed at different levels of engagement, depending on budget, schedule, quality of source material, etc.

What really shines through, though, is Clark's passion for incorporating simulations and gaming techniques into e-learning. If you read this book and some of that rubs off, you will develop better e-learning.

If your short on time to prepare for the PPST, or you have a higher skill level than average and do not need as much detailed instruction, this book is for you. The tutorials are short and to the point and provide instruction along the path to successful study. The book is a great resource for math formulas, grammatical rules, and study skills. Practice test are provided in the book and there is a great CD version included that can easily be used to practice for the CBT test. Be aware that the test format on the CD (mulitiple choice) does not follow the exact format of the CBT (multiple choice, fill in the blank, cut and paste, highlighting).

This book was not helpful. The questions were too easy compared to the test. This book needed to be more challenging in order to get a better idea of the Praxis math portion.

This guide was helpful because of the CD-Rom. If you're planning to take the CBT Praxis, and have never taken Reading, Writing, and Math tests on computer, you need this guide. It will allow you to answer questions while being timed. The functionality is close enough to make you comfortable with the real test. I took all three on one day and passed all with scores 3 - 5 points above the required score for GA. The material is a couple of years old but the methods for reading, writing, math are current.

For updated material I used Arco 2003 Praxis I guide. It was useful but the CD in this guide was essential for my passing. I wish this company would update their cd rom and create a guide for Praxis II.

I bought this book from Amazon.com before I had to take myPraxis test. Passing this test was an absolute necessity for me inorder for me to get my NH Certification in Guidance Counseling. I studied from the book, especially the math sections, although briefly. I found that the questions and problems in the book were nothing like what was asked on the test. And in spite of the book I still passed anyway! Yeah! My suggestion: find another book.

I found this book to be a great source of help, especially the CD that comes with it. After working through the book I used the CD to prepare for testing. Contary to an earlier reviewer, I found the questions on the exam to be very, very close to those on the CD. It was an excellent prep tool. I also used the following texts: Praxis I:PPST by Jerry Bobrow (Cliff Notes) and The PPST Guide (Educational Testing Service).