I found this certification guide enjoyable to read and a big help -especially in the section after each chapter that aids in reinforcing that paricular topic. I got a good a sense of where I stood in my knowledge of Java with each chapter and knew whether or not to move on or to throttle back and review along with other java books. I still refer to the other certification book by Roberts and Heller though, since they seem to be more convincing as to the particulars of the certification questions. I believe that as a teaching/guide book to prepare one for real- world java programming and evaluating ones level of expertise, this book does point the serious student in the right direction.