This book was very good and helped me pass the 1Z0-001 exam with a score of 54/57 (95%). All topics on the exam are covered by this book, and the CD comes with some good practice exams that are similar (although a little easier) to the actual exam questions. I would recommend this to anyone taking the 1Z0-001 exam.

I used this book for the 1Z0-007 Exam and I passed with a score of 48/52 !!. It includes almost all the chapters.

You just need to study the new oracle 9i features.

Great book !!



Thanks a lot.

I used this book for the 1Z0-007 Exam and I passed with a score of 48/52 !!. It includes almost all the chapters.
You just need to study the new oracle 9i features.
Great book !!

Thanks a lot.

I used this book for the 1Z0-007 Exam and I passed with a score of 48/52 !!. It includes almost all the chapters.
You just need to study the new oracle 9i features.
Great book !!

Thanks a lot.

I just used this book as my main book for the 1Z0-007 Exam and I passed with a score of 48/52 !!.


this book is extremely good. Thanks a lot.

I used this book for the Exam 1z0-001. It is well-written and easy to understand. The book covers all the topics tested on the test. I even had some questions similar to some in the book. I took the exam on March 29, 2004 and I passed it. I will recommend this book to OCP candidates and even to someone new to oracle. Well! I already recommended that to some people who bought it. I also used as supplement the Oracle Press book written by Jason Couchman. The main goal is not to cram but understand the material.

I give 4 stars.

This seems to be the best book out there for IZ0-001.For the most part this book is great,however certain topics like LOCKS, PRIVILIGES and VIEWS are covered at a very high level of abstraction.I would recommend oracle manual for these topics.Aditionally the book does cover pair-wise comparison but does not explicitly use this term.Please be sure to familiarize urself with pair-wise comparison.From what i have been told IZ0-001 almost always has a question on pair-wise comparison and i sure did have one.

I just completed the exam several hours ago and failed it with a 27/59. I am making this posting so that test takers can get a range of opinions and NOT get the perception that everybody passes the exam. First, I would like to say that I studied for this exam for three days. My recommendations are to: Study this book thoroughly and not to cram for the exam. Study each chapter thoroughly and each concept thoroughly. There are over 23 different concepts that the real exam tests. The test is very broad and doesn't concentrate on any specific area - that is what makes it so hard. However, I do recommend knowing all the information in the book thoroughly before taking the exam. If I would have done so I would have done alot better on the exam. Also, I would not recommend cramming for exam.

The book is VERY comprehensive, and allowed me to breeze through the 2 hour exam in less than 45 minutes. The questions in the exam are very similar to the test prep samples provided in the CD-ROM. I definitely recommend this book for people who already have a working knowledge of SQL/ PLSQL. One problem I did have was the way in which the Sybex test questions are formatted: The little windows with the scrollbars make hugh chunks of code really hard to read. My suggestion is to use this as a study guide, but take the test at a Prometric center, as they have a easier to use interface.

This book is great because I passed the exam with it. It's clear and concise so it won't put you to sleep. (Or, not as soon as the other books will) However, it contained the amount of detail that you'll need on the test. There was one term that appeared on the test that I didn't recognize--a pair-wise comparison. I don't think it was in the book, but it was on one question of the test. Also, the queries on the test are more complicated than the ones featured in the book. So study hard!! I'm using the Sybex book written by Chip Dawes for the next test. Wish me luck, and good luck to you!

This is the best book for exam IZO-001. If you read this thoroughly and answer all the questions, you will be ready for anything on the exam. I just passed the first exam today at the first attempt, and have no prior experience in either oracle or programming.

I used this book exclusively to pass the exam (40/57). Ok, it was a minimal passing grade, but I have no Oracle experience. I found the book's practice exams to be very similar to the actual test...The text was clear and the problems had only a few errors that I noticed.

This book is great to get through the book,but not up to the mark.It doesn't take you to the details which is required for the exam.Better to find some other books along with this.
I, passed the exam using only this book (40/57),but it didn't fetch the mark I desired.I am new to oracle,so it was tough for me to get through this exam by concentrating only on this book and in a time of 15 days,not for the beginners!
IF U ARE A BEGINNER try to find some other books along with this.Best Of Luck!

I'm roughly half-way through this book so far and thought I'd share some observations and maybe follow-up once I finish the book and take the exam.
For one, this probably IS the best book out there that covers this exam. Unfortunately, there really isn't much to choose from.
This book has a mostly-clear and understandable writing style, although certain topics seem to get glossed over and not explained very well. I get the feeling that it is geared towards those with a solid foundation in Oracle 8i Server. For those like myself who are going through the certification path to learn from the ground up, it can be a bit frustrating. There are many chicken-and-egg areas where the authors rely on terms and concepts from future chapters to help explain topics at hand. This is probably unavoidable and I wouldn't fault the authors for it, but it IS worth noting.
If I had a say in how this book were put together, I would use more hands-on lab work throughout the book.
Through what I've read so far, there hasn't been one moment where the reader is encouraged to try out new skills on their test database - and the book comes with a copy of Oracle 8i Server for NT, so there's no excuse for it.
The authors should go through Sybex' CCNA Study Guide to see how hands-on labs should be laid out and encouraged.
For those examples where I can follow along with my test database, it's nice to reinforce what I've learned by trying it out. Unfortunately, many of the examples given do not mirror the test database that Oracle 8i Server comes with, and at this point I lack the skills to create such a database on my own. Sybex would do well to offer scripts on their website that recreates all the fictitious databases and tables used throughout the book.
Another thing I find lacking is that Exam tips are few and far between. Throughout the first 200 pages or so, I've counted 3-4, maybe 5 tips on what to look out for on the exam. I would expect more heads-up info on the exam from a study guide.
Still, as I said, this is probably the best book for the exam. For it's good points, the authors do have a good, comfortable writing style that doesn't get bogged down in industry jargon and I have learned a lot so far.
The book comes with a CD that includes Oracle 8i Server, a pdf file of the book (which requires the CD to be in the drive, sorry to say), and a few other odds and ends, including practice exams.
-Incidentally, my database would not install from the CD that came with the book. Lucky for me, I had bought the DBA Certification Kit that includes all the books for all 5 of the DBA exams. The disc from the 2nd book installed the database without a problem. Not sure if they had a defective run of CDs or if it was just mine.
I'd love to give this book a 3.5 because it truly is better than a 3 but for all the faults I've noted, I don't consider it a 4/5 book. Still, I'll give it the benefit of a 4 considering the lack of competition out there.

*Update 12/10/2001
Well, I just passed the exam with a 45/57 (39 is req'd).
This book definitely played a major role in allowing me to pass this test. I would not rely on it completely and I would recommend Michael Ault's Exam Cram as a companion guide.
I still stand by my comments that I would like to have seen more interactive exercises encouraged, but the amount of exam tips did pick up in the latter chapters of the book and were quite helpful. I'll stick by my 4/5 rating for this book and reiterate - while it's not perfect, it's probably the best for this exam.

Excellent book. I gave two readings of this book and took all the test papers at the end of each chapter. Then on the day before the exam took all the test which comes on the CD. Tell you what, I cleared the OCP pl/sql & sql exam with 45/57.

I have a small amount of experience writing PL/SQL. When I used this book to study, I found many good points within. However, I found a few areas difficult to understand and other areas discussed, but not explained. One other problem I found with the book is that certain areas on the exam were not even mentioned in this book. I used an old DBA 8 (Oracle Press) guide, and that helped. I also signed up for the SelfTest practice exam, which was a lifesaver.

I am sure that I would have passed the exam (well, probably) by using only this book as a study guide, but I surely wouldn't have passed with such a comfortable margin.

In my case, there were several areas that were covered in great depth in this book -- subjects that were not included in the exam at all.

I will not buy a book from this series again (for the other 4 tests).

BTW: I got 50/57, so I passed with an 87.77 percent score. I am sure that this book helped with that.

Passed the exam today with a score of 55/57. Relied mostly on this book, along with the Oracle Press' Complete Reference, whenever I needed additional information. Practice tests had a difficulty level higher than that of the actual exam and were very helpful in preparing hard for the exam. Overall, an excellent book that meets its intended purpose.

This book helped me in preparing and clearing OCP exam for Oracle PL/SQL.This book is really good and adheres to the specifics.Although i have experience in Oracle programming i think it should help even others with very little exposure to Oracle's PL/SQL.

Well, I thanked the authors of this book,because it was the only material that I used to pass the exam, but the problem I noticed is that the scope of the books is wider than the exam,hence I read a lot of (OP) out-of-ponits, any which way I passed.The flashcards were wonderful too.

It is really an excellent book. All you need to do is read it and go through all the questions. I passed the exam with 54/57 in first try.

Its a great book for the exam. However, it does not cover a few topics in detail which are a part of the exam. I ended up getting 49 on 57 and this book was my bible.I would recommend it purely from an exam perspective especially for a novice like me without any prior knowledge of Oracle. For in depth references I think the Oracle press books are great.

Its a great book from the exam perspective and gives you a reasonably good picture of all the topics covered in the exam. This is especially so for a novice like me. I scored 49/57 after preparing for the exam for 2 weeks and this book served as my bible. For in depth references however, the Oracle Press books are better.

I found the book to be a good reference source but I would STRONGLY recommend you use the STS Software to go along with it. The book is very thorough and covers all topics well but the questions asked on the STS are asked in the same format as the questions on the actual exam. If you read the book and can answer the questions on the STS Software exams you will have no problems with the actual test.

This book helped me pass my first exam on my first try. The exams on the CD really help you prepare for the exam. This is a must have book if you want to prepare for the exam, and you don't want to spend too much money on just preparing for it. Good luck!

I found this book useful for 1z0-001 and pass the exam by reading this book as well. Easy to understand different oracle parameters and PL/SQL block writing skills. I recommend buy this book for study the exam.

This is no doubt the best book for ORACLE certification preparation. The test questions are tough and the answers well presented.

Should the authors consider writing Study Guides for the Developer 2000 and Advanced PL/SQL exams ?

I bought this book and the Oracle Press one to prepare for the exam. I think this one is far better than the Oracle Press one. The questions in Oracle Press one is too easy and the CD in it is useless. I like the CD come with this book. It has an electronic version of this book. It also has some flashcard you can download to your PDA. I love it. Overall, I highly recommend this book to prepare for the exam. It helps me to pass the exam (49/57).

This book is waste of money as far as preparation for certification is concerned. Oracle Press book is the best. I just wasted $ 39 on this book.

I passed the test 52/57 last Friday. I don't think this book is useful. A lot of questions and contents are out of scope. It will mislead you to wrong direction If you really want to pass the test. Before i buy the book i checked the review from here. I don't know why so many people recommended this book. The best material is Oracle training book and self test. Pease don't waste your money.

This is the best book I found in the market to get prepare for the OCP test 1 for Oracle 8i. This book specially highlights the differences between Oracle 8 and Oracle 8i and the self test software is excellent and very tricky. For any one who scored more than 80% in the self test software, passing the test 1 is not a dream. Sample questions are more difficult than the exam questions. Electronic version of the book is ideal because any time when I needed to continue reading the book just I needed to bring the CD with me.

I'm a citizen of Sri Lanka. There are no any training centres for OCP exams here. Just this book helped me to score 49 out of 57 that is 86% more than required to pass the test. Believe I'm new to Oracle !!!

Cleared my OCP Paper of SQL/PLSQL today by getting 55 out of 57. Syllabus covered in this book is more than what is required. I feel that Instructor led course for SQL/PLSQL is just sufficient. But I would recommend the tests given at end of each chapter. They broaden the concepts. Plus there are some minor errors which one has to take care.

This book is really good for the exam preparation. The practice tests are thorough and complete. I would recommend keeping the Complete Reference book handy when preparing. I just took the exam and scored high. This book addresses all topics in the exam.

The book is great for preparing the exam. Although it does not try to teach you every trick about PL/SQL, it outlines concept clearly for OCP exam purposes. I used this book and scored 52/57 in the exam in just a week period.

Great job! But if you want every glory details about PL/SQL itself, you need to go on with another book.

I bought this book and the Oracle Press book by Couchman to use in preparation for the SQL-PL/SQL OCP exam. This one was far better. There are a lot of sample exam questions, and some of the questions are tougher than what appeared the exam. I've been programming Oracle for about 1 year and wanted to get certified. This book definitely helped me pass the exam.

The authors explain the concepts very well. Some of the explanations, like for why you would want to use a specific rollback segment or why permissions on procedures have to be granted directly are handled better than I've seen anywhere else. The examples that go along with these explanations are clear and not contrived like some other books. The best part of this book is actually the sample questions and answers. The 300+ sample questions (and answers with explanations) do as much teaching as the text. I'm strong at SQL and getting better at PL/SQL, this book's 150+ pages on PL/SQL really helped

I also like the fact that the book came with an electronic version I could put on my notebook computer and not have to lug around the printed copy.

Thanks to Sybex and the authors for helping me get certified.

This book should have been titled Oracle8i SQL Exam Guide. All author covers is simple select statements, joins, pre-defined sql functions, some basic tuning concepts with poor examples. As a matter of fact author covers pl/sql in less than 50 pages..... Not a good buy for intermediate/experts or someone planning on taking OCP DBA pl/sql Exam. Starter's might find this book useful. I recommend Oracle8 DBA certification exam guide.

I am studying for my exam and have read the Instructor Lead Training (ILT) book that I borrowed from a friend. When I do not understand something, I go to this book for an easy to understand explanation.

Each of the ten chapters have about 20 review questions and there are two practice exams on the CD. There are some things that was not covered in the ILT book are covered in this book.

Contrary to the previous commentor, this book is a very good study guide.