OCP Upgrade to Oracle Database 12c Exam Guide (Exam 1Z0-060) (Oracle Press)

My last certification was Oracle 8 OCP in 2001. That time I had studied from the Oracle manuals and got perfect scores on all 5 OCP tests.Decided to upgrade my certification to 12c. The Oracle 12c manuals are humongous and there is no way you can read the manuals to prepare for the OCP. I wanted a quick way to prepare for OCP and I stumbled on this book in Amazon.Using this Book and the Kaplan Self test software, I was able to pass the 12c OCP.** The book deserves a 3 Star rating, but I have my reasons for giving it a 4 Star rating. Please read review till the endAbout the Book:Pros:- Good overview of new features of Oracle 12c with the right amount of detail. You can finish reading the book in 4-5 days.- The 2 minute drills very nicely highlight the key aspects of new features- Tests at the end of every chapter mimic the Oracle tests very closely (with the confusing questions and ambiguous answers). This forces you to re-read questions/answers resulting in you getting a clear understanding of the topic.Cons:- Very sloppy job writing/editing and proof reading the book- There are a lot of mistakes in the book- They have mixed up PDB/CDB multiple times when talking about Multi-TenancyMy experience with this book:Reading this book, the 2 minute drills and doing practice tests for the first time was tough. Reading something, then 3 pages down finding something contradictory made it a very frustrating experience. But I had scheduled the OCP test and there was no going back.Purchased the Kaplan Self Test software and practiced those tests. The Kaplan Tests clarified a few things I had read in the book.Read the book a second time. Second time around the mistakes were obvious and did not bother me as much.Reading this book two times, doing the 2 minute drills and practice tests a few times + the Kaplan self test software prepared me well enough to comfortably pass the "12c New Features" part of the OCP.Hence the 4 Star rating for this book.Point to Note: In the past around 40-50% of the questions in the real tests would be covered in Kaplan or other practice test materials. Not any more. The Kaplan tests will prepare you for the tests, but do not expect to see a lot of the Kaplan questions in the real test.Now the UGLY:The 12c OCP consists of 34 "Core DBA Skills" questions. In spite of being a hands on Oracle DBA for the last 20 years, I had a tough time with this part of the test. I am not sure how you can prepare for this part of the test, other than having been a hands on DBA for at least 3-4 years.When you take the test leave yourself some time to spend on the last 34 questions. They are tricky and you will need to spend some time on them.All the best for your test.

I really wanted to give this book less stars. But, it does a really good job of covering all of the new features, and includes examples. However, it should not be called an exam guide for 1Z0-060. This exam includes both a section for new 12c features and a section for key DBA skills. You need to obtain a passing score for both sections separately, but this book does not address the key DBA skills.Also, this book is full of typos and mistakes. Some are not that big of a deal. But, others could really affect your study. For example, the answer to a self-test question on page 141 states that you must prefix roles with C##, but this is only true for common roles. Then, again, on page 157 it states that the roles for granting access to unified auditing are AUDIT_ADMIN and AUDIT_USER. But, the latter should be AUDIT_VIEWER, not AUDIT_USER. This is just a couple of examples; this book of full of errors like this.You definitely need to use this book along with other resources, especially if you are studying for exam 1Z0-060. For one, because there are so many errors that you would need to check against other sources. And, secondly, it does not cover the key DBA section of the exam.

This book is worth to use it preparing for the exam. Of course, it contains a lot of erratas: I found few ones myself even after reviewing an existing erratas list (http://www.mhprofessional.com/downloads/products/0071819975/errata9780071819978.txt). Some book questions contain mistakes as well. But after reading it carefully (better few times) and discovering these errors you will become pretty much prepared for the exam. :)Among other books I reviewed as the exam preparation tools this one is the best I guess. About 200 questions in the book itself, 177 questions from the enclosed CD will make you think and properly "digest" the information provided by the book to prepare for the exam.Comparing it with "Study Guide for 1Z0-060: Upgrade to Oracle Database 12c: Oracle Certification Prep" by Matthew Morris I think Sam Alapati's book is much better, more mature, more detail-oriented. It does not contain 'Core DBA skills' section, but 'New Features' section author devoted 100% of the book is unbeatable.

I think the book covers much of what is needed for the OCP and overall is a good reference. Unfortunately, much like Oracle software, the book has glaring errors that should have been easy to find with just a little effort. I'm only a quarter of the way through and I just can't believe how many easy to find typos there are...many of them with statements that if they'd just coped and pasted to a DB session they would have discovered.

First it is a good book, covering many topics in detail. I appreciate your effort in writing and publishing the book.I am noticing many typos and mistakes, i.e., page 258 switch_to_logical instead swich_io_logical, page 248 pmon will run as thread in new multithread architecture. It should be running as OS process even in multithread architecture.Certification gives high importance for syntax. Scoring will be affected with incorrect information. I end up in double checking the syntax, variables and parameters with Oracle database and documents. Database Certification book requires extensive technical editing with multiple experienced DBAs.You can reach me at [email protected]. I tried to contact directly the Author and Technical editor and unable to find their contact info. Every Book should include contact info to get critical feedback.Ashok

This is supposed to be a reference book, but it has so many errors in the practice tests that it's completely unreliable. I find myself double checking every answer against the core documentation. What a waste of time... or maybe this is a perverse study technique that the author intended.Aside from a few glaring errors, the content is good.. but I guess the intern made up the teat questions. <sigh>

A useful resource to pull the exam topics together, and to give sample questions. However it only covers one part of the exam, the 12c new features, and not the general dba part of 1Z0-060.Be aware their are many mistakes in the book, it appears as if it went out without being proof read. There are also sections where material is repeated and sections where material is not covered in enough detail. I found it explained some topics very well, but others were poorly explained and confusing.I wouldn't recommend this as your only resource to pass the exam, i found myself constantly going back to the Oracle documentation to check or clarify the material. Disappointing.

I am by no means impressed with this book. It simply contains too many writing mistakes. There are example query outputs not matching or even contradicting the explanatory text; there are missing NOTs in important messages or the opposite; there are sentences repeated word for word, and many other mistakes. In general reading the book leaves the impression it went to press before proof reading. I am only giving point because I got the book for ½ price. I hope Oracle Press will publish an updated edition.

Utter rubbish - nobody bothered to proof read this. Technical information incorrect far too often, frequent references to subjects 'mentioned previously in the chapter', which are missing, or covered in subsequent pages. I've wasted far too much time with this book, crosschecking with the Oracle documentation when examples don't work. Previous OCP books by the same author have been ok, but this one is a truly waste of money.

Waste of money. Won't help you pass the exam.