Press Release

November 11, 2003

"Head First EJB": A Brain-Friendly Study Guide to Passing the Sun Certified Business Component Developer Exam

Sebastopol, CA--It was overheard one day at the Tikibean Lounge: the Session bean grumbled to the bartender, "I'm tired of doing all the work and getting none of the glory." The bartender replied with the typical sangfroid of one who listens to such complaints day in and out, "What do you mean? Aren't you the only bean that's been required by the spec since the very beginning?" To which the Session bean rejoined, "Fat lot of good THAT does me." And so the conversation went.

You can learn a lot about Session beans in the Tikibean Lounge--about all sorts of Enterprise JavaBeans, for that matter. But the only one way you can get there is head first. That is, you'll find the Tikibean Lounge inside the covers of Head First EJB: Passing the Sun Certified Business Component Developer Exam (O'Reilly, US $44.95) by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates. You'll also find plenty of real-world tips in the Off-Path Guides, exam traps and EJB pitfalls, and more than two hundred Coffee Cram mock exam questions with which to test your knowledge.

"Head First EJB" sees readers safely through the exam and--even better--prepares them to use EJBs in the real world. Written by the co-developers of the real SCBCD exam, the book delves deeply into the EJB architecture, session, entity, and message-driven bean lifecycles, CMP, EJB-QL, transactions, security, patterns, and what component-based development really means.

The second book in the Head First series, "Head First EJB" applies the latest in learning theory to drive knowledge straight into the brain. Readers interact with the material in unusual ways to learn more deeply and more quickly, and--most importantly--to use what they learn. Those who are already familiar with "Head First Java" will know what to expect--the unexpected. If not, get ready to engage your mind.

Although "Head First EJB" prepares readers to pass the Sun Certified Business Component Developer Exam, even those who aren't planning to take the exam will find the book a great resource for learning about EJB. "The reason the book is called 'Head First EJB' and not 'Head First SCBCD Exam'is because when we first designed what we would put into an EJB 'learning book,' the content was not related to the exam," explain Sierra and Bates. "However, the content in the exam and the content we'd planned to include in an introductory learning EJB book were almost identical. So yes, the book is great for people who want a Head-First-style introduction to really understanding the core concepts of EJB." The book is not for hard-core enterprise developers already familiar with EJB, the authors add, but is about learning and really understanding everything about the way that Enterprise JavaBeans work. And since it's Head First, that means learning in the quickest and most entertaining way, without feeling bored or flummoxed.

"Building business components with EJB is one of the most popular uses of Java," note Sierra and Bates, "but the SCBCD exam is scary. We know--we helped write it. Guilt-ridden over the toughness of the test, we thought the least we could do is offer a simulating way to pass it, and all for the cost (or less) of three extra large pizzas and a six-pack."

Praise for "Head First EJB":

"Finally...an EJB book that teaches you everything you need to know, and keeps you laughing while doing it!"
--Kenneth Saks, EJB Container Implementation Lead, Java Software Group, Sun Microsystems

"Using 'Head First EJB' materials I got a great score, and set a world record as the youngest Sun Certified Business Component Developer (14 years)"
--Afsah Shafquat, Operation Badar, and IT Educational Movement

Additional Resources:

• An interview with the authors

• Information about the Head First series

• More about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bios, and samples

• A cover graphic in JPEG format

About O'Reilly

O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

Return to: O'Reilly Press Room

Recent Press Releases

Press Release Archive »

Resources

• Company History
  Long  |  Short

• Tim O'Reilly
  Biography  |  Short Bio
  Photo: web (340K JPEG), print (8.7MB TIFF)

• Online Press Kit

Press Contacts

Corporate

Sara Winge
800/998-9938 x7109

Media Relations - North America

Sara Peyton
800/998-9938 x7118

Media Relations - Germany

Corina Pahrmann
+49-221-973160-22

Media Relations - Japan

Kenji Watari
+81-3-3356-5227

Media Relations - United Kingdom

Josette Garcia
+44 (0)1252-721284

Media Relations - Conferences