Rating:  - Real OCP Test is 90% unrelated to this book
I studied this book from cover to cover with my eyes close (3 months 2-3 hours a day). I just failed the exam and I scored 60% out of 70% passing. Although the book covers all the materials you have to know, it does not cover in detail on each section to pass. The test questions are totally unrelated to the practice exam of this book. Almost all the questions are scenario questions. I suggest that you need additional references beside this book.
Furthermore, this book is hard to understand. I have re-read so many times. The wording is poor. There are about 20% mistakes on the practice exam questions of this book. The reason I did not add additional references is that if you study the book from cover to cover, there is no doubt you passthe exam---I WAS WRONG.
WARNING: The OCP exam had 2-4 long sentences each question with a multiple choice from A-F (2-3 answers). That's how it makes it hard. You have to think very very very deep and NOT ENOUGH TIME.
Rating:  - better than admin I (OCA) book
i have passed my ocp 10g exam last month, thanks to this book and bersinic & watson book (ocp all in one exam guide). i have to say overall this book is better than the admin I book also by sybex. the thing i like about this book is it covers more than the exam needs, e.g. how to create the rman recovery catalog, which is not found in other ocp preparation materials (including oracle's student guide for admin II training). i also find the flashcards helpful (also available in sybex oca), and the two bonus exams. but just be very careful when assessing the answers to all the questions, there is a few misleading answers i found, although it is very rare. the best way to find the right answer is to test the question on a practice database, or find the exact answer from Oracle's documentation. i would still say it is a good and pretty complete reference for your OCP 10g exam.
Rating:  - Not enough to pass the test
This book is jam-packed with info that the Oracle 10g DBA will need to know...unfortunately, its not enough to pass the exam. The book isn't necessarily at fault - the exam is full of so many trick questions and obscure references that cooincidentally are all spelled out in Oracle's training material (which you'll need to shell out three thousand dollars to attend the class and get the books).
In order to get OCP certified, you have to attend an Oracle class anyway, so skip this book and get the training from the source.
Rating:  - Proof-reading needed
This book apparently underwent no proof-reading. Careless and obvious mistakes abound. The publisher's errata page is of little use although the book has been published for nearly two years. Considering that this is a book you rely on to pass an exam, this is close to irresponsible.
I've only read half of the book, I hope the remaining is better.
Rating:  - Very complete coverage
I just passed my Oracle 1Z0-043 test after using this book as my sole study source, in addition to an Oracle installation I set up at home. The book does a great job of covering all the material I encountered on the test.
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