Update: This book is written for an older version of the exam. You can no longer do the exam which this book is written for. I no longer recommend this book (unless you can get it for really really cheap price).
The second edition of this book simply corrects the typing errors in the first edition (lots of them). Unfortunately, it does not address some of the key flaws in this book:
a) Chapter 8 Thread-Safe Servlets is still wrong. Session variables and Servlet Context variables are not thread safe (the book states they are, which is incorrect). They are not thread safe!
b) Chapter 11 Web Tier Design Patterns does not cover "Front Controller" design pattern. This is not author's fault because it is not listed in the exam objectives. However, you probably want to know what this pattern is all about before the exam.
c) Some questions in the book are about XML DTD. They are not related to the exam and seem fairly pointless. Some questions in the book are misleading.
d) Personally, I feel Chapter 10 Using Custom Tags is not very well explained (mainly because the examples used are too simple).
So why 3 stars? Well, despite all those issues, I believe you can pass with just this book (I bought the SCWCD Exam Study Kit as well as this book. The SCWCD Exam Study Kit by Hanumant Deshmukh, Jignesh Malavia is far better than this book). The flaws mentioned probably will cost you at most 10-15% of your score so you most likely can still pass with this book. Therefore, the book still deserves a pass (2.5 stars, but there is no option for 2.5 so I picked 3).
If you can get this book cheap, it is worth reading (quite easy to read). However, if you want to be really safe (or you want to get only 1 book for the exam), it is wise to stay away from this book and get The SCWCD Exam Study Kit book instead.
