AP Computer Science

I scored a 5 on the Computer Science A exam using this book and Be Prepared for the AP Computer Science Exam in Java (Second Edition) by Maria Litvin. I studied both thoroughly, which was helpful because I felt a basic knowledge of Java programming would have been inadequate for the multiple-choice portion of the exam.

before i opened this book, i literally did not know anything about java. i had a shallow background in c++, but my comp sci teacher for java sucked and so did our textbooks. this book is best to learn and review everything for the test. the lessons are succinct and to the point. and i really do think that the practice tests are fairly accurate to the actual ap test. barron's practice tests are way too ridiculously hard. if you need to learn all the material thorough and fast, this is the best book to get it from. i had also tried maria litvin's, which is good, but if you dont know anything prior to opneing that book, its not going to help much. litvin's test i would think are harder than 5 steps, but easier to barron's. i've taken the practice tests for barron's and the actual one is not that much alike. i would say use 5 steps for a realistic picture of what its going to be like in may and litvin's if you want to be safe.

I got a 5 on the AB exam, thanks to this book. It goes over every single concept on the exam, and the tests are hard, which is good practice for the exam itself. When I took the exam I was a lot less nervous, because I've seen most of those problems in this prep book. If you work hard enough with this book, a 5 is guaranteed.

maria litvin - i'd recommend it to anyone who never learned java b4. this book definitely stresses over concept, but the problems are not enough and much easier than the test i took in may. as a result, i'd recommend u to buy this book, but a harder book to go along with it like ds-marketing or barron's. princeton - this book is pretty alright. it has good information, but i don't think it's enough. the way the author writes is understandable, but again, problems are not enough. sometimes there are only 4 problems per chapter. also, the practice test at the end of the chapter are not enough. there's only 1 set for A and 1 set for AB. barron's - this book places emphasis on the problems. for example, in marine biology, there's at least 40 problems. don't buy this if u get bored easily because reading this book is like reading college textbooks. however, i can guarantee u that this book will raise ur score much quicker than any other book. however, this book is MUCH MUCH MUCH harder than the actual exam. i'd say that if u get a raw score of 50/80 on the practice test, u can probably get a 5. 5 steps - i borrowed this book from a friend about a week before the test. i feel like this book is almost exactly like the test. it has every type of problem, and gives excellent short summaries at the end of each chapter. it's quite understandable. b4 taking compsci ap, i did 5 books: maria litvin, barron, princeton, 5 steps to a 5, and ds-marketing. i'd say that if u have a pretty decent teacher, u'll probably only need 5 steps or barron's. otherwise, i'd recommend at least 2 of the books above. however, remember that ds-marketing DOES NOT have marine biology (which makes up about 20% of the exam)