Clearing the Sun Certified Java Programmer exam

It has nearly been 1 year since I bought the exam voucher for the Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP) exam, and today I've finally passed it! Overall, I think I've become more knowledgeable about what Java programming is about. It's definitely more in-depth and more challenging than what I had expected, even though I've been at it for a few years.

And with the advent of Java 5 and the host of new features it boasts, I definitely felt the need to upgrade myself. Moreover, my present scope of work doesn't really let me gain as much exposure or knowledge about Java than I had expected.

Preparing for the exam

You've got to be armed with a few resources to help you tackle the exam. My recommendations for books are:
SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide (Exam 310-055) (Certification Press Study Guides)
This is an excellent book. Incredibly informative and insightful, it is full of  relevant examples and peppered with some surprises about Java 5 that I felt were quite bewildering initially. The book explains the concepts well and if there is only one book to get for SCJP, it is this one. A big plus point with this book is the way the authors have imbued it with humour, making it a joy (sort of) to read.
SCJP Exam for J2SE 5: A Concise and Comprehensive Study Guide for The Sun Certified Java Programmer Exam
More of a supplementary text, it's as it's title states: concise and comprehensive. Not enough by itself, nonetheless it's pretty well-organized and certain chapters are quite well done, for example the chapters on enums and exception handling.
And here are some sites with some interesting test questions pertaining to Java,  though not necessarily Java 5.
JavaRanch
You'll want to play the Rules Roundup Game and reinforce some Java concepts. Get all your cows in the pen! No Java 5 stuff though, but it's good for the rest of SCJP.
Java Black Belt
Neatly organized site with all sorts of Java-related questions, including Hibernate and Struts. Look out for those related to the Java 5 features.

And with the passing of the SCJP, at least I've fulfilled one of my resolutions this year.