Top 6 Books and Courses to Crack Oracle's Java SE 11, 17 and Java 21 Certification - 1Z0-819, 1Z0-829, 1Z0-830 Exam in 2025

Hello guys, if you are preparing for the OCPJP 11 1Z0-819 exam and looking for some advice on preparation then you have come to the right place. The Java SE 11 Certification is one of the toughest of Java certification at the developer level. It's much harder than Java Foundations Exam (1Z0-811) and OCAJP 8, it's predecessor, and some of the programmers who have attempted it calling it even harder than the professional-level certification like OCPJP 8. In order to crack Java SE 11 certification, you need to prepare hard, but, at the same time, you also need to know which areas you should focus on. What topics should you spend more time on and which books and courses can help you to learn those essential topics?

The feedback I got from most of the developers who have given Java SE 11 certification (half of them have failed) is that Java Module System is a crucial topic, and since they have never really used modules, they really struggle to answer those questions.

Another important thing I learned from feedback is that questions are more in-depth and confusing than the previous Java SE 8 certification exam. You need to know a couple of concepts to answer a single question, and multiple answers questions are tough to get it right.

Before I share my recommended books for this exam, I want to tell you about a critical change that is made into Java certification and which is worth knowing. There is no "Oracle Certified Associate Java Programmer" title anymore.

There is only one exam starting from Java 11 like 1Z0-811 for Java SE 11 Certified Developer, 1Z9-29 for Java 17 Certified Developer, and 1Z0-830 for Java 21 certified Professional. 

Now that you know the changes made in the OCAJP 11 exam let's focus on what books you can read and which online training courses you can join to prepare for not just Java SE 11 but also Java SE 17 (1Z0-829)  and Java 21 certification with code 1Z0-830 in 2025. 

6 Best Books & Courses for OCPJP 11 (1Z0-819), OCPJP 17 (1Z0-829), OCPJP 21 (1Z0-830) Exam in 2025

If you look at the exam topics, you will find that the syllabus is very similar to OCAJP 8 exam, except for the module part, which was introduced in Java 9, but when you go to the real exam, the questions are much tougher.

This means you really need to have in-depth knowledge of Java 8 concepts and other concepts that are introduced in Java 9, Java 10, Java 11, and Java 17 particularly Modularity, Switch expressions, patterns, records, and sealed classes. Another problem is that the syllabus is broad and vague this time around, which means you need to prepare a lot more than just exam topics.

Based upon that, here are a couple of books and online courses you can read and join to prepare well for your Java SE 11 and Java SE 17 certification, also knowns as 1Z0-819 and 1Z0-829 or simply OCP 11 and 17 on Java development community.

1. OCP Oracle Certified Professional Java SE 17 Developer Certification Kit: Exam 1Z0-829

This is one of the best and probably only resource you will need to prepare for both Java SE 11 and Java 17 certification study guide by Jeanne Boyarsky and Scott Selikoff, two of the best-selling authors when it comes to Java certification guide.  This book is now available.

If you have read Jeanne and Scott's OCAJP Certification guide, then you know how good they are. 

Their guides have now become a standard part of the Java SE 11 and Java SE 17 certification kit as almost all the developers I spoke who passed Java SE 8 exam mentioned there book. They also contains practice tests and flash cards for quick revision. 

If you want to pass Java Certification in first attempt then I highly recommend you to prepare for your OCAJP 11 or OCPJP 17 certification using guide. 

For better result you can also combine this book with this 1Z0-829 Practice Test if you are going for Java SE 11 certification and 1Z0-829 Practice test if you are going for Java SE 17 Certification test in 2025.  

2. Java SE 11 Study guide by Hanumant Deshmukh

At the time of writing this article, this is the only study guide available for Java SE 11 certification. Based upon my own experience of passing multiple Java certification, A study guide is must, and you are lucky to have one available to you, a big thanks to Hanumant Deshmukh for putting together this guide.

It is closely aligned to exam topics but also goes a step further to explain the topic in-depth even if it involved exploring some other related concepts.

Every chapter is full of quizzes and exercise, and color-coding really makes it easy to look into the code, I certainly prefer colored-code in books :-) Hanumant has also shared useful exam tips for candidates like how to eliminate answers, which is really important for answering multiple answer question.

If you can combine this book with The Complete Java Masterclass course on Udemy you will be in good shape to pass this exam. This course also covers the Java Module system, which is an essential topic for this certification.

Another thing you can do is to combine this book and course with the Whizlabs's Java SE 11 Practice test.  It has more than 600+ questions and will give some real-life experience in solving questions with the difficulty level of Java 11 certification.

It will also be a good test for your speed and accuracy, which is very important if you want to pass the exam in the first attempt with an excellent score. This is the combination I am suggesting to my reader, who wants to pass Java SE 11 certification.

3. The Java Module System by Nicolai Parlog

This book is for people who want to sore high on Java SE 11 certification and want to learn Java Modularity in depth. The book provides in-depth coverage of what is Java's Module system and how you can benefit from it. It also has a lot of examples and migration strategies for application who wants to use Modules.

Since modules are a big part of both Java SE 11 certification exams and Java SE 17 Certification, you just can't ignore the topic.

In fact, Jeanne Boyarsky, author of the Java SE 11 Certification guide, read this book to pass both OCP 11 certification, which shows how important this book is to prepare for Modules. 

Since Modules are an essential concept for Java developer, you can read this book even if you are not preparing for certification, but if you are, then you should definitely read this book.

4. Java 21, Java 17, Java 11, Java 8 (adv.) and Spring Boot 3

This is a another Udemy course you can join to prepare the latest topics and get Oracle OCP Certification (1Z0-830, 829, 819, 809) and code a Spring Boot application.

This is a 32-hour long comprehensive course that covers the most important updates from Java 9, Java 11, and Java 17 like modules, sealed classes, records, switch expressions, unnamed classes and instance main methods.

If you are preparing for certification, I strongly suggest you go through these series of courses to get an overview of the most important concepts and features released in the recent Java version.

5. Java 9 Modularity book by Sander Mak

This is another excellent book on Modularity from none other than Sander Mak, instructor of some of the best Java courses on Pluralsight and a Java Champion. This book is very similar to Nicholas Parlog's book, but I find it easier to read.

I mean both are excellent books, choose the one where you connect to the author, just read the preview of these books on Amazon and you will find it out yourself. For me, this book was better suited because of I already like Sander Mak's courses and familiar with his teaching style.

You can also combine this book with Oracle Java SE 21 Developer Professional: 1Z0-830 course on Udemy which helps you to prepare for Oracle Certification (Java Certification) Java SE 21 1Z0-830 with examples, quizzes and home tasks

6. OCP Java 17 & 21 Programmer Certification Fundamentals Part 1: 1Z0-829 1Z0-830 (OCP Java 17 / 21 Programmer Certification Exam Fundamentals Study Guide)

This is another book you can read if you are preparing for latest version of Java certification like Java 21 or Java 17 but its also a good read for Java 11 certification, albeit there are extra topics. 

This book,  provide full coverage of all OCP Java Programmer 17 Certification Exam 1Z0-829 as well as OCP Java Programmer 21 Certification Exam 1Z0-830 objectives with focus on fundamental concepts. 

This book covers all new topics such as Virtual Threads, Pattern Matching for switch and records, that the new OCP Java 2. exam includes. The book also helps you ace technical interviews by making you aware of things that technical managers focus on. 

The best thing about this book is that its written by Hanumant Deshmukh, an expert with more than 20 years of industry experience, and I first used his books only to pass the SCJP 4 15 years back. Since then I have read many of his books on various Java certification .

Though, for better preparation, I also recommend you to join my Java 21 Certification Practice Test for 1Z0-830 exam on Udemy where I have shared 250+ questions based upon recent exam patterns and topics. 

Mind you this is one of the toughest exam with 2 hours of time for same 50 questions but questions are tough, options are more and one question cover many topic, hence practice is really important to pass this exam in first attempt.

That's all about some of the best books and courses to crack Oracle's Java SE 11,17, and Java 21  Certification or OCPJP 11, OCPJP 17, and OCPJP 21  in 2025. As I have said, it's one of the tough Java certifications I have attended so far, and you really need to prepare hard to pass this exam. 

Though, if you want to score high, I suggest you to consistently practice Whizlabs and Enthuware's Practice exams, they will help you to really score high in your exam.


Other Certification Resources for IT Professionals and Java Programmers

• The Java Developer RoadMap
• The Official Guide of Java SE 11 Certification
• Top 5 Free Java 11 Practice Test for Programmers
• How to pass Spring Core Professional 6.0 Certification
• How to Crack Oracle's Java Certification in depth
• Does Spring Certification help in Job and Career?
• How to Crack the AWS Solution Architect exam in depth
• 10 Free Courses to Learn Data Structure and Algorithms
• 5 Free Mock Test to pass AWS Solution Architect Associate exam
• 10 Things Every Software Developer Should Learn
• Top 5 Courses to Crack PMP Certification in depth
• Top 5 Free Courses to Learn Git for Programmers
• 10 Free Sample Questions for OCAJP and OCPJP Exam

Thanks for reading this article so far. If these books helped you to pass the Java SE 11 certification, then please share it with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.

P. S. - If you are new to Java and looking for a comprehensive course to learn Java in depth which is both useful for a job and get this certification then I highly recommend you check out The Complete Java Masterclass course on Udemy. It's one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date courses to learn Java and covers new features of Java from recent releases.