<p>Keasbey Nights gave some good advice. I’m assuming that you’re self-studying it. I learned the majority of the material independently prior to taking the class and later the exam. As far as textbooks go, I used [Lawrenceville</a> Press - A Guide to Programming in Java](<a href=“http://www.lvp.com/java.htm]Lawrenceville”>http://www.lvp.com/java.htm) and [url=<a href=“http://www.horstmann.com/bigjava.html]Big”>http://www.horstmann.com/bigjava.html]Big</a> Java / Java Concepts<a href=“java%20concepts”>/url</a>. I started out just using the first book when I was studying it over the summer, but in school I used the second book more often. Both books start with the very basics and cover the whole curriculum. The first book is more concise than the second and it has better programming exercises. The second book goes into topics beyond the AP curriculum.</p>
<p>When learning the material, you definitely want to do programming exercises. Don’t just read the textbook. There aren’t too many questions on the exam like “Polymorphism is…”. They’re usually like “According to the code above, if the value of x is 3, then what value is returned?”. So tracing through code and knowing when there are mistakes in the code is crucial. And this is best learned by coding.</p>
<p>Spend a lot of time on gridworld. Observe how the program works and what happens when certain modifications are made. I recommend downloading College Board’s guide that includes programming exercises to modify the program. Don’t just read about it in Barron’s.</p>
<p>I used Barron’s to prepare for the exam and I believe that it is the best prep book. It is slightly more difficult than the actual exam, but it doesn’t include too much excess material. I didn’t actually read it, but mostly did the practice questions. I feel like computer science is like math in that you don’t usually sit down and read a math book like you read a history book. You reference certain topics from the book and look at examples. I also recommend looking at free-responses from previous years. You can get a feel for what CB is looking for in free-responses and what you get points for.</p>
<p>Don’t wait until 2 weeks before the exam to start studying. If you’ve learned most of the actual material, then spend a lot of time doing additional programming exercises and learning about gridworld. Practice is key.</p>