Book Review: A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Sixth Edition Written by Mike Meyers ISBN-13: Book P/N 978-0-07-226312-1 ISBN-10: Book P/N 0-07-226312-1

I’m often asked for my recommendation for a book or written study guide for the CompTIA A+ certification exams, and this book is my first choice every time. This comprehensive tome of CompTIA A+ knowledge from Mike Meyers is packed with information. If you’re only going to get one book as your study guide, this is the one to beat.

Mike Meyer’s has a great deal of experience with CompTIA training, and his books include topics for A+, Network+, Security+, and Linux+. I became familiar with Mike’s CompTIA A+ books during my own CompTIA A+ certification study. This book was the second CompTIA A+ book I read, and just a few chapters into the book I was kicking myself for not starting with this one.

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The book itself is quite large. At over 1,100 pages, the book earns its name as an all-in-one guide. Mike doesn’t skimp on explanations such as the functional operation of a CPU or the atomic-level workings of data on a hard drive. It’s Mike’s sometimes-comical storytelling style that helps bring these highly technical topics down to a level that anyone can understand. Who would have guessed that a CPU is really a guy stuck in a box with a bunch of light switches, or that the Northbridge chipset of your computer has a big claw that it uses to grab information from memory?

It’s these extremely useful practical representations of the inner workings of our computer systems that provides this book with an advantage over the others. The CompTIA A+ certification requirements don’t change from book-to-book, but the unique training process that Mike uses makes all the difference. It also helps that Mike injects a good bit of humor into his writing, which always brings things back to the human side of technology.

Book Structure
Each topic begins with a historical perspective to help provide a foundation of why the topic is an important part of the CompTIA A+ certification. Very little of our computing technology has arrived onto the scene without some type of historical perspective, so this preliminary foundation is useful when discussing today’s technology. After the historical view is provided, the bulk of the chapter is related to the information necessary to know for the CompTIA A+ examination. At the end of the chapter is usually a small section that takes the reader “Beyond A+” to demonstrate examples of the technology that are applicable to today’s computing environments but are beyond the scope of the CompTIA A+ certification.

This comprehensive educational structure is one of the strongest aspects of this book, but it could also be interpreted as one of its largest disadvantages. With such a complete historical perspective, extensive topical coverage, and extra information “beyond” the certification requirements, the book goes well beyond the information needed to pass the CompTIA A+ exam.

Is more information a bad thing?
I personally don’t find the all-inclusive nature of Mike’s book to be a disadvantage, and I believe that my personal philosophy on technical education is well aligned with Mike’s. I’ve often said that a technical certification isn’t the end of the learning process; it’s really just the beginning of gaining an education. A certification is a validation of a foundation that’s yet to be built upon, and you can’t build a house if all you’re really planned on building is the foundation. If you’re looking for a book that’s going to spoon-feed the information you need to squeak buy with a passing score, this isn’t the right book for you.

The comprehensive nature of the book also means that it’s incredibly useful after you’ve secured your CompTIA A+ certification. If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself constantly referring back to motherboard specifications, power standards, or operating system upgrade requirements. When you begin to manage your first RAID array and need to configure a set of striped volumes, you’ll be glad this book is on your shelf.

Some thoughts for the next edition
If I had to pick one place where the book could be improved, I’d point to the multiple-choice review questions at the end of the chapter. Even though questions aren’t intended to simulate the expectations of the real CompTIA A+ exam, it would have been nice to get a more complete explanation of each answer. I find that knowing why an answer is not correct is often more useful than knowing the correct response. Fortunately, there are other books on the market that are designed for Q&A testing, such as the CompTIA A+ Practice Questions Exam Cram.

Here’s the summary: + Over 1100 pages – very comprehensive + Includes a 55 page glossary + Incredibly useful for A+ exam – Well thought-out examples that stay with you + Extensive diagrams and pictures + Mike’s humor is a welcome touch + Amazingly useful after your certification - Not a lot of detailed Q&A - Some sad little people might consider the book to have too much information

If you’re studying for your CompTIA A+ certification, you really need to buy this book. You can get the book anywhere, but if you buy if from any of the Amazon.com links on Professor Messer a portion of the proceeds go towards the ongoing support of the site. Thanks!

Good studies!