A while back I passed the Oracle Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform SE 6.0 (formerly SCJP 6) exam and thought that overall it was a challenging exam.  The questions required you to have a good handle on the language and framework but you really needed to concentrate on each question and look for small details that would result in the correct answer.  

As for content, if you follow the SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 6 Study Guide by Katherine Sierra and Bert Bates book that will give you a good start on the content.  I also recommend a mock test, such as the one offered by whizlabs.  I used this and found it to be helpful to familiarize myself with the exam format.  Javaranch is also a good resource.

SCJP 6 Exam Simulator http://www.whizlabs.com/

http://www.javaranch.com/

Good luck!

A common question that programmers new to Java have is what is the relationship between packages, javac, java, and the NoClassDefFoundError.

It is important to understand that there is a relationship between the package and physical directory structure.  For example, if you have a class "MyClass" and it is in a package com.myapp, you would want the following file structure

MyProject
   |--source
      |--com
          |--myapp
              |--MyClass.java
   |--classes

MyClass.java would have package com.myapp; at the top of the file.  Then from the source directory, you could issue the following to compile and place the class file in MyProject/classes/com/myapp/MyClass.class

javac -d ../classes com.myapp.MyClass.java

The result would be that the compiler would create the directories under /classes (note classes needs to exist).  Now, to run MyClass, issue the following from the classes directory:

java com.myapp.MyClass

It is important to realize that when compiling and running that the package name, fully qualified class name, and location you issue javac and java from are all important.

Below is a list of software development podcasts, IT Podcasts, and general computer related podcasts. Please add commnets on podcasts you enjoy...

.NET Rocks - This is a really good (quality and content) podcast that focuses on .NET development.  While the main focus is .NET there is a fair amount of content that applies to general computing and development such as design patterns, agilie practices, and more.

Software Engineerig Radio - This podcast provides an excellent variaty of topics that span technologies, languages, platforms, methodologies, etc. The shows can be rather technical and geared more toward knowledgable developers, but still offer a wealth of knowledge for beginners through experts.

Hansel Minutes - This is a weekly podcast that is primarily focused on Microsoft technologies but also includes other technologies and topics from time to time (for example digital photography).  While Scott is a Microsoft employee, the cast is rather open to non MS technologies and techniques such as TDD, ALT.NET, etc.

The Java Posse - This is an excellent podcast focused on the Java language, platform, and related technologies.  It provides both technical information as well as news and events within the Java community.

Buzz Out Loud - This is a daily podcast that is a summary of news and events relating to technology.  The personalities of the hosts really help to seperate this podcast from the usually news recap type shows...certainly worth checking out...

Polymorphic Podcast - A good podcast focusing on development and .NET.  The podcasts sometimes include screencasts and overall provides a lot of good content.

SSWUG - A database centric podcast dealing mainly with SQL Server but does include topics on other RBDMS as general database best practices.

Slashdot Review -  While at times biased, this can be a quick and informative cast.

Google Developer Podcast - Hopefully this will be a good resource to learn more about the technolgy offerings available through google.

Windows Weekly Podcast - Interesting take on the windows world.

ALT.NET Podcasts - A really good podcast that covers topics that all developrs should familiarize themselves with.

Deep Fried Bytes Podcast - Good podcast focusing on mainly Microsoft development

Thirsty Developer - Another good developer podcast focusing mainly on .NET

herdingcode.com - Good podcast relating to development

WebDevRadio - Covers web development

eCorner - Stanford entreprenure podcast 

Stackoverflow - development podcast 

ThoughtWorks - Business and technology topics

Agile Toolkit - topics relating to Agile development 

Udi Dahan - SOA podcast 

Endpoint.tv - New show hosted by Ron Jacobs on REST, SOA, web services, etc. 

http://pixel8.infragistics.com/default.aspx - UI, UX, RIA info

Finacial Physician

Railscast - webcasts on Ruby on Rails

Rails Podcast - podcasts on RoR

FLOSS - Weekly podcast on free and open source software

GiaOM - weekly show about technology and business 

Pragmatic Programmers - Interesting tech podcasts

Rails Envy - Regular podcast on Ruby on Rails

The Start Up Success Podcast - Name says it all...

This Week in Start Ups - Podcast on business and technology

Mobil Orchard - iPhone development topics

Stuff You Should Know - Variety of interesting topics from science to general knowledge....quite entertaining....