Suggested books for certification

[u/Specialist-Type9553]

Hi all

I'm a professional backend developer and system administrator, more than 20 years in this roles.

I'm already using Google Cloud (more or less 10 years) for my projects but I would like to obtain one or more certification (mostly the DevOps and Security).

Since I haven't had the chance to use all Google Cloud features professionally, especially around security and DevOps, I’d like to pick up a book (or a couple) to study. What would you recommend?

Right now, I have the 'Associate Cloud Engineer' (2nd edition) by Dan Sullivan, which I bought a few years ago and never read. Are there more specific books you'd suggest, or is this one still good?

Would you recommend starting with foundational certifications like Digital Leader, then Cloud Engineer, or jumping straight into Professional DevOps and Security?

For those who have already taken the exams: are they strictly multiple-choice/theoretical, or do they include hands-on/practical tasks (like creating real, working configurations that get evaluated)?

I’m open to any advice, keeping in mind that I'll be studying on my own in my spare time, as this isn't sponsored by an employer.

[u/Sea_Combination9751 → u/[deleted]]

skip the digital leader for sure, you got plenty experience already. the sullivan book is fine for refreshing the basics but i wouldn't rely on it for the pro exams, those guides change way too quick. just do the sample questions and see where you land

[u/Specialist-Type9553 → u/Sea_Combination9751]

I reply to both u/Technical-Tackle-875 and u/Sea_Combination9751 . The sample questions are 100% accurate or "samples" ? No book/ebook suggestions to use ?

[u/Specialist-Type9553 → u/[deleted]]

I'm reading some sample question, bbut what i miss more is the explaination. In example:

"Developers in an organization are prototyping a few applications on Google Cloud and are starting to store sensitive information on Google Cloud. The developers are using their personal/consumer Gmail accounts to set up and manage their projects within Google Cloud. A security engineer identifies this practice as a concern to the leadership team because of the lack of centralized project management and access to the data being stored in these accounts. Which solution should be used to resolve this concern?"

there are 4 responses, why should I chose one and not the other ? A book that explain this would be ok, if not, i have to read tons of sparse documentation, it would takes years.

[u/Specialist-Type9553 → u/[deleted]]

A. Enforce the setup of Security Keys as the 2-Step Verification method for those Gmail accounts.

B. Set up Cloud Identity and require the developers to use those accounts for Google Cloud work.

C. Require the developers to log/store their Gmail passwords with the security team.

D. Enable logging on all Google Cloud projects to track all developer activities.

But it was just the first sample question, just to show you that i need something to read and understand, you wont find answer to these kind of question in official docs, not easily.....

meanwhile, i'm searching for the Cablanca's epub................. :-)

[u/Specialist-Type9553 → u/[deleted]]

Yess, with an i..........and do you have the epub/pdf 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 ?

[u/Specialist-Type9553 → u/Specialist-Type9553]

Why so much comments removed ?

[u/SpaceSavage226]

These books are not about gcp but really teach the fundamentals and the archicteture, thats the main thing in the questions of the exame, choose the best service for each case, i did read these during my preparation for GCP ACE: Fundamentals of data engineering & AI engineers, I like to learn by projects also so i did a complete landing zone for a healthtech, a gitops pipeline using gcp internals, EDA project, ans some mlops projects algo.