← certdrill.dev Home

IT Certification Study Materials Guide

Recommended textbooks and online courses for each exam, organized by topic.

📢 Advertising / Affiliate disclosure: This page contains links from the Amazon.co.jp Associates Program and other affiliate programs. Purchases made through these links help fund the running of this site. See Advertising & Affiliate Disclosure for details.

🪪 IT Passport Exam (iPass)

An entry-level Japanese national IT exam covering the strategy, management, and technology fields broadly.

BOOK

IT Passport comprehensive textbook

Illustration-heavy coverage of all three fields, ideal for beginners starting from terminology.

PAST EXAMS

IT Passport past-question collection

Past-question practice drives the score; great for getting used to the CBT format.

🛡️ Information Security Management Exam (SG)

A Japanese national exam on managing and operating information security: threats, controls, risk management, and related laws.

BOOK

Information Security Management comprehensive textbook

Illustrated coverage of the CIA triad, risk management, threats/controls, and laws for both exam sections.

PAST EXAMS

Information Security Management past-question collection

Great for getting used to the CBT format and turning frequent topics into reliable points.

🔐 Registered Information Security Specialist (SC)

An advanced Japanese national security qualification covering cryptography, authentication, attacks, secure development, and incident response.

BOOK

SC comprehensive textbook

Covers PKI, TLS, attack techniques, and secure development, with afternoon descriptive-question practice.

PAST EXAMS

SC past-question collection

Ideal for practicing the afternoon descriptive and case-study questions.

🌐 Network Specialist (NW)

Advanced networking: TCP/IP, routing, switching, DNS, VPN, and wireless, studied systematically.

BOOK

Network Specialist textbook

Covers protocols, design, and security with clear diagrams of how things work.

PAST EXAMS

Network Specialist past-question collection

Great for getting used to the long-text and topology questions in the afternoon exam.

🗄️ Database Specialist (DB)

The relational model, normalization, SQL, transactions, E-R design, performance, and recovery, studied systematically.

BOOK

Database Specialist textbook

Covers normalization, conceptual design, SQL, and transactions, with afternoon design-question practice.

PAST EXAMS

Database Specialist past-question collection

Ideal for practicing the afternoon design and SQL descriptive questions.

🐧 Linux Basics / LPIC / LinuC

Solid books for learning Linux commands, the file system, process management and networking step by step.

BOOK

Introductory Linux textbooks

Build a foundation in shell commands, permissions and everyday Linux operations.

ONLINE COURSE

Linux / LPIC hands-on course

Practice commands and server basics hands-on with a video course.

🟢 Fundamental Information Technology Engineer (FE)

Entry-level Japanese national IT exam covering algorithms, AI, cloud and IoT fundamentals.

BOOK

FE comprehensive textbook

Covers the full FE syllabus including the updated algorithm and modern-tech topics.

🔵 Applied Information Technology Engineer (AP)

Covers databases, networking, security and written afternoon questions — a challenging step up from FE.

BOOK

AP comprehensive textbook

One book covering both the morning and afternoon AP syllabus.

ONLINE COURSE

AP exam preparation course

Reinforce the topics that are hardest to self-study, such as DB, networking and security.

📋 Project Manager Exam (PM)

Advanced exam on WBS, EVM, risk and procurement management, popular with experienced practitioners.

BOOK

PM exam textbook & past questions

Past-question practice plus essay preparation are the keys to passing this advanced exam.

📊 IT Strategist Exam (ST)

Top-tier exam on BCP, EA, BPR and IT-investment evaluation from a management perspective.

BOOK

ST exam textbook & essay preparation

Combine past-question practice with an essay-preparation book for the best chance of passing.

☁️ AWS Certifications

Essential cloud certifications — from CLF (Cloud Practitioner) to SAA, SAP and DVA.

BOOK

AWS certification textbook (SAA-C03)

Covers the full SAA-C03 syllabus with diagrams and end-of-chapter exercises.

ONLINE COURSE

AWS SAA / CLF hands-on course

Hands-on courses where you actually operate AWS while you learn.

🔷 Microsoft Azure Certifications

From AZ-900 (Fundamentals) up to AZ-104 and AZ-204 — the standard Azure certification path.

BOOK

Azure AZ-900 study guide

A beginner-friendly book covering cloud basics and core Azure services.

ONLINE COURSE

Azure AZ-900 / AZ-104 course

Pair a Udemy course with the free Microsoft Learn content for efficient study.

🧱 Terraform / IaC (HashiCorp Certified)

Core workflow, HCL, state, providers and modules — standard materials for Terraform Associate (004) and real-world IaC.

BOOK

Terraform practical guide

Learn HCL, state management and module design hands-on, from the basics to real projects.

BOOK

Terraform Associate (004) exam prep

Organizes the core workflow and HCP Terraform along the exam objectives.

ONLINE COURSE

Terraform hands-on course

Hands-on Terraform courses where you actually apply changes to the cloud as you learn IaC.

🐳 Docker (Practical)

Learn Dockerfile, Compose, image management, volumes and reproducible dev environments with a practical focus.

BOOK

Docker practical guide

For those who want to cover container basics, Dockerfile, Compose and operations in one book.

ONLINE COURSE

Docker / Docker Compose hands-on course

Run containers yourself while practicing dev-environment setup and image operations.

⎈ Kubernetes / Container Technology

Standard materials for Kubernetes certifications (CKA, CKAD, CKS) and cluster operations.

BOOK

Kubernetes complete guide

Covers Deployment, Service, ConfigMap, Ingress and RBAC in a practical way.

ONLINE COURSE

CKA / CKAD hands-on course

Udemy offers strong hands-on courses for the practical Kubernetes exams.

🐘 PHP (Practical)

Review PHP 8, Composer, types, exception handling and the basics of web application development.

BOOK

Practical PHP 8 introduction

For checking modern PHP syntax, Composer, error handling and the web-dev foundation.

ONLINE COURSE

PHP practical hands-on course

Quickly review forms, DB integration and Composer usage for everyday work.

🧱 Laravel (Practical)

Learn routing, Eloquent, migrations, authentication and design patterns from a practical angle.

BOOK

Practical Laravel introduction

Covers Laravel structure, DB operations, testing and maintainable implementation step by step.

ONLINE COURSE

Laravel hands-on course

Learn CRUD, authentication, validation and Eloquent by building as you go.

💡 How to choose your materials

Disclaimer: The books and materials listed here were independently selected by the certdrill.dev editorial team. certdrill.dev is not affiliated with any exam body, publisher or service provider. Book contents and exam scopes may change with revisions — please check each official site for the latest information.
※ Amazon links participate in the Amazon.co.jp Associates Program (Associate ID: certdrill07-22).