The starting point for all Java links is Sun’s Java site:
Get started by visiting this site and downloading the latest J2SE development kit (JDK) and application programmer interface (API) documentation. Be sure to bookmark the index of this documentation in your browser. Also be sure to update your PATH environment variable to include the Java bin directory.
There are lots of books on programming in Java. There are also lots of online tutorials. Sun provides a wonderful online tutorial located at:
java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial
Get into the habit of following the Java style conventions described at:
java.sun.com/docs/codeconv/html/CodeConvTOC.doc.html
Also get in the habit of documenting classes and methods following the conventions required by the javadoc tool. The home page for this tool is located at:
java.sun.com/j2se/javadoc/index.jsp
For the hard core the full specification of Java can be found at:
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/
This is a bit dense. I think readers craving this type of information can get all they need from Peter Sestcroft’s little book Java Precisely.
There are several options for development environments. The simplest is to use Text Pad. This is simply a decent text editor that knows how to compile and run Java programs. Download it from:
A good option for beginners is BlueJ, which can be downloaded from:
More advanced programmers might prefer a full featured integrated development environment (IDE). Sun provides Netbeans, which can be downloaded with the JDK.
Another great IDE is Eclipse, which can be downloaded from:
There are plenty of Java utilities available on the web. A starting point might be the utilities I provide at:
http://www.mathcs.sjsu.edu/faculty/pearce/jutil/