Advice on learning Java

[robertmazzo]

Hello,
I'm a developer coming off of an ASP.NET 2.0/C# web project. I need to learn Java for a future project that I may need to be involved in at some level.
I realize the similarities between Java and C# are many, but what I need is some direction as to some good online learning websites.
I recently downloaded the NetBeans IDE, but I don't want to get stuck with one IDE; rather, I need to learn the technology. I also need to build some small sample apps for learning purposes.

Can anyone offer advice as to good website or good IDE's ?

thanks and have a good day.
Sincerely,
Bob
New York

[piratepops]

Most folks I know use Eclipse professionally, but if you want to learn the language, without dealing with the quirks of the IDE, I would recommend just using a plain text editor. Notepad++ is particularly good, as it supports color coding of text and line numbering. I've also heard good things about Forte, although I've never used it. As for a good beginning tutorial site on Java just as a language, this is pretty old, but it's also pretty good:

http://chortle.ccsu.ctstateu.edu/CS151/cs151java.html

And then, of course, the old standby:

http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/

[robertmazzo]

Thanks for the advice. I'll check out those links.
Bob