With regards to Java itself, definitely check out Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Java (http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Java-Edition-Bruce-Eckel/dp/0131872486/ref=sr_1

With regards to Java itself, definitely check out Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Java (http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Java-Edition-Bruce-Eckel/dp/0131872486/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339056301&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Java-Edition-Bruce-Eckel/dp/0...). The 4th edition is the most current. However, previous ones are available for free here: http://www.mindviewinc.com/Books/downloads.html http://www.mindviewinc.com/Books/downloads.html. Another good introductory text is Head First Java (http://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Java-2nd-Edition/dp/0596009208/ref=pd_sim_b_1 http://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Java-2nd-Edition/dp/0596009...). In terms of frameworks, I would recommend checking out Play! (http://www.playframework.org/ http://www.playframework.org/) for web applications. Spring is a bit more enterprise-y, it is also a good option (http://www.springsource.com/ http://www.springsource.com/).