My $0.02: I cut my teeth on Liang's Introduction to Java Programming (9th edition). I think it's a fantastic book. The course I was taking only covered the firs

My $0.02: I cut my teeth on Liang's Introduction to Java Programming (9th edition). I think it's a fantastic book. The course I was taking only covered the first few chapters, but I ended up working my way through the whole book. I recall all the exercises nailing that sweet spot of being within reach with what I knew, but still challenging and rewarding. There's some stuff that felt dated even for its time. For instance, GUI programming with AWT / Swing. It's super disappointing to spin up a GUI and have it look... well, like Java GUIs do. As a student, it can be a bit demoralizing to spend a bunch of time and effort only to end up with something that looks so stupid and unfinished. On the whole, though. Great book.