text: My suggestion for learning java is always the same... pick up a copy of Teach Yourself Java in 21 days, and code every program in there. Mess with them. Change them to do different things. Combine a bunch of them to do something cool. You'll learn what you're doing, and then you'll be able to do what you want to do.\n\nThe current version is several editions removed from what I learned on, but it did great things for me when I was learning.\n\nCheck around for the best price. Since the current version has been out for a while, you might be able to find it used somewhere, too.