On Line References

All java related documentation can be found here.
Support and Documentation in general may be found at here
The most relevant docs are:

• Sun's Java Tutorial.
• "Thinking in Java", by Bruce Eckel
• "Java API" (JDK 1.3)
• The JAR manual.
• The javadoc manual.

 

Literature

A word about Java literature is in place: bookshelves are proliferated with books about Java. Many of them offer tempting deals like "Learn Java in 2 Hours", "The Fastest and Easiest Course in Java" etc. Beware: good beginner books about Java are rare. The small list we have compiled here contains the "bread and butter" of beginners in Java  - The Java Tutorial by Campione and Walrath - and the course book.  You always have the right to consult other books, at your own risk. Should you be conviced (after completing the course) that the book you used is THE next book for beginners in Java, let us know about it.
 
 

Course book: John Lewis & William Loftus, "Java Software Solutions - Foundations of Program Design", Addison-Wesley, 1997.
Mary Campione, Kathy Walrath, "The Java Tutorial",  Can be found online at  http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/ An excellent tutorial which includes a lot of programming examples, and the real spirit of Java.
Ken Arnold, James Gosling, "The Java Programming Language".  An advanced book intended for students who wish to plunge into the formal details and the advanced aspects of the Java programming language.  The Java Series is yet another good source of advanced books.