Learning the Java programming language

I have read many books on Java when I first got into computer programming. Most of the books I read had good information, but none of it really made much sense. From these books I learned how to write some code, but when it came time for me to actual create a class or method on my own, I had no idea where to start. While searching Google I came across a free course offered by Stanford. I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to learn Java programming. This is a full course with about 25 videos, each about an hour long. They give real hands-on learning, and all the hand outs and documentation is also provided. I picked up Java very quickly with this course, because it teaches the actual methodology and how to think and design your application when you begin programming. You can find these videos by either going to the Stanford University website at www.stanford.edu or by searching YouTube using keywords like "Programming methodology Stanford". Once you have watched the videos and have a basic understanding of Java, read the Java APIs from the Sun website. Google also provides many results for learning Java. If you get stuck on a problem and absolutely cannot solve it yourself, there are many places to go for help, including the ##java channel on the freenode irc network. Good luck and happy programming!