Murach's Java Programming, 4th edition

Developers often tell me they wish they'd found our Java book first, before spending time and money on others. Here are a few of the reasons why I believe this book will work equally well for you:
This book teaches the core Java skills that you need to work with objects, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), files, and databases.
It gives you a fast start! In fact, by the end of chapter 6, you'll be developing bulletproof Java applications with business classes and objects.
It now shows you how to use the NetBeans IDE to code, test, and debug Java applications. This easy-to-use tool boosts your productivity and is widely used in industry. So you'll be working like a pro right from the start.
It takes the mystery out of object-oriented programming by using real-world applications (instead of objects like cats and dogs) to demonstrate key concepts like inheritance, interfaces, and polymorphism.
It covers the best new features of Java SE 7, like the try-with-resources statement, the diamond operator (<>), and a new and improved file system API (known as NIO2).
In the GUI section, it shows you how to use the NetBeans GUI builder to design a form and generate the code needed to display it. As a result, this section has you focus on critical coding skills, such as handling events, instead of on code that should be generated.
Because business applications routinely handle data, it shows how to work with text files, binary files, XML files, and databases (using JDBC).
It now has a chapter on deploying applications by using executable JAR files or Java Web Start.
All the skills are presented in our standard, "paired-pages" format, to save you time on both training and reference.

New links added. Quality now NOT reduced