i was able to build a miniclip-type sprite based game after two semesters of college java, i think it's a great starting language. it forces you to learn object-oriented programming from the beginning, and a lot of rules (such as variable typing and syntax) are enforced strictly by the compiler...i think this is good for a beginner because it forces you to make sure you get your code exactly right every time (regarding the rules of syntax at least - that's not to say that any program will work right the first time!)
After being taught Java by a professor, I'm teaching myself BASH scripting and Perl - two less-strictly enforced languages - from some books, and I'm so grateful to have started with a strong foundation on a strongly typed language. learning by myself on something like Perl, in which objects are secondary (compared to java) and variables don't have to be typed would have been way more difficult and confusing.
Java is more complicated to grasp at first than some of the simpler languages (i can speak for BASH and Perl), but ultimately it gives you a better understanding of the concepts that will carry you far. Plus it's not too hard to get to the point in Java where you can make really cool programs.
also, may i recommend Smultron as a text editor? It color-codes text for you in a lot of different languages (including java), which makes it way easier to catch mistakes and follow your code. http://smultron.sourceforge.net/
Hope that helped.
After being taught Java by a professor, I'm teaching myself BASH scripting and Perl - two less-strictly enforced languages - from some books, and I'm so grateful to have started with a strong foundation on a strongly typed language. learning by myself on something like Perl, in which objects are secondary (compared to java) and variables don't have to be typed would have been way more difficult and confusing.
Java is more complicated to grasp at first than some of the simpler languages (i can speak for BASH and Perl), but ultimately it gives you a better understanding of the concepts that will carry you far. Plus it's not too hard to get to the point in Java where you can make really cool programs.
For now you should be fine with a text editor and javac and java from the terminal to compile and run programs. Xcode, netbeans, and eclipse are all IDEs that can be used, but I recommend against them while you are getting started
also, may i recommend Smultron as a text editor? It color-codes text for you in a lot of different languages (including java), which makes it way easier to catch mistakes and follow your code. http://smultron.sourceforge.net/
Hope that helped.