Reddit mentions of Starting Out with Java: From Control Structures through Data Structures

Here's the book I used to learn Java. The introductory chapters may be on the simple side, but it really teaches you how to think in Java and Object-Oriented Programming. This is definitely only an introductory book, but it is an exceptionally clear and well-written one that you can fly through very quickly. Once you've completed this book, Sun's tutorials and more advanced Java guides will become accessible to you, especially with your prior programming experience. Allow me to stress that this book is incredible and I have never seen a Java textbook (or practically any textbook) so well-constructed. Also, at $40 used, it won't break the bank. Good luck, and I hope you pick up this text, no matter which language you choose to learn!

Well, I learned Java programming from the ground up during my computer science classes at community college (I should note it's a pretty decent community college). Decent as it is, most of my learning was done through the use of textbooks, with the teachers mostly just giving assistance when you hit a bump in the road. With the internet though, you really don't need teachers, just forums to post at (or reddit, or IRC).

The first class was taught using this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Java-Programming-Joyce-Farrell/dp/032459951X

2nd class:

http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Out-Java-Control-Structures/dp/0321421027/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331159174&sr=1-4

3rd class:

http://www.amazon.com/Data-Structures-Algorithms-Java-2nd/dp/0672324539/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331159206&sr=1-1

The first two books cover a lot of the same material, so if you choose to go the textbook route I would just choose one of those (as you can tell from the reviews, the 2nd book is probably the better choice although the 1st book isn't as bad as the reviews would lead one to believe). There may be better starter books, but these were what were recommended at my school and they worked well enough for me. Whatever you choose to learn the basics with, I highly recommend the Data Structures and Algorithms textbook afterwards.

Good luck!