Thanks for that ComputerJy.
At this particular time I’m trying to concentrate on converting my existing VB6 apps – which are desktop based - so I'm trying to concentrate on the various aspects of Java that will be immediately useful.
The focus is on ballistic calculations and graphical representation of same. The calculations involved are fairly intensive (take a lot of machine cycles) and, since Java is interpreted, I’m a little concerned that it may not be up to the job.
Any thoughts?
I’ve downloaded the Netbeans IDE and am exploring it – with the help of the Sun documentation – at the moment. I take your point about learning from a book rather than on-line tutorials. Any suggestions?

TIA

Dave