Nicole Smith

I'm almost done taking my first java class and would like to buy a book about learning java that is straightforward and easy to understand, hopefully w/alot of code examples. Does anyone know a good one? Also, how about more of a reference book for java?
Thanks alot!

how do I clear an applet window when I'm doing continual input? It just keeps writing over itself.
import javax.swing.*; //import javax.swing package
import java.text.DecimalFormat; //import DecimalFormat for spaces after decimal
import java.awt.Graphics; //import class Graphics
i
public class assign4test extends JApplet
{
public void paint(Graphics g)
{

String empName, rate, hours;
int loopControl;
double hrRate, totalPay, hrs;
DecimalFormat twoDigits = new DecimalFormat("0.00");
loopControl = 0;
while(loopControl != 1)
{
empName = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Enter employee name: ");
hours = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Enter number of hours worked: ");
rate = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Enter hourly rate: ");
hrs = Double.parseDouble(hours);
hrRate = Double.parseDouble(rate);
if (hrs <= 40)
{
totalPay = hrs * hrRate;
}
else
{
totalPay = (40 * hrRate) + ((hrs - 40) * (hrRate * 1.5));
}
g.drawString("Employee name - " + empName, 25, 25);
g.drawString("Gross pay - $" + twoDigits.format(totalPay), 25, 45);

loopControl = JOptionPane.showConfirmDialog(null, "Input another employee?", "Get user response", JOptionPane.YES_NO_OPTION);
When I click on Yes for input another employee, the first info is staying on the applet and the next info is just written over it. How do I clear it between each set of inputted info?

I figured out something- I had put:
DecimalFormat twoDigits = new DecimalFormat("0.00");
in a while loop, so I moved it to outside the while loop but still in the paint method and now it works, go figure.

After inputting a string number with:
hours = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Enter hours worked: ");
and changing to a double:
hrs = Double.parseDouble(hours);
how can I display the number with two numbers to the right of the decimal point (i.e. 48.75)? I was using DecimalFormat:
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Number of hours is :" + twoDigits.format(hrs), JOptionPane.INFORMATION_MESSAGE);
when it was an application, but am having trouble when doing it as an applet with g.drawString .