Reading Java is one thing, doing it is another......

Folks, I need some advice, and if anybody can make some suggestions, that'd be greatly appreciated.
Well, I've been reading a lot of Java, and following the examples in the books. But the thing is, I don't feel as though I have 'what it takes' to write programs (other than 'hello world'). So, I was wondering, can anybody recomend a good Java book, which has LOTS of GOOD worked examples in them - examples which are fully explained. I have heard of the
Java Cookbook', but I think that's just for specific Java problems.
Cheers in Advance.

Reading well explained examples is helpful, but doing is learning. Head on over to The Cattle Drive and start work on the assignments. The assignments start out easy and gradually progress to more complicated/involved solutions. As you go through them, your confidence is sure to increase.
And you may appreciate browsing through the typical list of free on-line Java tutorials and books that I have found useful that I've posted before:

Sun's Java Tutorial

Introduction to Computer Science using Java by Bradley Kjell - Lots of decent, introductory explanations and examples.

Introduction to Programming Using Java by David J. Eck

Dick Baldwin's Java Programming Tutorials

Interactive Programming In Java by Lynn Andrea Stein -- This book follows an object first approach to understanding object-oriented programming. Take a look at the website for more information on the approach that the book takes.

Bruce Eckel's Thinking In Java -- Bruce Eckel assumes that the reader has a background/familiarity in C, though I've never studied a different language and had no problem understanding this book when I began to study Java.

Originally posted by Dirk Schreckmann:
Reading well explained examples is helpful, but doing is learning. Head on over to The Cattle Drive and start work on the assignments. The assignments start out easy and gradually progress to more complicated/involved solutions. As you go through them, your confidence is sure to increase.

Cheers, thanks. This looks good.

Thing is, where are the solutions to the problems on the cattledrive?

In your head waiting to be pulled out

You write your proposed solution, and send it in, and you get back a bunch of nitpicks about how to make it better.
By the time that you pass each assignment you will be significantly better.