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I am just starting to learn Java and I have a lot of experience with C++, particularly object oriented programming in C++.

I hope this question isn't too narrow but I'm wanting to know suggestions for a good API to begin using with Java; I'm looking for something that has the capability to create simple standard GUI's and perhaps something that would be useful when making a game. I already know quite a bit of OpenGL, but I'm looking for something different.

Thanks in advance

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See the Java tutorials, particularly the Swing tutorial –  DNA Feb 29 '12 at 23:55

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Swing is probably the most common Java GUI library, so you can start with that. You will find that it's higher level than OpenGL in C++.

Java has a large standard library(like C++'s STL), so getting familiar with that would also be very useful.

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If you start from scratch it would make sense to also check Java FX 2.0 which is meant to become the new GUI standard in Java and looks more modern than Swing (that is obviously very subjective!).

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This is non-standard, but if you want to make your own music for your game, the JFugue API is fun and well-documented.

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