Thread: Looking for information about where to get started

I'm not completely new to programming. I am familiar with PHP/MySQL, Javascript, and HTML/CSS, and I use them for personal projects. I'm aiming to pick up Java (along with C# and Python) in order to get some useful things to put on my resume. I've been looking around online for a good Java book or an online course, but nothing has really grabbed me yet.

In the case of online courses, I keep checking the websites in Google using "is ___ any good?" and it comes up with reddit results where everyone says it's terrible.

In the case of books, I want to make sure the book I get is current. I know that Java has changed drastically at several times in its lifespan, to the extent that code written in 2000 might not even compile today? How recent should a book be? Some of the most-reviewed books I've made note of on Amazon:
"Effective Java", by Joshua Bloch: The reviews suggest it's not appropriate for people who haven't already dipped into the language.
"Head First Java, 2nd Edition", by Kathy Sierra & Bert Bates: This has more reviews than any other Java book on Amazon, but it's from 2005 and for Java 5.0. Is this even applicable to where Java is now?

Finally, I know that there are some IDEs that have always been popular for Java: Eclipse is mentioned a lot, and my university has Dr Java installed on pretty much all the public computers. I'm really used to using Notepad++ for all my coding and I like its simplicity. Do I need a dedicated Java IDE or can I keep using Notepad++?