Been out of Java for 3 months, what did I miss?

Question

Hey I stopped doing Java for a couple of months, and I plan to get back in it, im gonna buy a book soon, what do you guys think I should focus on when Im looking? Has anything big come up in Java Game design recently?

Answer 1

Also, I plan to start doing some multiplayer games now
as opposed to my old create an AI and the human goes
against the computer style, what should I know about
doing multiplayer stuff, and where can I find info?I hate to give a flippant answer, but the best things to do are...
a) search/browse these very forums (and read the posts); just because people haven't responded to a topic doesn't mean there's nothing useful in them. In the past two, three weeks, we've discussed topics ranging from synchronizing maps to message passing to security, that is, preventing people from hacking the clients to cheat.
b) don't worry about what you have to know and instead, think of some ideas for games that YOU would enjoy playing. Once you have a rough sketch in place for what you'd like do to, then, and this is crucial, think of ways you might be able to exploit it.
For example, if you create a multiplayer RPG, one of the obvious ways to exploit it is to allow the players to create their own characters, roll their own dice and so on. There are dozens of solutions that may work, but only you can decide which ones best fit your ideas.
When you have a specific question like "I need to do this and that and these create latency. How can I prevent that?" then we are here and happy to help. :)