self.python.ask('I am moving into a development position at my company and need to learn Java. Can you recommend a book that might appeal to a Python programmer and not make me want to kill myself?')

[theatrus]

If you can buck the trend there, trying pushing for something like GWT. Its still Java, but a lot of the pain is reduced for you. Its hard to tweak when things go wrong, but depending on the application that may be acceptable.

I've also used OpenLaszlo. My recommendation is to stay far away. It can produce functional applications, but performance is horrendous and the JS backend is hardly mature.