Adventures of a Web Programmer in Applicationland (or, Practical Java Help Needed)
<p>Alright, so I am a compsci college student who, being in college, has not branched out towards a certain specialization yet. I have been programming since I was a young teenager, certainly know my stuff - well versed in about eight different languages as well as compsci theory, etc. In addition, I have about four years of web programming (PHP mainly) behind me, having started freelance work in that area since web 2.0 became hot.</p>

<p>My summer job now as an intern of sorts is to write an <em>application</em> for an industrial, not software-related startup. This application will be used to manage production lines and logistics flow. I have chosen Java for my language because I don't want to shoot myself in the foot.</p>

<p>I am well-versed in the syntax of Java, in its data structures, language theory, and such, but I have absolutely no idea where to start. I can picture the program perfectly in my mind, I understand the problem clearly and got the solution's theory nailed. Namely, I have no idea what libraries to use, and am scared that they won't be well documented.</p>

<p>Here are some general outlines of what I'm going to make:</p>

<ul>
<li>Two applications, one server and one
client (of which there will be many
copies).</li>
<li>The server and clients obviously will
communicate via (I don't know).</li>
<li>Both the server and the client
software will have GUIs.</li>
<li>The server software will have to
query a MySQL database.</li>
<li>The client software must be 'live' in
the sense that the GUI updates when a
change is made to the database. This
is one of the reasons why it can't be
a web application.</li>
</ul>

<p>I'm not even sure if a framework is right for me or not. I've used MVC tons of times in my web freelance work, but I dont know how that will translate for desktop applications.</p>

<p>In short, I'm looking for the right libraries for the job, as well as advice on whether or not I should use a framework (and if so, which). Thanks.</p>
