Hey guys, I just joined the forum today, and I've already been learning a lot just by reading some random posts. I'm learning programming in java, and I need some input. I've tried to do some independent research, but to me it just seems there is a bunch of libraries which contain classes that make game construction convenient and abstracts lower-level functions(is such a library what is meant by a "game engine"?). My question is this: are there certain libraries which are easier to use for someone who has less experience with game programming? If so, could someone point me towards this perhaps simpler library? I know that I can trust an answer from one of you better than I could discern whether or not any guy on the internet has an opinion worth listening to. Sorry for the noob question! Thanks in advance

You might find Slick something worth taking a look at. I've written a simple tetris game with it before and it was quite nice.

There are also some tutorials in the Slick Wiki.

Thanks!