doesn’t slick2D use LWJGL? So essentially they are the same? now you have got me confused…should I use LWJGL or use Slick2D? My game is purely 2D but if LWJGL is better why not just use that?
yes Slick2D uses LWJGL, however LWJGL is much more closer to the metal and essentially just a minimal layer to OpenGL, OpenAL, etc. You will have to write a lot of code to clone an api similar to Java2D.
Slick2D however is a small library which wraps LWJGL to give you an API very similar to Java2D and does all the hard work for you like loading textures, sounds, basic game framework, timers, fonts, etc (which you would have to write code for manually if you used LWJGL directly). So using it will save you alot of time and at the same time be much easier to pick up if you already know Java2D.
alright cool so looks like I will try and use Slick2D. thanks kapta 
LWJGL has its own high resolution timer so has much more accurate timing.
It got a resolution of 1msec, which you can’t really call “high resolution”. However, a 1msec resolution is all you need for games. All Quake engine based games used such a timer for example.
A temporal 0-0.5msec jitter just isn’t noticeable for humans. We can’t even tell the difference between 100 and 120fps (vsynced @100/120hz respectively) and that’s a much bigger difference.
What I also like about those 1msec timers is their robustness. They always work perfectly on any hardware which doesn’t predate Windows 95.
ok i been looking at Slick2D. question though…is ALL rendering in slick2D done with LWJGL or is it done with Java2D unless i tell it to use LWJGL?
Its all done with LWJGL.
awesome! just looking through the javadocs slick looks amazing. simplifies everything about making a game. wish i had found it sooner!