I’ve been on the forums for a while now reading up on various topics. Certainly the most useful forum I’ve ever come across and it looks like it’s a close/nice community. So I’m just saying hi as my first post!
Hey! 
Welcome to JGO!
Anticipatig the library question, I recommend libgdx.
I’ve been reading up on a few. So far I’ve just been coding in naked Java :D.
Slick2D sounds like a good option but I’m open to anything!
Slick2d is a bit oudated and won’t provide the support for porting to android html5 and ios, so I reall wouldn’t recommend it over libgdx.
Why it is becoming outdated, it is still perfectly usable for personal projects, and has a lower learning curve. And not everyone cares to have their game on every platform ever.
What gives you the impression that libgdx is is harder to learn than slick? And by iudated I mean that it’s not mantained. Let me just say this for you - the creator of slick uses libgdx nowadays.
I haven’t even looked at libgdx yet. I’m sure I’ll get a chance to look more into it. Thanks for the opinions anyway.
The framework used is but a hammer anyway, its in the actual creation of a game where the real fun is.
As an exercise I tend to make juniors I’m training in Java development to create a command prompt hangman, polished as far as that is possible (neat textual output, using an actual word dictionary file, creating a neatly packaged application which can be executed with a single click, etc.). Its amazing to see their faces light up when people in the company start to seriously play it and provide positive feedback and even enhancement requests.
Yeah I know. I’ve been coding in pure Java for ages though. My friend’s been bugging me to use a library and i really should be using one by now.
It’s awesome to hear new people getting into programming and enjoying it! 
Let me guess: by pure Java you mean Java2D and that’s why you instantly liked the idea of using Slick, right?
Yeah, I mean without downloading any libraries or anything. I’m still learning. I liked the idea of Slick because my friend recommended it.