Useful Links

Netbeans 8.0 IDE	This is my primary tool for coding in Java.  I also use it to edit XML.
DevFaqWrapperModules	Despite the cryptic title, this is a very valuable lesson on linking jar files with their NetBeans Platform Wrapper Module. Using Method 2 saves a lot of time and heartache. A couple simple changes in the build and properties files associate with your POJO project and the associate wrapper automate the process of keeping the two in sync.
NetBeans CRUD Application Tutorial	Great place to start if you're building a database application.
Loosely Coupled Reloadable Capabilities for CRUD Applications	Go here after you get the basics on CRUD applications. This is the first in a four part series that helps divide the layers of your application into a more modular approach.
MySQL 5.6	My database.  I downloaded this using the Windows installer.  It makes the process easier and includes installations for all the related MySQL Utilities including Workbench.
MySQL Workbench 6.1	Simple GUI tool for writing SQL for MySQL and for managing the database.
Apache Log4j 2	Allows you to add robust logging features into your Java code.  Once installed and configured, adding logging statements into your code is very simple.  Supports multiple levels of logging so you can easily control how much is logged by making changes to configuration files.  As I described in my post, you only need to add the files log4j-2.0-api-{version}.jar and log4j-2.0-core-{version}.jar to your classpath in order to make use of the utility.  In addition to Log4j, Apache Logging Services exist for C++ and PHP.