sun jdk vs java-1.6.0-openjdk

[Jonathan Beatty]

 >    However, I am just now beginning Java programming and I am wondering 
> if there is any substantial difference between java-1.6.0-openjdk and 
> the sun jdk.

As a beginning programmer, no. The differences are highly technical in nature and do not show themselves early on in your endeavor as a programmer. There is a noticeable performance loss on older platforms, but that's not true on semi-modern machines, I find.

-- 
Jonathan Beatty <jonathan.beatty at gallaudet.edu>