Well, I found a tutorial on properties and I think I will look at that
first.

public int getMyValue() {
   return _myValue;
}
public void setMyValue(int value) {
   _myValue = value;
}

   There's no explicit language support for properties. They're implemented
as plain old methods in Java, usually named getMyValue() and
setMyValue(int).

   - Oliver

What's the benefit of making an instance variable private if you're going
to provide both a public getter and a public setter?

The way you'd to that in Java is

       public int myValue = INITIALVALUE;

However if you wanted a value which could be publicly read but could not be
publicly written you'd use

       private int myValue = INITIALVALUE;

       public int getMyValue()
       {
           return myValue;
       }

and if you wanted one that could be publicly written but not publicly read,
you'd have

       private int myOtherValue = INITIALVALUE;

       public void setMyOtherValue( int i)
       {
           myOtherValue = i;
       }

You donot have any properties kind of stuff in java. You have to use
normal getters and setters . It goes something like this
private int value;
public int getMyValue();
public void setMyValue(int val);

OK, I am back.  I completely under the getter/setter concept.  However,
what I am trying to do is create a property that can be used to pass
values between forms (JFrames).

If I had two JFrames, one being say, employee basic information
(Form1), and the other containing extended info about the same employee
(Form2).  When I open Form1 to an employee record, then, in Visual
Studio for example, I would then create a property in Form2 like so:

        private string _employeeID;
        public int employeeID
        {
            get { return _employeeID; }
            set { _employeeID= value; }
        }

In Form1 I set the Form2 property when the form instance is created as
follows:

Form2 frm = new Form2();
frm.employeeID = xxxxx

Finally, in Form2, I can use the _employeeID value to populate the form
with data.

Most of my apps I do are based off of a database design or concept, and
a significant part of the model for my applications start there (at the
database).  Anyone know of any good tutorials or books regarding
database-cebtric application design using Java?

Thanks again.