For an introduction to Java, there is ample choice. An excellent online tutorial can be found on java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial . As textbooks on C++ I recommend  [Lippman91], and for the more advanced reader  [Stroustrup98]. For an extensive introduction to STL, read  [STL].  [Coplien92] is the original introduction to idioms in C++. The by now classical book for patterns is  [GOF94]. Well worth reading are the many articles in the POPL proceedings,  [POPL1],  [POPL2] and  [POPL3].