Creating a Java program that can interact with a web page

Hey, I know this is a broad question, I don't really expect a complete answer, but a point in the direction of a good resource would be really helpful.

I'm a college student with a few semesters of java programming under my belt. I recently saw a java program that logs onto an account of an online game, and actually plays some aspects of the game for you.

This intrigued me, because in my classes I've never learned how java programs can interact with web pages or php forms, and I set off to learn how it works, and if I could even replicate some of its uses.

The problem I ran into, however, was that I did't have the correct vocabulary to describe what I want to do in a google search. I didn't know enough to learn what I needed to know! All I ended up learning was how to open a webpage through internet explorer, and how to display a webpage's html in a console, neither very useful for the task.

So I guess my question is, where should I start reading if I want to learn how to create a program that can interact with javascript/php/html forms on a webpage, navigate through links, and get info about a web page and store to a text file.


If you think this is easier than I'm making it, and could answer concisely, I'd be happy to post more info about my specific needs. If this is far harder than I'm making it, help me figure out what I need to know before I can do this! My question most likely reveals some ignorance about how this kind of interaction works, if so please point it out to me.
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