Sword

Swords are weapons in Minecraft used to kill mobs faster than by hand. Swords can be rare drops from mobs: Zombies (Iron Sword), Zombie Pigmen(Gold Sword) and Wither Skeletons (Stone Sword).

Crafting
Note: N stands for Nothing, S stands for Stick, WP stands for Wooden Planks, C stands for Cobblestone, II stands for Iron Ingot, GI stands for Gold Ingot, D stands for Diamond

Wooden Sword
In a crafting table;Top Row: N,WP,N. Middle Row: N,WP,N. Bottom Row: N,S,N.

Stone Sword
In a crafting table; Top Row: N,C,N. Middle Row: N,C,N. Bottom Row: N,S,N.

Iron Sword
In a crafting table; Top Row: N,II,N. Middle Row: N,II,N. Bottom Row: N,S,N.

Gold Sword
In a crafting table; Top Row: N,GI,N. Middle Row: N,GI,N. Bottom Row: N,S,N.

Diamond Sword
In a crafting table; Top Row: N,D,N. Middle Row: N,D,N. Bottom Row: N,S,N.

Combat
Swords can be used to kill mobs easier than by hand, and are used to block. Blocking is right-clicking, and attacking is left-clicking. If you get killed by a player with a sword, and the player has renamed the sword in an anvil, the swords name will show up in death messages. Swords do not break blocks anymore in Creative as of 1.6, so you can now easily kill mobs without making a mess.