Python is a great language to start, and even stay with. I've taught a few people to program in python. Very simple syntax, well supported, you'll love it and it will make a lot of sense. Start with python.org to download and learn.
What programming language should I start with?
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Re: What programming language should I start with?
#42Python is certainly a good one (ruby as well) - "Learning Python" by Lutz & Ascher I think is suitable for someone like you (and it is not a bad reference as you get more experienced). Ruby can be a bit stranger, people like to be "clever" in ruby, and then there is the hype. As for mind expanding, I like scheme - as taught by MIT in the SICP series (you can watch the videos on google video). It would be interesting…
Alright, as much as I love Haskell, do not attempt to learn it as a first language. Repeat: do not attempt to learn it as a first language. That's like learning to swim by taking a submarine into the Marianas Trench and then opening the airlock.
Re: What programming language should I start with?
#43Python is a great language to start, and even stay with. I've taught a few people to program in python. Very simple syntax, well supported, you'll love it and it will make a lot of sense. Start with python.org to download and learn.
...and also check out the new documentation for the coming versions of Python 2.6/ Py3k. Soon coming to a screen near you directly from Bavaria - Lederhosen and beer not included ;)
Re: What programming language should I start with?
#44Re: What programming language should I start with?
#45Python is a great language to start, and even stay with. I've taught a few people to program in python. Very simple syntax, well supported, you'll love it and it will make a lot of sense. Start with python.org to download and learn.
...and also check out the new documentation for the coming versions of Python 2.6/ Py3k. Soon coming to a screen near you directly from Bavaria - Lederhosen and beer not included ;) http://docs.python.org/dev/
Why would he want to do that as a newbie?
Re: What programming language should I start with?
#46Just curious, but would anyone recommend Javascript?
Tricky answer. Javascript is beautiful, but not the DOM, and as have been said he would need to learn at least some HTML.
On the other side, using only Javascript with a stand-alone interpreter would be a nice.
I would go for Logo.
[edit: a couple of spelling mistake]
Re: What programming language should I start with?
#47The question is moot. The concrete language isn't important. What's important are the thought processes and techniques behind program construction. Unfortunately only a few beginner
books put the language in the background.
My recommendation: Get the book "How to Design Programs". You can check it out at www.htdp.org first.
Re: What programming language should I start with?
#48If I ever have children I'm planning on introducing "programming" through digital logic simulators, viz, "How to add numbers using transistors". This sort of thing has been done before:
http://www.multicians.org/thvv/boyd.html
...but I think it's more suitable when kids are younger. If you're old enough, you probably want to get web pages up and running faster than you could with bare wires.
Re: What programming language should I start with?
#49Re: people around here recommending The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP), I'd warn a newbie that it may be a demanding way to start, and I've had trouble encouraging former coworkers (some with way more experience than me) into reading it. But don't get scared a priori; skim the preface and the 1.1 section to see if it's for you.
Even if it's for you, you may want to check out The Little Schemer first. It's an easy, wonderful and enjoyable way to get introduced into programming. Don't spoil it by looking elsewhere first. :)
[Edit: How to Design Programs (HtDP) is probably a good one to try after The Little Schemer. That one too is best if you read it as a beginner, because it tends to hold your hand a lot, and you'll have less patience for that when you consider yourself more expert.
These three books are a strong reason to consider Scheme.]
Given your current motivation, I think you'd be better off figuring out what kind of languages the programmers you'll be interacting with use, so you don't learn something that is too different.
If you don't know those programmers yet, do you know anyone that could mentor you, or at least anyone who you could bug with questions often enough? If so, ask them about what language they'd be most comfortable helping you with. Having someone to rescue you when you get stuck will probably help you more than any qualities of the languages themselves.
Failing all of the above, and if you can't get over the notation of Scheme, you can't go very wrong with Python. It's a piece of cake to get started with, it has a great joy to WTF ratio, it looks less alien than the Lisps for most programmers, and it's a very practical and powerful language for the future.
Re: What programming language should I start with?
#50Preferred: Python. clean, elegant, pure, simple, easy. Just fine: Ruby. good, but less simple and elegant than Python. Good if you want to deeply understand the principles of being a programmer but don't care about being very practical at the start: Lisp (yes, Lisp can be practical, but it's trouble for a newbie) Avoid: Perl, PHP, BASIC variants. These cause brain damage.
"Avoid: Perl, PHP, BASIC variants. These cause brain damage."
Many perl mongers, myself among them, would disagree. But maybe the brain damage has set in and I can't judge properly. But, really, you're showing serious ignorance placing Perl in the same sentence as PHP and BASIC. Perl is on the power continuum somewhere just shy of Lisp, and along-side Ruby (possibly even above it; Perl 6 will place it squarely above any other mainstream language on that continuum). Not liking the syntax is no excuse for misleading newbies into thinking Perl is in the same class as PHP.
Anyway, many a developer learned programming with Perl. Some even turned out good.