Starting a teenager programming?

[purcellgal]

What are some good languages to start a teenager (15-16 year old) in, to teach good programming fundamentals? I started with Visual Basic, myself, but I believe it held my hand a bit too much.

[MeTh0Dz]

C, C++, or Assembly. Don't waste your time with anything else.

[v0id]

The languages MeTh0Dz mentioned are some nice languages, but I wouldn't recommend them for a beginner, though. To get started programming I would rather recommend Python. It's easy to use, has some nice programming facilities, has lots of documentation and it's powerful.

I do not agree with MeTh0Dz. Learning other languages than the ones he mentioned is not a waste of time. Different languages have different advantages and purposes, and you can therefore not say that one language is better than another in everything.

[chili5]

I wouldn't recommend starting with C++. I would recommend that you start with either python or c# it depends on what your interested in but C# and python are good to start.

I disagree with methodz also, C++ is good for some things but it is not a waste of time to learn other languages, I would learn C# or python first and then try some other languages.

It is not a waste of time to learn other programming languages.

[MeTh0Dz]

Name one time when it would be better to use python, than C++ Chili? You are best off learning one of the three languages I mentioned because they are the most powerful and versatile languages. You will find that other languages have many more limitations.

[chili5]

I never said that python is better to use than C++ but C++ is a little complicated for a beginner to learn. If they know python it would be easier to learn C++ in the future. Yes they are powerful but they are also complicated to learn.

[MeTh0Dz]

There are plenty of beginner tutorials out there, taking the time to learn C or C++ will definitely be worth it in the long run. As opposed to a seldom used scripting language like python.

[Xav]

Python is used a lot, for search engines, even game creation (with Pygame).

If you've used VB.NET, you'll know the .NET Framework well. I recommend C#. The syntax can be applied across all sorts of languages, such as Java, PHP, JavaScript...

[MeTh0Dz]

Python is far from mainstream, it's community is still very small. Just saying it's used for something does not mean that it is widely used.

[acwclassic]

java! worked for me, really easy to use and you will be able to do a lot in it from the start. also its the language that got the most users if i recall corectly. the main thing to learn from here is the object orientation that will gain you in all other object orientated language. python also gives this, but got less users.
cant say that c++ is that bad choice eigther as some point out, it teached the 2 main things in one. basic data structions and object orientated one(although it could be better).
i think the ultimate way to learn would be is to combine java & c since you get what c++ gives in a more complex level.