[geeks] Introductory programming language?

[Joshua Boyd]

On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 11:13:26PM -0400, Mouse wrote:
> My sister has just expressed an interest in learning some programming.
> She's had some minimal exposure, but effectively is starting from zero.
> I apparently (I don't recall) taught her a tiny bit of FORTRAN back
> when I first learnt it myself (we're talking some 35 years ago) and she
> took one summer course in Visual Basic which she never touched again
> afterwards and says she doesn't remember anything from.  She is *not*
> stupid by any stretch.
> 
> She is entirely (for these purposes) a Windows user.  So, I'm looking
> for a language that has decent implementations for both Unices and
> Windows, with the former open-source and the latter gratis or cheap -
> that part isn't that hard - and is suitable as a first language for an
> introduction to programming.

My top suggestions would be:
1) Python
2) Javascript
3) Smalltalk (squeak or pharo)
4) Lua

Once she knows a bit about how to program, what does she want to do with
that knowledge?

Largely due to the variety of available libraries and people using it,
Python is probably the most versatile.
 
> Some time ago, I had much the same issue with a friend, and the
> language I settled on then was awk.  But I don't know whether awk
> exists for Windows, and I don't know to what extent it would be a bad
> fit for a Windows user if it does.

awk does exist for windows, but I wouldn't recommend it.