What's a good programming language to learn first?

GeekyChick

My son is interested in learning to code. He took a web development class in school and really liked it. I was thinking about starting him on Python because I thought it might be easy for him to learn. I haven't coded in ages and I'm not up on all the latest. Any suggestions on how to learn? Is Python a good place for him to start?

MontagueVandervort

As of what I've read over the years, Python and Ruby are both good beginner languages. Python might be more "cool" though as it's more popular right now, so for a kid (including teen) I would probably go with that to keep the motivation flowing.

jcundiff

yup python is going to be a great starting point

jamesleecoleman

Take a look a codeacademy.com for Python. It's a good course.

paul78

Depending on how old your son is and what he likes to build - there are lots of good options. As others mentioned Python is decent, and if he enjoyed building web-sites, PHP is popular. Although newer commercial web apps don't commonly use PHP unless it's for marketing sites.

If he wants to learn more about building web sites - learning Javascript would be important. So perhaps he can look into javascript frameworks like Angular or React. And for the web back-end - Node.Js is gaining popularity and the skills are very transferable to front-end web development.

Two other popular web dev backend languages to consider is Golang and Scala. There are good online resources for both those languages.

Node Man

Python. It redirected my life. (after networking)

NetworkNewb

Plum Geek Robotics - Arduino Based STEM Robotics

These looks fun and great way to get kids into some coding. Kinda want to get one for myself.

stryder144

edX has several programming classes that he can sign up for. These include how to program in Python. You could also go to Saylor.org and have him take the computer science courses, which cover java, C++, javascript, etc. Pretty interesting array of courses and topics covered. If he gets into the C/C++ hot and heavy, the C++ Institute has four free courses that he can complete and, if so desired, pay for a proctored exam to get certified.

fitzlopez

Python is a real useful language to learn. If he is in his teens then I think he wouldn't have a problem with it.

If he uses an ipad and depending on his age, give the Swift Playgrounds a look https://www.apple.com/swift/playgrounds/

Is his school in the Minecraft for Education program? If he's already playing Minecraft it's a good way of starting him on programming concepts.

I find Roborally pretty good at paving the way to coding concepts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RoboRally, I've only played it with 15+ so I'm not sure if little kids will get the hang of it.

GeekyChick

Thank you for all the advice and suggestions! These are some great ideas to keep him busy over the summer.

@NetworkNewb I really like the robotics idea. I wouldn't mind doing one myself.

Thanks for the links and ideas for online classes in coding too I'm going to check those out. That's a great starting point.