Well it was a long time ago but I started programming by tinkering with BASIC on the few computers my high school had. Then I studied programming in college. Things have really changed in the past 35 years.
These days, I'd say codecademy.com is a good place to go for a beginner looking to learn programming. Personally I prefer JavaScript over Python, but I have to admit Python may be better for a beginner trying to just get some simple programs running on your PC. Even though JavaScript -can- be used to run programs locally using a framework called Node.js, its natural environment is within a web browser.
Well it was a long time ago but I started programming by tinkering with BASIC on the few computers my high school had. Then I studied programming in college. Things have really changed in the past 35 years.
These days, I'd say codecademy.com is a good place to go for a beginner looking to learn programming. Personally I prefer JavaScript over Python, but I have to admit Python may be better for a beginner trying to just get some simple programs running on your PC. Even though JavaScript -can- be used to run programs locally using a framework called Node.js, its natural environment is within a web browser.