I agree with PuffBall about learning HTML, I know it's only markup but there *are* valid lessons for total newbies. A lot of the folks on the board have been in the industry for so long that the memory of total ignorance has faded...
Aside from that point (and one more), I totally agree with jonconley, because the first few steps are FREE and available to anyone with a window$ box and a browser - you can write your own HTML, and eventually scripts, with notepad and see the results immediately. HTML is an excellent springboard for people who are not familiar with the abstraction of computer languages.It also introduces newbies to the very important art of debugging.
jonconley also sez:
I do not think languages needing to be compiled, add too much of a learning curve...
I think this really depends on the knowledge base you start out with. I have (started to) read several INTRODUCTORY C++ books that began with how to confiugure the makefiles to compile the package and such, which is daunting and looks like total gibberish to newbs.
Just note that using a fancy compiler IS a seperate
learning curve from learning the language itself. I don't really disagree with jonconley on this point, I just wanted to clarify.
Ah, |=uck it, you want to learn about computers, just go learn asm, it can do EVERYTHING that ANY OTHER language can, and MORE, and FASTER! You can have COMPLETE CONTROL over any processor or program!