I want to start learning programming. What should I start with?

[Grey Acumen]

Katilian said:

Sqrl said:

Good Fundamentals:

Spending some time learning about sorting algorithms is also important but without someone to teach you it can be tricky...especially if you try quicksort for your first time out. I highly advise you try to get involved in programming classes as there is simply so much you can miss by learning on your own. The stuff I've provided is a good start but there is simply far too much to cover to be sure that you get a good coverage without going through a well thought out curriculum...and quite simply what I've laid out falls well short of that.

I think this need to be emphasised further. While I'm not really going to suggest a starting point (personally I would use C++, but most languages are fine), may I suggest that after you get a feel for what you are doing, that you seriously need to at least get a basic grasp of what happens 'under the hood'.

I've been teaching C++ programming to uni students for almost 4 years now and the student who stand out are the ones that understand what is going on behind their code. This is one reason why I dislike the idea of universities making Java their primary language for Compsci students. Java covers up too much of the low level stuff, and whlie this if fine if you already understand it, people who don't tend to write less efficent code (although some of the stuff i've seen is amazingly creative :P).

I'm not quite sure I understand your view here. Java has always struck me as being the same as C++, except more uniform in its rules and format, which makes it easier for a beginner to understand the logical system that a program uses.