>>>I just finished the "Rise and Resurection of the American Programmer"
>>>and in it Ed Yourdon asks a very good question: If you child wanted to get into computers now what language would you suggest?
>>>
>>>Would it be FoxPro?
>>
>>I hate to say it, but probably BASIC. That's what I learned with. I disagree with the HTML, DHTML suggestions, they aren't really programming languages, but one is a simple markup language, and DHTML is merely an object model. To learn programming, you need to learn data types, constructs, loops, procedures, reuse, etc. I don't think you would learn any of that with HTML.
>
>I think some of us are picturing the "child" at different ages. I'm thinking of maybe 10 or so, and using the web a lot. Others, recommending C++, for example, are clearly not picturing the same "child" < s >

Actually, after further thought, I wouldn't even suggest a language right away. I'd teach them the concepts of logic, breaking down a problem to simper ones, then putting the solutions at work individually and then making these individual solutions work together.

I figured that it's not which language you can code in that matters first and foremost, it's being able to analyse a given situation and create a working logical model and logical resolution. As an analogy (somewhat vague I'll grant), look at Japanese cuisine chefs. They spend years, litteraly, learning to cut things properly before they even approach a cooking surface.

With this, I'd teach the concepts and priciples of OOP, with no particular language preference (although, if asked to provide sample implementation, it would be in C++). But I have seen a book on the shelves called "OOP programming for dummies" which I can't remember how they demonstrated the principles (if there was code or not).

My other 0.02$ worth,

Hugo