You are trying to learn how to program, but many people are suggesting that you should pick a language based on what you plan on doing with the language. I don'

You are trying to learn how to program, but many people are suggesting that you should pick a language based on what you plan on doing with the language. I don't think that should be your primary consideration. The primary consideration should be the quality of introductory material in that language. I think you'll find most material to be in Java, followed by C++ and Python. Assuming you want to do web programming, I would suggest you start with Python as your first language. It has quality introductory material[1] and is widely used for web programming, as well as many other tasks. There is less complicated syntax that you have to ignore while learning how to program compared to Java and C++, and is generally regarded as a Better Language. Even if you weren't planning on doing web programming, Python would still be my suggestion for a first language. I'd only suggest anything different if your main concern was getting a generic programming job, in which case Java would be a better idea. I feel like JavaScript would be a particularly poor choice as a first language since most introductory JavaScript material isn't trying to teach how to program; it typically teaches how to manipulate web pages. As a new programmer yourself, it will be harder to judge what texts you should pick from those that are available. If you start out trying to learn how to program web applications instead of learning how to program in general, you'll be selling yourself short. Your code will be worse and it will be more difficult to figure out how to solve atypical problems that a web framework hasn't solved for you. Don't do it. [1] Or so I hear. I haven't read introductory material in years, and then it was C++. Try How to Think Like a (Python) Programmer: http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/ http://www.greenteapress.com/thinkpython/