"C++, C#, Java etc. just seem too difficult to learn." In a lot of respects, they are -- there's a lot of ceremony and boilerplate around getting started that'

"C++, C#, Java etc. just seem too difficult to learn." In a lot of respects, they are -- there's a lot of ceremony and boilerplate around getting started that's there to please the compiler (and programmer job security) rather than the programmer. If you want to learn to code, I'd try something like Python, Ruby, or JavaScript first -- you say you're a "linear, spaghetti-code thinker," but that pretty much describes everyone who's starting out. Something in the Python/Ruby/JS mold would make it easier for you to see relationships between different parts of your code and make the leap from linear thinking to something more organized, without the noise that languages like C#/C++/Java impose on you. Good luck!