Instead of Perl, Python would probably be a better alternative. Python is very readable, easy to learn, and helps ingrain good coding practices, plus there are

Instead of Perl, Python would probably be a better alternative. Python is very readable, easy to learn, and helps ingrain good coding practices, plus there are tons of online lessons including Khan Academy, InventwithPython.com, with a more complete guide for tutorials here: http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/NonProgrammers http://wiki.python.org/moin/BeginnersGuide/NonProgrammers Python is easier to understand for the new programmer as it makes everything explicit whereas Perl is implicit. That said, if you are more comfortable with Perl than you can stick with that. I personally would hesitate to teach more than some very simple C