Usually I say the best introductory programming class is Harvard's CS50 (available online for free through EdX). What's good is they don't just focus on one l

Usually I say the best introductory programming class is Harvard's CS50 (available online for free through EdX). What's good is they don't just focus on one language, but keep switching languages as the weeks roll along. That gives you not just programming experience, but that crucial insight that languages have more in common than their differences. (And it also tries to touch on most of the major constructs -- linked lists, sorting algorithms, recursive loops.) It's slogan is "challenging, but definitely do-able" -- which I think is one of its biggest strengths. It's fun, but it also gives you some of the actual excitement of real-world programming -- and it exposes you to things that are excellent jumping off points for further study.