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Eight seems a little young, I think most start in their early teenage years. My own experience was to start with HTML and Javascript, and from there I moved on

Eight seems a little young, I think most start in their early teenage years. My own experience was to start with HTML and Javascript, and from there I moved on to Perl, C and the like. I think HTML, Javascript, and CSS make a great starting point. Web pages are something you can show off to your friends--I got a lot of satisfaction from showing off what I had made when I first started out, There's tons of books and resources to learn it. More importantly it's easy. You can't get HTML stuck in a loop, but it will still provide many opportunities for the kid to learn that computers will do what he says, not what he means. And all he needs is a text editor and a browser.

donniefitz2 17y ago
That's a great point. I learned with HTML, CSS, and JS too. The instant gratification was enough to make me want to learn more and once I saw the limitations of "static" content, I moved to server-side technologies.
amichail 17y ago
I couldn't disagree more. It's better to have a simple, consistent, and easy to read language such as Python. But if you want to build games, also consider Game Maker.
alanthonyc 17y ago
I completely disagree. I started programming in BASIC when I was eight. From the first lesson on, I was always after my parents to give me more - a computer, programming books, etc. If the kid is truly into it, all you will have to do is get him started with a real programming language. His natural desire will (hopefully) take over from there. Baby steps, by starting out with a markup language may also work, but it won't necessarily be better.