I disagree. The C syntax is small and pretty easy to learn but the a learner will be stumped when it comes to installing the compiler, dealing with cryptic comp

I disagree. The C syntax is small and pretty easy to learn but the a learner will be stumped when it comes to installing the compiler, dealing with cryptic compiler errors, pointers and weak typing. I'd recommend Python as it's easy to setup on any platform, has a clean easy to read syntax (newbies don't need to worry about generators or decorators early on), has a REPL and has a ton of good free learning references [1]. [1] - http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/ http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/