When my friends ask me what language they should get started in when they want to learn to program without a specific application in mind, I usually suggest Pyt

When my friends ask me what language they should get started in when they want to learn to program without a specific application in mind, I usually suggest Python for all the reasons the article so convincingly presents. So certainly in one sense it's a good modern BASIC equivalent. However, I don't think that what made BASIC so magical was just that it was easy -- it was easy and you could make the computer do the things you were interested in. And while the capabilities of Python are vastly greater than BASIC of yore, I think a beginner's expectations of what they should be able to do have grown even more quickly. These days, typically someone who wants to learn to program wants to do one of two things: (1) make a website or (2) create an app. For a lot of types of sites Python is still a great choice (Flask is definitely one of the easiest frameworks out there to pick up, and I'm actually teaching my wife to program by making a basic Flask app with her). However, for other interests Javascript or even Java or Swift may be more appropriate first languages. I guess that what I'm trying to say is that the best first language is the one that ignites your imagination with its possibilities, rather than the one that's the absolute easiest to learn.