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We've had this question asked before I believe but it does no harm in asking it again and again. After all, opinions change as does the software ecosystem. Quincy Larson of FreeCodeCamp.com asked this question via Medium: What programming language should you learn first? He thinks JavaScript is the way to go and his arguments are cogent and well thought out. However, I am somewhat hesitant to suggest someone learn to code in JavaScript first. My first programming language (in 1981!) was Fortran on a Control Data mainframe. The interactive environment the OS provided was pretty simple and the language provided few opportunities to hang yourself. JavaScript, by comparison, while it may not have those evil pointers of C/C++, it offers functional features and plenty of rope to hang oneself.
So, opinions please.
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Friday November 04 2016, @09:53PM
Javascript is 'easy' enough to get going but takes a bit of orthogonal thinking that your web browser is also a language interpreter.
The advantage, though, is that you can share your programs on the web without people having to install any kind of runtime, including to locked-down Android or iOS devices. OK, that begs the question "what could possibly go wrong?" - but the answer is probably that its less dangerous than encouraging your mates to install binaries. Ought to be possible to produce a nice "visual Javascript" environment - with wizards for UI creation, module stuff done for you and an easy to use graphics library, maybe wrapping it in TypeScript to smooth over the arcane prototype-based OOP (with its "Nooo!!! that's exactly the thing OOP was meant to STOP!" features).
Of course the disadvantage of Javascript is that it is an "expressive" language: i.e. every JavaScript guru re-defines the language to support their own foibles about How Stuff Is Done to the point that it looks like a different language.
As for Python - a wise person once said "try everything at least once - except incest and Morris dancing". They forgot to add "significant whitespace". Seriously, though, if you shove that elephant into the corner of the room, it seems like a decent language (until you open your code in a different text editor with the wrong tab settings and reduce it to gibberish) - I just think it sets out to be gratuitously different to other multi-paradigm languages for no particularly good reason.
Swift is interesting ("Python with curly brackets" - sounds perfect) esp. with a free linux version now out but maybe needs to develop a bit more - scratch the surface and you hit a framework based on the NextStep/OSX/iOS API which is great for Apple developers, not so much for beginners.
I think, on balance, I'd probably have to go with the flow and back Python - because of all the support - and just try to ignore that the big grey thing trumpeting in the corner of the room.