[imechura]

I am not a professional teacher but I tend to recommend Javascript for learning the first basics of programming.

The reasons are as follows.

1) Follows (mostly) C style syntax which transfers well into many other languages (Java, C, C++, C#, etc).

2) Lots of good examples available, just view source on your browser

3) Runs in your browser so no software to install no classpath, projects, compilation, or configuration to deal with. Also easy install of debugger, console, etc through firebug.

4) High instant gratification factor. e.g. make change, see results on web page. It makes a direct connection between the the students coding effort and creating something useful as opposed to a for-loop that prints 100 numbers to a green screen. If you are dealing with a teenager or younger person, getting something "cool" published on the web can be a great factor in motivation. Javascript requires the least amount of cost infrastructure and deployment hassles.

[wmboy]

Lifehacker came out with a 'Learn to Code' series a few months ago (http://lifehacker.com/#!5744113/learn-to-code-the-full-begin...) and used JavaScript as the language for the same reasons that imechura has given above.