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by 4f77616973 1847 days ago
If they're interested, obviously. The fact that someone looks up to you as a mentor is great and instills a sense of responsibility onto you. I personally start with Python because its syntax is very easy to understand, even though most beginners struggle with indentation (this is where a good IDE / text editor comes in handy). Teach him about problem solving and critical thinking first. Encourage him to pursue a fun project even if it seems silly. After all, programming languages are tools just like screwdrivers. If he has nothing to fix, make or mod, he'll be directionless.

As a programmer myself, sure I'd like to tell people. It's not realistic to make everyone a programming genius, but I want them to know its significance in society. When I describe programming to somone, I start with the most basic stuff, like Theory of Computation. How inputs relate to outputs, how a computer can do stuff on its own, and how you can make it do stuff.