[jechen]

One of the best ways to learn programming is to start a project and just follow through with it. Start with something small; I began making my own Pong clones in Java. Also, Stack Overflow should be your best friend.

If you want some solid beginner reference materials, I'd suggest Learning Python the Hard Way (http://learnpythonthehardway.org/). I'm a strong proponent of teaching introductory programming with Python. Others are just a Google query away.

It'll be a long and arduous (and ultimately rewarding) journey. Best of luck!

[pvarangot]

I'm repeating some of my advice given on another post that was pulled down due to a downmodded parent.

If you want to do something a little different you can also try subsetting Haskell as per in most of the courses found in http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Haskell_in_education#Hask... That is the approach they take in the University I studied CS, and it's an interesting one to combine with learning Python as a fist language.