[advocaat23]

Welcome to HN! Ruby is a good idea for webdev but keep in mind that Python is also dominant in other domains of computing in particular scripting and scientific computing. So in my opinion for a beginner Python is more future proof than Ruby [activate language-flamewar-prevention-daemon] and if you later add a system-language (e.g. C) and a modern general purpose language (e.g. Haskell or Scheme/LISP) to your repertoire you are in a very good position to tackle most kinds of software development problems.

[Stubb]

> So in my opinion for a beginner Python is more future proof than Ruby

Which is more future proof: Python v2 or Python v3?

I figured that I was least likely to regret Ruby for a green-field data analysis project. So far it's been a delightful experience.

[BuckRogers]

Either. They're not really that different from the other. I use 2, but I've used 3.. no issues. It will be an easy move as an enduser programmer when Python3's time in the sun arrives (and it may never).

[marcosdumay]

The differences are very small. Whatever you learn, you'll be at home in both.

[eru]

If you pick a Lisp, pick Racket or Clojure. All else being equal, they are the most modern and pleasant variants to work with.

[baddox]

Or Emacs Lisp, if you don't have a specific project in mind and/or aren't already heavily invested in a text editor. As a programming language in and of itself, it's not a greap lisp, but it's a great practical way to learn lisp while you're customizing your text editor.

[eru]

The only thing going for Emacs Lisp is its killer application named Emacs.

As a compromise, you might want to start people on edwin (https://www.gnu.org/software/mit-scheme/documentation/mit-sc...) instead, if you want to teach them programming. But that's probably even less useful in practice.

[dobbsbob]

or blackhat it up with tinyScheme http://philosecurity.org/2009/01/12/interview-with-an-adware...