This is a good article I think. I've helped mentor a couple of people learning programming and helped get them to understand the web development environment.
One person we started out with some Java since he was taking a Java class, and then I quickly found that he was very confused with Java. I shifted gears and had him start Python from scratch. His understanding skyrocketed, since he was getting to understand how control structures worked, defining functions, and using them.
There is something to be said about the importance of understanding a compiled language though. While it depends on the individual, I think most people would benefit from learning with a language like Python first since some of the most basic concepts of programming become more accessible.
One person we started out with some Java since he was taking a Java class, and then I quickly found that he was very confused with Java. I shifted gears and had him start Python from scratch. His understanding skyrocketed, since he was getting to understand how control structures worked, defining functions, and using them.
There is something to be said about the importance of understanding a compiled language though. While it depends on the individual, I think most people would benefit from learning with a language like Python first since some of the most basic concepts of programming become more accessible.