Ask Slashdot: Best Book For 11-Year-Old Who Wants To Teach Himself To Program? 525
New submitter waferthinmint asks "What is the best book for my son to use to teach himself to program? He wants to study on his own but everything seems to assume an instructor or a working theoretical knowledge. He's a bright kid but the right guide can make all the difference. Also, what language should he start with? When I was in HS, it was Basic or Pascal. Now, I guess, C? He has access to an Ubuntu box and an older MacBook Pro. Help me Slashdot; you're our only hope."
Datasheet (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Datasheet (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Python (Score:5, Funny)
Perl rocks! (Score:5, Funny)
Learning Perl
Schwartz & Christiansen
Or just send him to http://perldoc.perl.org/ [perl.org]
Re:Python (Score:5, Funny)
Nah man, snakes are cool. "Playing with Ruby" makes it sound like your eleven-year-old hired a whore, or perhaps a drag-queen.
Re:Normally C but... (Score:5, Funny)
Isn't that how Bill Gates got started? Look what that got us.
Yes, but look at what that got him.
Re:Python (Score:5, Funny)
When I entered college I know how to program in about 8 languages (before Google) myself, I was actually codding professionally before I left for college too.
Hmmm...sounds a bit fishy to me.
Re:Python (Score:4, Funny)
Today I had to tuna database, then I was supposed to do some ray tracing but I floundered.