I want to start learning programming language. what language is recommended for beginner ?

go for DELPHI because a lot of softwares now are made with this type of programming therefore it would be easy to have clients when you start writing programs for a fee.

First you have to decide why do you wish to learn a programming language. Depending on your purpose, a different answer is in order. My preference would be Ruby. It is simple, powerful and flexible. It has all the good and advanced stuff (like exceptions, continuations and functions as first-rate citizens), while keeping things quite simple. Its syntax is easy to learn, without many special cases. And the guiding principles of the language creator are evident in every step - you *will* learn good programing habits. However, it is also and rather new, and also rather slow (as a consequence - a proper optimising just-in-time compiler hasn't been made yet), and not many mainstream people know about it (which means, not many job opportunities). Learning Ruby first should make you a good programmer, even if you ultimately choose to work in another language. There are several very good books on it, some of them free. See Sources. Otherwise: If you want web programming, then PHP is easiest (but does not instill very good programming habits). Perl is very powerful and fast, and widely used (but, according to many, very ugly and tough to learn). And, of course, if you wish client-side effects, you should know ECMAScript (i.e. JavaScript/ActionScript). If you want Windows programming, you're best off with C++ (but also many people say that it is ugly and old) or Delphi (but then you're stuck with Windows, and Pascal, however new-age-y, does have a bit funky and obsolete syntax rules). C is great for systems work - drivers, operating systems, and anything that needs to run Really Really Fast (but it is very low-level, not that much better than programming in assembly). You can also go for one of .NET languages (Visual Basic or C#), which has a lot of proponents (but also a lot of bashers, and it works well *only* on Windows). The best alternative to .NET is Java (but it still has some drawbacks, despite the polishing it got in version 1.5). If you want to study the computing theory, a functional language like Lisp or Haskell is good (but with Lisp you will dream parentheses, and to write your first several programs in Haskell, you will have to bend your brain into a pretzel). A functional language not unlike Haskell which has a decent speed to it is OCaml (but it is also, like Haskell, only good if you *dream* in mathematical symbolism). Lisp has a very nice dialect called Scheme, and there is an excellent free book which teaches programming using it, if you choose that road - Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (See Sources). Edit: I can see many people advising C. It is a *very bad* choice for learning programming. It is an advanced language, useful for advanced work. Not for beginners. Despite the large number of such answers, I really, really suggest you do not listen to them. It has a 30-year-old syntax, you can make quite obscure errors by innocuous mistakes, and explaining to someone why your program breaks at point #1 when you've misallocated memory at unrelated point #2 is not something I relish. I am not saying you should not learn C - it is a really useful language to know. By all means, learn C - but learn Ruby *first*! Oh, man, I must have forgotten something... :D Anyway, good luck...

Go for C

In the linux community they suggest python as your first language. Python is free to download for windows but is usually preinstalled in linux. It would also try C++ and Java too.

i suggest you start with C or if you want, javascript. Basically, all you need to get is the logic of programming and it would be easy from thereon ^_^

it's your choice i started with pascal (but im getting on a bit) then c ,c++

omfg.. u guys have no idea what ur saying.. how can the guy learn c++/php or even c if he never porgarmmed before.. only the word oop will prob. scare him.. anyway.. start from visual basic. if u start from php/c++ u will get lost and drop the whole idea of learning

The basics from my college were in C. Java is good but basics stem from C. Good luck

My prof at uni would probably suggest Logo.