You just beat me to it Dave. But it's still probably the best place to start.

And your sanity, rating, and faith in humanity.

Seriously though. First, read everything in the for beginners section. There are articles about this mysterious subject. I got my start when my uncle showed me QBasic, and a few years later, Visual Basic. But serious, useful programming only started happening ~3 years ago, when a friend told me to lok up C++. This is what I will recommend you learn, as it is THE industry-standarn language, used for making pretty much all professional games. Others may tell you to learn Python, which has easier-to-learn syntax, but C++ gives you the knowledge that you will be able to apply what you learn directly if you ever go pro. If you do, you will almost certainly have to master it at some point! Good luck. And download dev-cpp, an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) which will allow you to easily develop and compile programs. Google it.

[EDIT]Ah, the joys of big links and forgetting the '<' on your

[Edited by - silverphyre673 on June 1, 2005 2:07:34 PM]

I agree about C++, but I would say shell out a little cash and get Microsoft Visual C++. It's much better.

I second c++, but if your poor like me just go with dev c, c++
you can find versions of it everywhere, internet, books, and it's free