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I would discuss what skills are required and beneficial. Also the duos learning experiences in the profession, such as basic political issues and best practices. A good place to point them to learn more is WiBit.net

Check out WiBit.net. It's not really an open source project; but it is a site that, for free, teaches programming including C++ (also C, Objective-C, soon Java and C#). We have a forum where users can help each other learn. It's not a big thing, but that's one way to give back to the community. Not just on WiBit, but helping others learn what you have learned is a great way to give back overall :-) Also by getting into a learning site you can meet others who are like you: they know a bit, but want to be involved with something bigger. You can get your own effort moving and maybe create your own open source project. We have a guy in our forums working on an open source game with other users of the site. Check that out here.

Check out WiBit.net. It's not really an open source project; but it is a site that, for free, teaches programming including C++ (also C, Objective-C, soon Java and C#). We have a forum where users can help each other learn. It's not a big thing, but that's one way to give back to the community. Not just on WiBit, but helping others learn what you have learned is a great way to give back overall :-) Also by getting into a learning site you can meet others who are like you: they know a bit, but want to be involved with something bigger. You can get your own effort moving and maybe create your own open source project. We have a guy in our forums working on an open source game with other users of the site. Check that out here.

If you have a base its better than starting from 0. Now for my sales pitch:

Check out my site WiBit.net. We offer video computer programming tutorials in a linear and fun way. We break apart everything into 5 minute videos that are focused and comedy infused. You can skip right to things you want to learn, and skip over things you already know. We made it so you can learn if you have no experience, or skip right to what you're trying to figure out if you're experienced.

We have C,C++, and Obj-C for now. Java and C# are coming soon! Out content is free! We only ask that you sign up to download labs material!

End of sales pitch. Thank you for your time and for tolerating my excessive use of exclamation points.

How many times has it been "the year of Linux" over the years?

I don't know if it's the year of Linux or not, but I think with economic times being what they are it is certainly a good time to brush up on some skills and strengthen your resume.

You can do that at WiBit.net

http://www.wibit.net/blog/visual_basic_relevant_programming_language

I definitely agree with you on the memory management point. All I am suggesting over-all is a straight shot approach. Start with C, then C++, then probably Objective C, then Java, on and on. Each language broaches concepts and don't repeat the taught concepts of the previous languages. I can't tell you how many times I've watched a tutorial or read a book and it's gone over what OOP is when this is something I should (usually) know already. I've not used Objective Pascal so I can't really comment on it, but I'm sure it came after C++ and therefore probably borrows concepts from it?

Agreed about BASIC! It's poo.
Python is a great scripting language, but I've got to disagree with your ordering of learning. I would recommend doing C, then C++, then move on. Get a strong core in OOP concepts will help you learn any other language you want.
http://wibit.net/

It's still important to get a good base going I think. Start with languages that did it first and understand the concepts then you're in a better place when you get to the more complicated functions.
http://wibit.net/

I think everyone should start with C and C++ and move on.
http://www.wibit.net/curriculum/the_c_lineage/programming_in_c
http://www.wibit.net/curriculum/the_c_lineage/programming_cpp

I think everyone should start with C and C++ and move on.
http://www.wibit.net/curriculum/the_c_lineage/programming_in_c
http://www.wibit.net/curriculum/the_c_lineage/programming_cpp

In my experience backstory is important to put languages and learning in context. A lot of students are just running head-long into Java but if they started with C++, and were explained why it's important to start with C++, then many of the OOP concepts would come more naturally when learning something like Java. Then things like Python or PHP would come like second nature since their more complicated aspects are the OOP concepts they implement.

I think a main problem in making programming fun is that it's always so monotone and repetitive. I say if you learn OOP concepts when learning C++ why re-learn those concepts when learning Java? Get to the good stuff! Teach about what is unique to Java, the syntax difference, and move on! That's what we do at http://wibit.net/ and it's working for us.

Otherwise I'd say there is just a lack of creativity overall in programming learnin'. It's always the same "Hello World" projects teaching you how to build a Fibonacci sequencer or a tic-tac-toe game. Let's get real about this stuff and get linear and highlight the fun parts of development for the kiddies! Again, that's what we do at http://wibit.net/

In my experience backstory is important to put languages and learning in context. A lot of students are just running head-long into Java but if they started with C++, and were explained why it's important to start with C++, then many of the OOP concepts would come more naturally when learning something like Java. Then things like Python or PHP would come like second nature since their more complicated aspects are the OOP concepts they implement.

I think a main problem in making programming fun is that it's always so monotone and repetitive. I say if you learn OOP concepts when learning C++ why re-learn those concepts when learning Java? Get to the good stuff! Teach about what is unique to Java, the syntax difference, and move on! That's what we do at http://wibit.net/ and it's working for us.

Otherwise I'd say there is just a lack of creativity overall in programming learnin'. It's always the same "Hello World" projects teaching you how to build a Fibonacci sequencer or a tic-tac-toe game. Let's get real about this stuff and get linear and highlight the fun parts of development for the kiddies! Again, that's what we do at http://wibit.net/

I love this article and what the goal of this is! Programming and developing has been an absolute passion of mine for years, and it's been my career for at least half as long. My only qualm with this is that we're still dupping kids into this. Programming can be fun no matter what you're building! The problem, in my view, isn't teaching space invaders vs. a tip calculator; the problem is that the teaching gets monotonous, too many concepts get repeated course to course, and only about half (or less) of what is taught in schools is actually useful to get a job!

I'm not just complaining either. Together with a couple of guys I've put together a site http://wibit.net/ (as of this writing the site is down for maintenance, check http://twitter.com/wibit_usa for when we're back up, or to just check out some of the videos from now and older ones check out http://youtube.com/wibitnet :-) offering free video tutorials on how to get started in computer programming. We've done a few intro courses and C and C++ (23 hours of video my partners and I worked our asses off on) and we're doing this linearly. We're not repeating concepts, we're not monotone, we're telling jokes and making it entertaining! That's what it should be about, having fun with what you're building.

It is awesome that schools are trying to engage kids with this, I just think that can happen by offering them an engaging curriculum and not a gimmick (not to say game programming is a gimmick, but how they're pitching it they're using it as one).