In au we've had something like this for a couple of years - it's great! makes it so much easier. You can even take data from previous years tax to autofill bits.
The biggest benefit is no need for an accountant for most people.
Much like everyone else here I'd suggest seeing if your brother is interested
I had my brother ask me where to start recently because he was interested in making his own games and already was fluent in 2d and 3d animation.
For him flash programming was a no-brainer as he'd already experimented and I so I found a good book that went over the basics that I knew he could build on.
I would suggest one of the following as a good starter:
Flash (instant gratification and lots of tutorials)
Ada (learnt this one at university, fantastic starter as it's very strict but limited application outside of education)
Java (good language with lots of applications but can be tricky for a starter and I feel can lead to sloppy programming)
C#.net or VB.net both of which are great as they are strict and have loads of applications once learnt.
Also html+javascript+css isn't going to teach programming unless they want to be a webhead.
python I haven't touched but by the sounds of everyone on here it would be another good starting point. I'd only say look around for online tutorials and see what's out there before starting.
get him to learn the basics - we all have been there and then start getting into the more fun projects like simple games and build on the skills he learns as you go.
Programming is hard but it can be very rewarding to see something you built working efficiently... and then making it work better!
it all depends on what the students want to do - I think going through the basics that would prepare them for the lowly servicedesk role to start with would probably be quite benificial.
Other then that tailor it to the class - how many are planning on being programmers? sysadmins? nwadmins? dbadmins? etc
Without knowing this information the only thing I would suggest is the following book:
Practice of System and Network Administration by Thomas A. Limoncelli (Author), Christina J. Hogan (Author), Strata R. Chalup (Author).
The books brilliant and doesn't go into the technology but more the principles and the methodology. Also has questions at the end of each chapter and if the class takes an interest in a particular area there are further books recommended.
Slashdot Mirror
In au we've had something like this for a couple of years - it's great! makes it so much easier. You can even take data from previous years tax to autofill bits.
The biggest benefit is no need for an accountant for most people.
I had my brother ask me where to start recently because he was interested in making his own games and already was fluent in 2d and 3d animation.
For him flash programming was a no-brainer as he'd already experimented and I so I found a good book that went over the basics that I knew he could build on.
I would suggest one of the following as a good starter:
Also html+javascript+css isn't going to teach programming unless they want to be a webhead.
python I haven't touched but by the sounds of everyone on here it would be another good starting point. I'd only say look around for online tutorials and see what's out there before starting.
get him to learn the basics - we all have been there and then start getting into the more fun projects like simple games and build on the skills he learns as you go.
Programming is hard but it can be very rewarding to see something you built working efficiently... and then making it work better!
it all depends on what the students want to do - I think going through the basics that would prepare them for the lowly servicedesk role to start with would probably be quite benificial.
Other then that tailor it to the class - how many are planning on being programmers? sysadmins? nwadmins? dbadmins? etc
Without knowing this information the only thing I would suggest is the following book: Practice of System and Network Administration by Thomas A. Limoncelli (Author), Christina J. Hogan (Author), Strata R. Chalup (Author).
The books brilliant and doesn't go into the technology but more the principles and the methodology. Also has questions at the end of each chapter and if the class takes an interest in a particular area there are further books recommended.