Teach them Python! (www.python.org) It's open source, runs on everything (DOS, Windows 3.1/9x/00/NT, Mac OS, *nix, Be - even the IDE is portable), is easy to learn (took me two days, but I knew some C++), and is thoroughly object oriented. Some nice things: - object oriented - free - dynamic typing (no type definitions) - automatic garbage collection (no pointers) - no function prototypes - interpreted (no compile/link steps) - extendable (interfaces with C/C++) - readable (no block markers) - mutable arrays and lists - powerful string manipulation - function arguments are references (takes the place of pointers but easy to use) - integrates with TK for easy GUIs The Tk interface is really great--being able to program easily with GUIs makes programming a lot more fun. Also, = is not an operator so a lot of C/C++ bugs are impossible (ie.: if (value = 3) { dangerous statement; }). There are a lot of good books available now for Python too; not necessarily textbooks, but they could be used as them.
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Teach them Python! (www.python.org) It's open source, runs on everything (DOS, Windows 3.1/9x/00/NT, Mac OS, *nix, Be - even the IDE is portable), is easy to learn (took me two days, but I knew some C++), and is thoroughly object oriented. Some nice things: - object oriented - free - dynamic typing (no type definitions) - automatic garbage collection (no pointers) - no function prototypes - interpreted (no compile/link steps) - extendable (interfaces with C/C++) - readable (no block markers) - mutable arrays and lists - powerful string manipulation - function arguments are references (takes the place of pointers but easy to use) - integrates with TK for easy GUIs The Tk interface is really great--being able to program easily with GUIs makes programming a lot more fun. Also, = is not an operator so a lot of C/C++ bugs are impossible (ie.: if (value = 3) { dangerous statement; }). There are a lot of good books available now for Python too; not necessarily textbooks, but they could be used as them.