How to choose the right language
ams6110: Funny, when I was a beginner most people hacking on a computer at home had two choices, either some dialect of BASIC or, assembler.  Today you can probably choose from literally hundreds of languages.Here's what I'd recommend: start off with an interpreted language, maybe Python, and work through a couple of tutorials.  If you want to be a little different maybe look at Lua.  Then try to build something.  Tutorials are good but not as motivating as your own project.  I would avoid IDEs like Visual Studio at first, they have a lot of power but for a beginner they might be distracting and keep too much under the covers that you really need to understand.Then start exploring other stuff.  At some point you should try a functional language.  Work through a book like the Little LISPer until you "get" recursion, currying, how the Y-combinator works (no not this site).  Definitely take the time to learn C and pointers.  Even assembly.  Learn about object-oriented programming.  Exposure to all these perspectives will make you a better programmer, no matter which language ultimately becomes your favorite.