Greetings all!<p>Thanks for all the tips and insights over the years.<p>I have been agonizing over a decision recently. My son knows html and php fairly well, and he asked me which language he should learn next.<p>His stated goals are to learn a language so that he can make mobile apps (games). Objective-C, Java, C++, or...?<p>So which would be best for an 11 year old? Which one is close to the logic structures of php? Which would be best for his long-term development given that his goals will change as he ages?<p>Much appreciated in advance!
CSS and Javascript. Before writing apps, try writing simple web-based applications. For that, you need exactly 3 languages: html, css, and javascript. HTML for structure. CSS for presentation. JavasScript for behavior.<p>Beyond that, if he knows php then he should know how to do queries with MySQL. PHP and MySQL go together like peanut butter and jelly.<p>After that, I would move onto Java for Android development or Objective-C for iPhone development.
I'm a ruby developer (mainly web apps), but definitely getting more interested in mobile apps (so java and objective-c) as well as the benefits of node.js<p>I think for a kid I would almost definitely start exploring mobile apps. There's a lot more room for creativity there, with the touch screen interface, location aware apps, spatially aware apps (with the gyroscope), etc.