[pablissimo]

If you've not programmed before, something that's hard-to-go-wrong-with like Java or C# is your best option. You'll learn the logic of object-oriented programming without all the ****ing about that C++ entails or the seemingly cryptic syntax of Perl.

To be honest, once you know basically *any* language, picking up others is a piece of piss (with exceptions, for instance knowing Java is of no consequence to learning Prolog). Since you're learning, you'd want something free and with a large community for support. Java and C# (express edition for the free win) seem good candidates.