[BuddhistPunk]

If, as your post suggests, you are a complete newbie to the world of programming I would suggest the following :

Programming is basically splitting a task into its sub tasks, every language handles this to one level of complexity or another. As an example, lets say you wanted to create an application to open a door. You would have to split the task into its component parts :

1) Open hand
2) Place hand around door knob
3) Close hand
4) Move hand in a downward motion
etc etc etc etc

Each language requires more or less steps depending on how many assumptions are built into it (i.e. where the door handle is, how heavy the door is, the direction it opens etc etc etc). So to start with I would suggest going for a language that makes alot of assumptions, i.e. one of the many scripting languages out there, for example PHP, PERL, ASP.

Although these arent true programming languages it will give you a gentle introduction to development and its quirks. You will gain an understanding of programming structure & variables - these will also allow you to learn how to think like a computer program. As you gain experience and confidence you can then move onto the more complex languages like C++, C#, Java, VB etc etc

A real world example would be the usual "Hello World" application, in PHP it would be this :

<?php
$message =  "Hello World";
print $message;
?>

Whereas in C#, it would be :

using System;

namespace HelloWorldApp
{
  class Class1
  {
    [STAThread]
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
      string sMessage = "Hello World";
      Console.WriteLine(sMessage);
    }
  }
}

As you can see the equivalent in C# is seemingly much more complex, but this complexity gives you much more control over you application and what it can and can not do.

Now this is purely opinion, but for various reasons (that will just blind you with science) I would suggest not bothering with C at all.

Finally, learning to progam is not an "instant gratification" exercise, it will take years to get to a stage where you can produce just about anything you want - I have been coding for almost 20 years and I still have a massive pile of books that I constantly refer too and every day I learn something new

So in summary, learn PHP, then move onto C#, Java, VB, then look at C++, and dont expect to produce Doom 4 within a few weeks of starting to learn.