+1
i'll only talk about simple stuff, as it's all i know.
strictly speaking,
html and
css are not programming languages, as you can't write programs with them - you can only markup, layout and prettify webpages with them (and you could argue that html is a subset of big daddy xml - but i digress...)
BUT they are easy to learn, and will get you into the basics of coding and syntax - and you can make web sites too!
back in the last millennium, before wysiwyg software came out, we actually had to learn html (even before css was invented), and had to write webpages all by ourselves in notepad - these days, programs like dreamweaver make it so much easier and quicker.
as far as the web goes, in order to get a page to actually do something rather than just display static words and pictures, you will need a scripting language such as
javascript (which is actually called ecmascript, but nobody calls it that - and has nothing to do with
java at all. it was only called javascript, as 'java' was a trendy word at the time, and the name has stuck.) all modern browsers should be able to read and interpret javascript, although there are a few annoying things to watch out for, as a command that works in one browser may work slightly differently (or not at all!) in another. however this problem is getting less of an issue as browsers are becoming more and more standards compliant - the same is true for css.
again, javascript is pretty simple as a first 'programming' or 'scripting' language as it introduces you to the concepts of variables, objects, functions, conditions etc etc - all elements of a 'proper grown-up' programming language.
i was a teenager in the early eighties, back when affordable micro-computers were starting to come into homes and schools, so i was taught
BASIC, which is a very simple language to learn, using simple english words like IF, THEN, GOTO etc. back then we used to buy magazines with pages and pages of long program listings that we would sit and type (and debug!) into our little computers for hours and hours and hours (picking up geeky/nerdy solitary antisocial habits along the way
).
that was a good way to learn BASIC, if you were paying attention. however nobody uses basic anymore afaik, as it could lead you into poor programming habits. instead it has evolved into
visual basic, which is also pretty simple, and is another good place to start learning how to code proper programs that can run outside of a web browser.
