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What would everyone recommend as a first language for someone with a non-programming background?

I learnt BASIC at school a long time ago, and I know my way around html and very basic php.

I would want to make basic webapps that make use of databases

I always recommend mastering HTML first, then learn ColdFusion which will be very familiar because it is tag based.

Once you've learned the basic programming concepts you will be in a much better position to decide what to learn next. Or grab one of the two open source distributions of CF and build your company.

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