Astarisk wrote:Java, C#, Python, and Javascript are the big ones if you plan to make a career of it. All depends on what type of programming you are expecting to do once you make a career out of it. Depending on what you want to do I can recommend a few of my favorite reads.
The language itself isn't the real issue (as it mainly is semantics) as the problem is in the need to understand the concepts and how to apply them.
A good programmer can pick up nearly any new language (sans brainfuck and similar monstrosities) in a short timespan, so it effectively dosn't matter with what you start.