Dunno for sure.
I have taught coding to beginners but I don't really have good advice.
I would say if you want an easy win to boost engagement suing something like scratch or app developer is a nice start.
It has a reasonable interface and code blocks take out the problems of syntax errors (9/10 problems are a missing ; or })
That combined with a lot of decent tutorials will get you well on your way.
Sure it is a little limiting and might not feel like full on coding but it using the same logic and problem solving so it's a fine starting point.
If they have done this already then trying them out on a more full fat programing language is a good idea.
I agree with
mauvais about having a project. That really helps transition from someone who is following instructions into someone who is using a toolset to create something.
I do think that it can be difficult for a beginner to set realistic goals. It's fine to bite off more than you can chew as a lesson but it can be disheartening to a beginner.
If the person is looking to do something a bit more serious and full on I guess going the route of Unity and C# may be the best choice. (or unreal with C++)
this also has a fair few tutorials but this is much closer to what I'd expect an adult learner to do.
beyond that i'm not sure. I cut my teeth on Visual Basic at college back in 99. Had a nice GUI interface for doing the interface and used VB for the coding.
It was fun to quickly knock together stuff that had a decent looking end results. I remember spending a weekend making a game where you had to click on the bouncing heads of my online friends.
Python is a reasonable shout as it seems the go to programming language for schools.
Might feel a bit underwhelming for newbie used to doing stuff in scratch though.
I have a few ebooks on this stuff if anyone is interested.
Also an old friend of mine decided to go into this area.
Games coding courses for children
thepixelgang.co.uk
That's him.
