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This is my FAQ on programming. Bear with me, as this is probably not in the best, or most fascinating English, as I am not exactly a good writer.
Programming is when you give instructions to the computer to tell it exactly what to do. For instance, you could write a program that could compute the temperature in Fahrenheit given Celsius, or vice versa.
Programs can do all sorts of things, such as business applications, home organizers, or games.
Not to be discouraging or anything, but programming is a difficult art to master. Yes, I call it an art because to program well and efficiently, you have to know many intricacies that make the computer "tick." However, there are programming "Programs" that simplify the programming proccess, making even the most novice of computers able to program, if one is willing to give the time needed to learn.
Most programs are written as plain text and words that are sent to a compiler, which interprets the words entered and converts them to the basic machine language that the computer can understand.
Programs are written in languages, of which there are a plethera. Languages such as BASIC, Pascal, C/C++, and COBOL are used today.
As when learning a foreign language, all programming languages have an individual structure. Some are considered "High Level" languages, as their language seems to closely resemble our own. Others are "Low Level," and they look like machine instructions. Still others are "Mid Level," and span the bridge between the other two.
To the beginning programmer, I recommend BASIC. Programs for BASIC are easy to find, and come with all PC's (Qbasic). BASIC teaches the fundamentals of the math and structure that goes into a program. Although these high level programs do not compile into machine language, they are very useful in learning the basics.
To the intermediate programmer, I recommend the Languages of PERL or even Pascal. These languages are much stricter than BASIC, but lean towards a lower level, getting up close and personal with the processor.
To the mid-advanced programmer, I recommend C or C++. These languages, developed by AT&T, are difficult to master, but are very powerful, and the final product is faster than any previous language. Most recent major games are programmed in C. C++ impliments an idea called "object oriented programming" or OOP. This adds more structure to the programs, and make each part of a program seem more like real objects, with properties and methods.
To the super genius techno-master of everything, I recommend Assembly. With assembly, you directly tell the computer what to do, step by step. This is very time consuming, and very difficult, especially with a GUI, but the programs are hundreds of times faster than BASIC programs, and tens of times faster than other programming languages.