i'd say that c++ is definatly the way to go...its not that hard. its my first real language. all i ever did before this was some kind of basic(i think) on a TRS-80 when i was quite young and doing TI-86(a graphing calculator, for those of you who dont know) programing. both were sorta BASIC(well, atleast thats what ive been told), but i find c++ to be about a thousand times easier to pick up. you just have to make sure you are learning from a good book or in a good class. if you use MS Visual Studio's VC++ compiler dont expect the help files to be all that helpfull...they write all the source in straght C and its kinda criptic about alot of things.