I can't recommend a specific online
class.
A good first step would be to get familiar with ms-dos commands/batch files and/or UNIX/LINUX scripting. Batch files or scripts are often used by administrators to tell a computer when to start more complicated programs, do clean up, etc.
Experimenting in these areas can be a good way to get a feel for creating a logical step by step process, trouble shooting, etc.
Perhaps he has already taken this step.
Visual Basic is a pretty good first computer language to learn, still used a lot in business for small custom applications; Java allows for more sophisticated gui application creation.
C&C++ are used in biz for more back-end processing, just to give you some ideas of the languages out there.
I recently found this site for tutorials; if he is already actively self-teaching this might not seem too daunting. I do think a good class might help get the ball rolling faster and keep him from getting discouraged with just books and tutorials, and to give him more of an understanding of how a complex program is designed. That said, here it is.
http://www.roseindia.net/java/This links to the java tutorial, but there are others as well. I am *trying* to learn about java/Struts, and the tutorial on this site was really really well done, imo. I liked that it gave a bit of background in addition to all the technical mumbo jumbo.
Also, the best part is: instructions and links for downloading software to just start writing code and compiling your programs!!Actually, the more I read this site the better I like it
Good luck to your ds!
