The Internet is a great resource for learning, but in my opinion it’s terrible for first learning how to program. Recently a few people have asked me what’s the best website to use to learn how to program. My recommendation of a book usually surprises them. The best way to learn how to program is by disconnecting your computer from the Internet and by reading a book. With this method you won’t be continuously distracted by everything the Internet has to offer, you won’t be tempted to search for simple answers on Google, and you’ll be fully engrossed in the task at hand.

If you already own a Mac I suggest buying a copy of Objective-C Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide (Big Nerd Ranch Guides), which teaches both C and Objective C basic concepts. By the end of the book you’ll have learned enough basic skills to begin developing simple Mac and iPhone/iPad apps. I would suggest buying a Mac or creating a Hackintosh (Installing OS X on non-Apple hardware) since their software development program XCode is in my opinion much easier to learn than Visual Studio and you’ll need to have a Mac to properly program for the iPhone and iPad. If you prefer or are stuck with Windows I suggest learning to program using the book Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++