My son has shown an interest in creating simple batch files on his computer. He’s 10. If I wanted to get him a book to learn some beginner programming, what would be best? At this point I’m thinking something that would allow him to see some tangible results pretty quickly to keep his interest.
Python.
Pascal
Thanks, MrDibble. This looks like what I was thinking about. http://www.amazon.com/Python-Kids-Playful-Introduction-Programming/dp/1593274076/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380558670&sr=8-1&keywords=python+for+kids
Scala 
. No, seriously, another vote for python. Java later if he gets into wanting more structured programming.
Alice demonstrates programming concepts very well. Then you can transition into other languages.
Do they still teach BASIC, that’s what I learned when I was that age. Easy to pick up, easy to use and it translates pretty readily to other languages (including web languages) mostly by changing around the syntax and commands…which all make sense if you have a good grasp of BASIC.
You might see if you can get him enrolled in a class for kids, that’s how I got started in it.
Another vote for Python.
Great for beginners in many ways, and he’s learning the basics of a high-powered commonly-used language if he gets more serious when he’s older.
APL, maybe moving on to COBOL.
No, real programmers use assembly language on computers with 1 kilobyte of memory…
How about a variant of BASIC, such as FreeBasic? I think it supports QBasic syntax, so he can learn structured programming from the get-go.
I taught my 9 year old some simple Qbasic, and we’ve since picked up a Python book ( I think it’s called ‘Hello World’), and he’s had no trouble so far getting through the first three or four chapters.
Javascript?
It’s something he can experiment with on anything with a browser, something that should be immediately relatable to him, much more so than something like qbasic, IMHO.
He probably already has favorite websites and you can start there, figuring out “how they made that tab slide out”.
With canvas and HTML5, simple little games should be a breeze to code. Start with a game loop, add keyboard/mouse input handlers, update objects, etc.
He’ll be the next Zuckerberg.
Another vote for Pascal.
If into Windows, then Visual Studio
Or, if into Apple stuff, Xcode
Learning curve may be steep but if he’s got time to waste this has potential for a better payoff than Minecraft 
Yes, I think you could be right. The trouble with learning programming from scratch is that the programs you can write all by yourself are not very interesting.
At the absolute beginner level, most languages are pretty much the same. Ifs and thens, loops constructs, variables… these concepts don’t change. As long as it’s something fairly mainstream, and doesn’t need some honking great IDE just to do anything with, it should be fine.
Visual studio is a treat to work with. Best IDE around. There are free (express) editions that can be downloaded from Microsoft. With a little tweaking it’s a perfect dev platform for a number of languages, js, included.
Tcl is simple to play with, open source, and lets you easily build windows GUIs. Been slowly teaching my 7 yr old how it works.
Python for sure. It’s very approachable for a 10 year old learning programming languages and he/she can write apps! Kids are all about apps these days. 
Another vote for BASIC (ducks under the opprobrium).