Ferdinand,
Jeanne's right - Python is free, open-source, and used everywhere from YouTube to Google to Industrial Light & Magic (see
https://www.python.org/about/quotes/). Google and Amazon both use and support Python for cloud-based app development (App Engine and AWS), so it's powerful and wide-spread enough to be of value in industry. It's also so clean and simple to learn that we use it with kids from K-12 to college-level as a great beginner's intro to programming. Not many languages have that kind of range.
I code in lots of languages at the University (see our department's Vimeo page at
http://vimeo.com/ungcs for a few), but Python is the language I use in my Artificial Intelligence class and other upper-level courses, as well as with my sons, now 5 and 7 years old. It offers a little bit of something for beginners and advanced users alike.
I hope that helps - have a great rest of the week,
Bryson
