Apple

For learning to program more generally and conceptually, and here learning by using Python, Harvard has a free intro Python course. There are other learning-to-program classes around, some free and some paid. Apple has ~nothing for more general programming topics including terms and concepts, algorithms, databases, UI design, source code control, etc.

Apple has available free developer tools for iPad and Mac, and would prefer developers use Swift for new work.

For learning Swift, Apple has some freely-available online materials and tools:

Swift - Apple Developer

Swift - Resources - Apple Developer

One of the handier tools for learning and using Swift is the (free) Apple Swift Playgrounds app. Playgrounds is available for iPadOS and macOS, and allows you to avoid having to learn the Xcode app while also learning about whatever language you are using. Xcode is very capable. And complex.

Swift is primarily targeting Apple platforms, and is not particularly widely used beyond Apple.

There are other Swift classes. Stanford has an on-line (free) Swift class (cs193p), but that is learning Swift, and is most definitely not an introductory learning-to-program class.

Google would want us to mention Go language, here. If you’re considering or in the Google sphere, it’s an option. Given Google too often seemingly has the organizational attention span of a fruit fly, I’m not sure I’d bet on that language.

There are many other language choices including C, C++, Rust, Java, and others, and some older choices including the still-common-in-technical-and-scientific-computing Fortran. All are very capable choices, but not what I would consider to be good early programming languages when first starting out learning programming.

Java is provided by Oracle. If you choose that path, be very careful with the licensing for whichever JDK is selected, lest you meet some of the expensive licensing choices available from Oracle. The OpenJDK bits are what you likely want to use. Java is probably closest to COBOL for the current era. And very much tied to Oracle. Eclipse, and JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA, are common IDE choices for Java.

If the platform portability of Java interests (“write once, debug everywhere”), also see Kotlin. Kotlin is built on the JVM, but is otherwise independent of Oracle. IntelliJ IDEA supports Kotlin.

Other intro languages can include Lua and Crystal. Lua is common in embedded, widely portable, and is a very nice language. Crystal is akin to a better C.

Oh, and yes, you’ll absolutely be overwhelmed by all of this and by the rest of programming, as it’s a massive and ever-changing endeavor. I’ve been at this for a while, and there’s always new stuff to learn. Languages and tools and paradigms (and we’re even not using that word as often nowadays) come and go, too.

There’s no one right way, and no one right language to learn. Everybody learns differently, and has different expectations and needs and budgets and plans.

Learning what? Is this about learning to be a developer? There are many online courses, but not hosted by Apple themselves. It is a third party market, if you want to learn from a person giving classes.