[P1] So .. How do I get into programming ??

[Tom R. no spam]

AppleScript, and unix shell scripting.  And with the Developer's
Tools (downloadable from Apple if not on your OS CD), you can
compile executable programs from C/C++ code--Project Builder
is a software tool to assist writing programs (tho I have to admit
I don't use it, I'm used to just writing my own raw code), and
the gnu C/C++ compilers to compile code.  Java also is supported.
I would suspect there are books about all this stuff, check eg
www.oreilly.com.  For shell scripting, Ellie Quigley has written
some standard works about shells in unix and linux.  Are you
comfortable with the terminal window command line in OSX?