Any programmers out there?

Forget about coding "games" until you know how to code properly in C++ and know by heart how to do advanced transforms on matrices.

You should start with a more friendly language like Java, in order to understand OOP.

Once you know the above (won't happen in some years), you can start with real Engines like UDK or CryEngine.

Yes, as a language it's best to know C++. From there you can learn virtually any language in the matter of hours.
As for game APIs, you can select an engine to learn and experiment with. If I remember right Cryengine is completely free for non-commercial projects. But most engines have free version and you can freely experiment to get a feel for them.

I would recommend Unity. It's a great engine for game development.
With these tutorials you should be able to learn the basics of both Unity and Javascript and make a few small games.
Also check out this channel for Unity and C#.

Learn C++. Java is a headache.

Learn C++ or Unreal or Unity. Any of which would work depending on your budget.

Start with C# or Java, they are good stepping stones to learn another language.

Source: I am a Comp Science student.

I suggest you to give a try to this it will start in the next month and u can find a lot of courses in computer science, you may also check this for start. And for God Sake please don't try build your own game engine, or you will lost your passion soon, take any popular commercial with free license. And I think C++ isn't good place for start? take Python or C#, and then you can go for C++. Sorry for my bad English..