Perhaps a better way for a “tech neophyte” to try out coding is to learn how to write HTML/CSS. This pairing is far more self-contained and visual, and gratifying, than programming initially is (no matter the flavor, whether JS, Python, Swift, they all are far more complex with abstract logic).
Learning how to create a static web page only requires a layout, a text editor and a browser. You can try your hand at building a magazine page, for example, with its masthead, article areas and footer—and you will not be dealing with math or abstract problem solving that coding soon requires.
The learner can see how the basic HTML language syntax works (e.g. simple tags go around the words to style or structure them)… experience how the browser is strict about typos (early experience in debugging!); see how dependencies are linked in (graphics, external hyperlinks); see how the classes and IDs from the CSS file influence the HTML elements; and so on.
If the somewhat tedium of composing blocks of HTML and CSS code is gratifying to the learner, and it sparks an interest, then they can continue gaining fluency in the constructs and begin to appreciate how WYSIWYG editors work (like in WordPress or BigCommerce, say). This can be so helpful for business owners or bloggers, to fix the mistakes that RTEs can introduce from copy/paste actions from other sources (ie. Word pastes).
So, I’m proposing that fluency in HTML is a more basic, essential skill for today’s professionals than actual coding.