I'm brand new to modding and I want to learn to make scripts. The General Modding Tutorial section isn't beginner-friendly. After looking through a bunch of stuff, I have decided "How to Access Sims 4 Python Files" is where to start, and the two tutorials after that (clock speed and town population) are the next step. And as far as I can tell, nothing else on that page is of any use to me at this stage, but with link names like "BROBX Audio Configuration (type 0xfd04e3be) v2" and "1.48.90 : TDESCs" it's hard to be sure. The first time I decided to try modding, I looked at list of cryptic links and decided not to bother. Now I'm trying again, and I installed Sims 4 Studio, but that doesn't seem to do any sort of non-object scripting. I've been looking around for a few hours to find three pages that might help me, so it would be soooo nice if you had some sort of "start here" list for newbies. It would also be really helpful to be able to see the source code for a bunch of small, basic scripts; do you have that anywhere, besides the two tutorials I mentioned above?

This page might help you to find things, I don't know if you've seen it:
Sims 4:Modding^wiki

The tutorials are written by creators, not staff.  So what you see is what people have figured out and decided to share via tutorial.  Modding for any sims game is never beginner level.  Basic cc creation is the simplistic of ways to start, basic objects or clothes.  Modding typically requires an understanding or knowledge of programming.

Yup. That's the page that caused me to give up the first time around.

By "beginner," I mean "someone who has never modded the Sims before," not "someone who has never coded before." I get that I'll need to learn Python, but if there's no Step 2, I might not bother.

What would you like to achieve in the game? If we know what you want to mod, it might be easier to find you some tutorials that are more appropriate. Have you also checked the S4S site- they have some tutorials such as this one which might help you.