As server-side languages go, all of them are fantastic and have their ups and downs. You can probably learn Python or Ruby the fastest. PHP you could always lea

As server-side languages go, all of them are fantastic and have their ups and downs. You can probably learn Python or Ruby the fastest. PHP you could always learn pretty quick, but when it comes to complicated tasks I always tend to get confused, depends on the person. Python and Perl can be used for pretty much anything so when you learn those two you can do much more than just web development (along with Ruby and Java as well, just not as much). Java is used the most in the software world so learning Java will have the most value, most likely. Google App Engine or Heroku is also a good starting point since they do all the complicated server stuff for you.