If you're going down the Python route I'll throw in Full Stack Python http://www.fullstackpython.com/
I wrote FSP to provide beginners with context as to what these terms like web server, WSGI server and platform-as-a-service mean without assuming you have prior programming experience.
Uhhh, thank you. I was interested in using Python, since it seems so omnipresent when you look at the it security space. So this might be a great alternative to PHP (at least for me...)
