The new Ruby and Ajax stuff looks sweet but PHP it the tried and true. If I am to devote time to learning something new, which one should I choose?
PHP is my second language and is a safe bet. It's very widely used with lots of applications available for free or cheap, hosting is cheap as well and usually has a nice control panel with lots of extras including server add-ons. I looked at Ruby and its Rails framework looks to be nice for creating quick back end systems. It was all the buzz back in February but seems to be cooling off. It's probably not enough to unseat PHP in the web site owners world.
If you learn the universal concepts that govern pretty much every programming and scripting language, picking up a new one is extremely easy. For that reason i'm going to suggest learning both, if you have the time, and throwing in some C wouldn't hurt. It gives you a good idea of how scripting languages work under the hood, and a better understanding of concepts like strong typing, as opposed to the dynamic typing used in most scripting languages.
I agree that once you've gotten down one programming language, it is very easy to pick up others, but I would personally suggest just sticking with PHP for now. Studying more than one language for your first step into programming may prove a bit difficult. However, once you've gotten the hang of one language, then I would recommend foraging into other languages, such the ones DrMalloc suggested.
learn PHP. i don't see many jobs posted for Ruby, and if you become an expert in a language it's nice to hope that you might also get paid for doing it one day. not that i know much PHP myself. i'm a Perl nut. but if i was to fully jump into another language it would be PHP. but darn if the language isn't a stickler for the semi-colons
I would suggest PHP, since is most widely used. However, as it has been mentioned before, learn the basics and any language will be easy
All is depends on your type of thinking. Ruby is object oriented language, easy to learn. In OOP it much better then php. Again, for what - one thing you need some simple site to be created, another - you want to become professional programmer. The studing only Ruby will give no effect - you need to learn other technologies and study, study, study... As for me I started from BASIC (yes, was such a language ), the Pascal, then Delphi (different languages but finished on 7). When I was programming delphi, i have learned database development using paradox, then interbase-firebird, ms access. Also I studed C/C++, programmed under linux, tried Java and Java server technologies, then came to web-development. My first script was written using Visual Studio C++ - yes, I wrote my first guestbook on C++ CGI Then I started Perl. But then I tried PHP - yes, I loved it Now I'm programming on php for web-projects, but also want to know asp 2.0. Ruby... Hm, i studing it too - but now have no time for it. That's why know wide spectre of technologies - this will help you in future Regards, Alex