Sorry, whats the point of this question! You want to be the 'most popular progammer on the web'. If so, yes PHP.mySQL etc etc. If you want to make money and get a good paying job then its .Net, SQL Server and /or Oracle cause thats what most businesses use (cue flames from PHP progs!). Personally I sit on both sides of the fence - maybe thats why I've got splinters in me bum !
Heh, I don't mean Java Applets, I meant Java Application Servers. Every time you see a url end with .jsp, it is a Java program.
custom Enterprise-sized applications -> ASP.NET, JSP small/middle sized web sites/applications -> PHP
@it career: AJAX won't replace PHP; that doesn't even make sense. AJAX is a method of retrieving data, whereas PHP is a language.
Ajax will replace PHP? You must be joking. I hope you know what PHP does and what Ajax does before predicting how the future will be.
For webmasters that are working alone, it's PHP. For enterprises with money to spend, it's Java and sometimes .net.
php is the most popular, it's because is very optimized for web. ajax can't be the most popular language since it's a method between javascript + server side page