Hello, I'm quite new to this, so maybe this is a dumb question, but I'll ask it anyway: I have a good grasp of HTML and CSS. But a lot of the source-codes of websites I view are using lots of Java or PHP. I want to know whether these are real benefits to my website, or is this for more advanced webmasters, and should I build my first site with HTML and CSS, and add in Java and PHP later? Thanks in advance!
Depends on the site you want to build. Scripts like PHP are used for sites that involve lots of user interaction, like forums, weblogs, etc. If you simply want to provide your users with information, HTML and CSS (with a little JavaScript if you like) would be the way to go.