Not free, but http://webfaction.com is a shared hosting provider I've used in the past that has a one-click setup for Django, Rails, etc. Plus they offer PostgreSQL (which not a lot of shared providers do). I don't use them anymore, but I think it's something like $10/month for the cheapest plan. It's great to learn on.
But as far as what to learn, I'd highly recommend Python and a web framework such as Django or Pylons.
Comments
You may as well start with JSP at a free web host like http://www.myjavaserver.com/ or http://www.eatj.com/ to play around.
Are there anything like this for python (w/wo django)?
Not free, but http://webfaction.com is a shared hosting provider I've used in the past that has a one-click setup for Django, Rails, etc. Plus they offer PostgreSQL (which not a lot of shared providers do). I don't use them anymore, but I think it's something like $10/month for the cheapest plan. It's great to learn on.
But as far as what to learn, I'd highly recommend Python and a web framework such as Django or Pylons.
Have a look at http://wiki.python.org/moin/FreeHosts