[osullivj]

Others have said Python or Ruby, and I'd agree. Other mainstream languages like Java, C# or JavaScript have a steeper learning curve. With JavaScript you have to deal with all the CSS & HTML stuff too if you're doing front end dev. As a longtime Pythonista I's say give the Tornado web framework a try. Unlike Django, you're not compelled to use a DB.

[collyw]

You could do Django without a DB, but the framework kind of assumes you will have one.