Each language has strengths and drawbacks. Python is our advised first language.

Start with Learn Python the Hard Way. You can move on to the next section after Exercise 11. If you like learning from videos, consider Treehouse instead. You can also try Exercism for a 3rd teaching style.

The latter two options will let you get started without configuring your machine, but eventually you will need to set up your machine. That is often the most frustrating part, so don't worry if you wrestle with it a bit.

Start with this git tutorial. You can host your own repository, but if you want to keep it simple, put things on github.

Google App Engine will let you get started faster. It will cost more money if your company gets really big, but that's the kind of problem you hope to have. Work your way down the How-To Guide up to Authenticating Users, then begin skipping around as you need.

Heroku is offered as a not-Google option. It will take more to get going, but you won't be married to working with Google.

Use quotes around the error message if you are getting too much other stuff. Replace variable names with the word "foo."

Scatter print statements throughout your code and watch your code run in a terminal. By looking at what print statement was shown most recently, you can see where the computer was right before it crashed.

Try Stack Overflow