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I think beginners should start with the simplest programming environment in order to focus on the programming, and not on troubleshooting or maintaining the environment.

For instance, if you want to learn Java, I would not begin by installing Eclipse (IDE). I think working directly with the interpreter is much more efficient. This probably true for any framework unless you have a resident expert available.

For similar reasons, I would probably recommend interpreted (scripting) languages over compiled languages. I think scripts are generally faster and simpler for basic tasks.