I was able to pick up Python pretty effortlessly (coming from a zero programming experience background) through Udacity's search engine course. If you're coming from little or no experience, you can easily pick up on Python. Like everything else, it just takes time to get used to.

If you happen to go the Python route, here are a few resources that helped me:

Udacity's Search Engine Course https://www.udacity.com/course/cs101

Google's AppEngine (for Python development) https://developers.google.com/appengine/

Django - Web Framework for Python https://www.djangoproject.com/