Design:

Smashing Magazine – User Interface concepts:  http://www.smashingmagazine.com/

Zen Garden – examples of how CSS can be beautiful:  http://www.csszengarden.com/

Design and Development:

SitePoint - amazing JavaScript and CSS references : http://www.sitepoint.com/

Development:

Tizag - PHP, Java, Javascript, tutorials in easy to follow format: http://www.tizag.com/

W3Schools - PHP, JavaScript, Python, HTML, CSS tutorials – great quick and easy guides to simple to moderately complex topics: http://www.w3schools.com/

Tools

Eclipse IDE – The standard for Java developers can be useful for PHP developers also – with the optional PHP extension pack.

PHPDesigner7 - a comprehensive PHP, Python, JavaScript IDE that contains project as well as file management tools.  Very customizable.  Lightweight (as compared to Eclipse).

Language Downloads

WAMP Server – Windows, Apache2, MySQL, PHP – for Windows XP/Server platforms.  FAST install for a robust development environment.  Will make testing using Eclipse or PHPDesigner7 very effective.

Click here to download Python

Python - the language base for the powerful and intuitive Python language.