script I should learn beside php language?

I'd recommend JavaScript. PHP handles making pages on the server, and JavaScript works in the browser to make things interactive. The combination of these two can be quite powerful.

AJAX, a coding based on the PHP scripting langauage, seems to be the latest in web-based technology. In combination with SQL, it can be a very powerful tool.

My opinion: If you want to be a truly great programmer, in any discipline (including web), focus on logic -- something you can learn while messing around with any language. Once you can solve problems logically and create efficient algorithms you can code in any language. Why specialize? :-)

For the frontend work I would be sure to know Javascript and, even though it is not a scripting language, be familiar with XML. Both of those are crucial for doing AJAX development. For the backend I would recommend also knowing Perl (Perl, IMHO, is the ducktape of the internet). I also know friends that are using Ruby (specifically Ruby on Rails) for web work, but none in a commercial environment yet.

For data storage and retrievel, SQL is also vital. MySQL is a good server to start with.

Flash should also be given a look, AJAX is now doing quite a bit of what Flash used to be used for, but it still has many uses in web development.

en.wikipedia.org

If you want to be more of a client side programmer, the following is a good list.

JavaScript -- For client side interaction. Look up the term AJAX, which incorporates JavaScript, and you'll see all sorts of people talking about how this is the future of web applications. Gmail is an example of an AJAX application.

CSS -- Not a scripting language, but a way to style and layout web pages. Alot of people use CSS wrong. There are a few books that cover how to do it right. Books by Eric Meyer (Eric Meyer on CSS 1 & 2) and Jeffery Zeldman (Web standards) are MUST READS if you want to learn it right in the shortest amount of time. You might work witha designer that will do all of this for you, but you still better understand it.

HTML -- I'm sure you know this by know, but the trick is doing HTML right. The Zeldman book talks about this and the O'Reilly HTML reference book is very helpful. Don't fall into using HTML the wrong way since it is very hard to get out of that pit. When I say "wrong way", I mean using tables to layout your page instead of CSS or .

XML -- Not really a scripting language, but you'll need to know how to use XML in relation to other scripting languages.

XSL -- I have read a little about this, but don't really know how many companies are using it in the real world. There is a slight bit of scripting involved. Read up on it just to be aware. I still believe most people are sticking with HTML and CSS.

For backend programming, which I don't no much about,:

ASP or ASP.net -- If you end up working at a company using microsoft products, you'll need to know this. They are very similiar to PHP.

SQL -- Not a scripting language, but you'll need to interface with databases and this is the only way. SQL syntax varies by the product you use. MYSQL, SQLServer, Oracle are all popular database products.

VB or VB.net -- If you are in a microsoft shop, they'll want you to know this.

C# and/or Java

C++ -- If you want to get hard core.

There is definitely more stuff out there. I recommend looking at some job descriptions of jobs you might want and check out their requirements. That's the best way.

Ruby on Rails is a framework implemented in the Ruby programming language. It is gaining a tremendous amount of support as fast, easy to install, configure and maintain and easy to learn.

I would check it out. It solves a lot of the debatable questions in terms of how to design a web-app by simply picking a very agreeable solution. Starting with ruby on rails would be a good way to pick up some good habits right off the bat.

Python is another extremely popular scripting language. You can find comparisons of Ruby and Python in several places on the web. Just Google for it.

www.rubyonrails.com
www.ruby-lang.org
www.ruby-doc.org

www.python.org

definitely javascript

also consider java, since it's easy to learn once you know javascript, and there are lots of libraries available that will make your job easier