I just graduated and landed my first job as a graphic designer. I know the whole creative suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, Indesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, ect..) but I would really like to get more into the programming side of things in the future. I'm pretty good with HTML/CSS and can take my designs, slice out the images and code basic websites out of them.
I want to start taking my coding to the next level but I'm not sure where to go from here. I know the very basics of JavaScript, jQuery, and PHP (I can copy some code from the internet and adjust it to fit what I want) but I would have no idea where to start if I had to build something from scratch. Everything I know so far has been largely self-taught. What is the difference between these languages (and Ruby, C, C++, Java)? and which would be the best to learn to add more "flair" to my websites? Is it better to keep learning a little bit of everything as I go? Or is it better to focus more on one or two in particular?
I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel or build a program no one has made before, I just want to make cool, interactive websites. Thanks