Off topic:If ideally learning Python, Ruby or Perl... what could be a collateral language of interest?

Question

[K]

If I have zero-knowledge of programming and I had the chance to learn for free either Java or .net (visualstudio), which of these languages would be a better indirect gateway to the more or less "mainstream" bioinformatics languages Perl, Python and Ruby? (I mean, to become familiar with their logic and workflow)

I am interested in protein-oriented bioinformatics, if that is a factor.

Thanks a lot in advance.