I would say Python all the way for an interpreted language.
The other day one of the programmers on my robotics team was asking about how to check if his joystick curve function was working. I was able to rewrite a prototype function in a python editor, stick a for-loop at the bottom the file, and run it, all in about 1-2 minutes (he was still explaining to someone about how it would or wouldn't work when I finished).
The really nice thing about Python is that it has hundreds of *useful* library functions, especially in the string and math realms. It has native BigInt support, and much else.
One problem is that it has no strict typing. This can also be a huge benefit if you are trying to use code intended for one thing for a completely different purpose.
I actually learned python as a scripting language for Vega Strike, but I'm so glad I know it now. Perl feels less "right" than python... too much syntax, and not enough sense to it.
Also, I would say C++ for best compiled language... It has a pretty nice library of functions, it's native, and it runs all C libraries with few hassles. It has some methods for garbage colleciton, and a lot of other features that make it really generous for a compiled language.
Speaking of C++, I've heard Objective-C (I've never used it however) is a nice language (though it hurts my eyes to look at it). It supposedly now has garbage collection support, yet it's compiled. I wonder how they did that...
Java and PHP are okay... but they feel messy. I used to really like PHP for web development, but I learned about
Django which is a much more structured web development method written in Python.