This is a very classic question: Which is your favorite programming language in bioinformatics? Which languages would you recommend to a student wishing to enter the world of bioinformatics?
My favorite is python. It is already used extensively in scientific applications, including bioinformatics, and it is readily adaptable to new situations. I would also recommend augmenting python with R (supplemented with packages from Bioconductor), which provides many statistical packages with applicability to bioinformatics.