I think I see what you're getting at. Some definitions might be needed:
A compiler is a little program that takes source code (text files with commands written in them) and creates an executable file in machine code (.exe files).
An IDE (I think the programmer that you were referring to) stands for Integrated Development Environment and all that it basically is is an editor for the source code in a specific language.
The important thing to have with any language is a compiler as you want to run your code after you've written it. The only exception to this are scripting languages which are not compiled (like ASP, PHP).
The IDE is only used for editing the program. Most of the time you can write the program in Notepad (or some other IDE for that language) and compile it anyway. So the IDE is not needed but is definitely a nice thing to have as it colourises the keywords and such in your source code. This just makes writing code a little easier and more productive.
If you want to learn programming as a career, then I suggest you try out .NET or Java as there are plenty of jobs out for those two. They are the corporate choices these days.
If you want to program for fun or make games, then try out the more interesting stuff like C, C++, Pascal, etc...
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