I want to start experimenting with all these different web frameworks that are available. I was wondering if they could all run in one machine at the same time?
I know that all my database services can all run at the same time, along with the Javascript frameworks, but what about something like Rails and Java applications? Can those play along with each other? Will Apache handle all of this for me?
Yes, since almost any language framework runs as normal code for the language, simply providing structure for applications you write, they can coexist well with other frameworks for the same or other languages. You can certainly run Rails and a Java framework on the same machine – you could even run Rails on JRuby and a Java application server
It sounds like you’re just getting started programming. I would recommend learning some of the basics first. For instance, if you want to learn Ruby, try the Pickaxe book, write some simple scripts, then move on to a ruby web framework like Sinatra or Rails. You’ll have a better understanding of the difference between a language and framework, how each is installed and run on your machine, etc.