ok well, MPLAB is made by the same company that makes PIC micro controllers, MPLAB uses ASM which is simple but hard to learn. you can get different compilers for MPLAB that enable you to use BASIC, c,c++ and so on.
If you prefer basic to any other language, you can look at PICAXE which are based on PICs but use their own boot loader and are good for beginners.
So for recommenced software, there is C18, a plug in for MPLAB that allows you to program c/c++, designed for 18F series micro controllers and above its free but after 60 days, code optimization gets turned off.
There is cc5x which is free-ish that is also a plugin for MPLAB, it lets you program in c for 16F series microchips and below but have a program size limitation for the free version.
so either way, you will be using MPLAB for most of your PIC related stuff
Cheers
Roman