Q:

How can I learn the Apex language?

I bid for a freelance gig earlier, coding in the Apex language, used for the Force.com CRM platform.  It looks like an interesting language to learn and code, but it also looks expensive.  
Is there a way I can download a shell platform, just for the dev tools etc?

A:

Salesforce gives away free Developer Editions at http://www.developerforce.com/events/regular/registration.php
Developer editions allow you to have access to all the Force.com standard objects, features, and development features.  
Once you get a Development org up and running, you can download the Force.com IDE which is an Eclipse plugin and play with that.

