My preferred setup: Back-end Framework: Express.js Front-end Framework: Backbone.js Language: Javascript Web Server: Node.js Database: MongoDB OS: OSX 10.7.3 Editor: Vim or Vico
I'm using something pretty similar:
Back-end Framework: Express.js
Front-end Framework: Backbone.js (some RonR on the rocks as well)
Language: Javascript
Web Server: Node.js/Nginx
Database: MongoDB
OS: OSX Lion
Editor: Textmate/Vim
Training: Oreilly Books, Github, API docs, Mashape docs