...what programming language do i need to learn? C++ for iexplorer and java for the other main browsers like Firefox etc?

Depends on what you want the toolbar to do.

Here is an example for creating a toolbar button in firefox

http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Custom_Toolbar_Button

oh i know exactly what the toolbar is sposed to do! its just that i cant really go into it in too much detail at the moment. I can say however that the aim of the toolbar is NOT to search the web, or for stopping annoying popups etc.!

Having looked at the url thats not nearly as complex as what im wanting, its going to be programmed from the ground up as a seperate toolbar and installed like the google and yahoo toolbars are!