While it’s definitely a good thing to be familiar with assembly language, I wouldn’t recommend starting there. I use Microchip’s C18 C compiler as there is a free student version (the only limitation is that you can’t use some optimization after 60 days). The only catch is you have to use a PIC18 chip (it won’t compile code for the PIC12 chips). Do you have any prior programming experience in higher level languages?
On my website (see in my tag line below), I have quite a few tutorials on getting the 24L01 working with the PIC18F452 using C18. All the code is on the site, as well as a write-up to explain background material. Don’t forget you’re also going to need a hardware programmer for any PIC you choose as they don’t ship with any type of bootloader installed.