Smashing Mag website gather a lot of useful links to understand typography:
- how to create a font
- how to get a better kerning
- fonts anatomy
- and many other ressources

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/11/16/web-typography-100-educational-resources-tools-and-techniques/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/05/06/50-helpful-typography-tools-and-resources/

But what program do you use???

Indeed ...