There's a typing suggestion below that I'll jump on as well, use a full size keyboard.

I've dabbled, bought a couple courses on Udemy a couple years ago and was trying it on a 14" laptop with a squinched keyboard. There were a number of times I'd wished for a bigger keyboard...

Also, Stack Overflow has been an excellent reference for me from time to time.

https://stackoverflow.com/

Learn the difference between "=" and "==".

The end results of your programming are fleeting. What matters is mastering the process of how to achieve those results so that it can be replicated and built upon.

If you're impatient to finish something and are more focused on getting done than actual learning, then you'll be setting yourself up to fail.

That said, I learned programming on my own from books from my aunt's shelf and I was already asking questions my teachers couldn't answer in both high school and college. Enthusiasm and the desire to make your own projects become a reality will be more powerful than any course you can take.

This is just my opinion based on my personal experiences. Good luck.

Codeacademy.com play here as much as you can. I'm not sure what level of skill you are but feel free to ask me questions. I am a machine learning data generation developer so I am pretty good with several languages.

There’s a Brit comedy called “The IT Crowd.” Watch every episode of that show and you’ll be all set!

Just try turning it off and restarting it.

Go into PLC programming. Small learning curve. Low six figure salary.

Spend some time on this site to supplement any studies you are taking:

https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn/

While you might not know what sort of programming you want to do in the future, UI development is going to lead you down a certain path that is, most likely, different from middle tier/server side programming. Java and C++ seem to be pretty dominant on the server side. Client side I'm not sure as I try to stay away from UI development as much as possible. Microsoft was going down the wpf/xaml route but I believe that's not really being pushed that much any longer since angular and react came out. nodejs seems pretty neat but I haven't used it really, just helped my son out with it a bit.

So if you want to do server side stuff I think C++/Java are the big languages/technologies to learn. If you're thinking the UI side then do some research on what the hot UI frameworks are.

Might want to create a github account and put any sample programs you write up there as a sort of "portfolio" which you can point people to. Oh yeah, learn git as many seem to have moved to git for source control.

I think linux is a better platform for a software developer than Windows, but I would guess others have different opinions. Though if you're planning to work on Microsoft developer technologies it might be better to be running Windows.

There are a bunch of online training sites. I've used coursera before and thought it was pretty good. There are also some good online sites which test your knowledge, like hackerrank. I also encountered companies that use hackerrank to test candidates knowledge so it's good to become familiar with it in case your interview process consists of completing a hackerrank test.

I am so old that my university course included just 3 weeks of Fortran IV programming.

Syntax error at line 0001

You may end up going the CIT route instead of the CIS route. I enjoyed building networks but writing code was gay as fuck. These days, I hate both and am saving to never need to see another computer again.

Get into Cyber Security! Learn how to break into systems for Corporations and write Software to alleviate Cyber Crime!

Look for a mentor. Order books and actually study them. Ask your mentor for help and guidance. “Network” with those that are interested/working in coding/programming. Those you network with can recommend/reference you for job opportunities.

My son did go to college and got a Computer Science degree. He was interning in the field way before he graduated. That helped with the “experience” part of his resume. He has been working steady since graduating in 2012. He interviews applicants regularly and I asked him out of curiosity if he ever hires anyone that doesn’t have a degree in programming. He said yes, but it is very rare. Also, his company only interviews applicants that have been recommended by employees (software engineers) in his company. NETWORK!

My recommendation would be to find a CS program that isn't going to make you go through the all-too-common humanities / diversity courses. Most, if not all, Bachelor's programs will make you do this. And colleges don't like admitting folks who are only interested in a class here or there.

Many are starting to add inclusivity crap into their formal coursework, too, which is a mess. STEM fields are not immune. Instead, maybe an accelerated course through an online program at a community or tech college? Those have a better chance of being genuinely useful. If you can learn on your own instead, that's the best way to do it imho.

(Written on a phone! Sorry for any typos.)

Not a programmer but in my IT sys admin course we learned bash scripting. The teacher had us write the script using logic steps rather than using the language, and then later converting to the language. E.g. 1. Display welcome message. 2. Wait 5 seconds. 3. Display disk space. ...... It helps you focus your mind and you are less likely to go back to edit the scripts to add things you forgot. You can use comments in the program to plan out whatever you want to do.

Figure out what you want to do for your poor career.

Don't waste ANY MONEY.

Get out while you still have a soul.

My coding days ended with the death of DEC - Dibol/Fortran/RPG, sorry!

.....logic and syntax

Don't neglect at least basic DB skills. Learn how to make tables, relate one table to another, etc., then programmatically write and retrieve records.

After that I would probably make sure variables and array (multidimensional, associative) handling are your best friends along with conditional statements.

Other stuff is quite easy once you have these basics.

I code mainly in PHP (Laravel) with a dash of jscript. Being able to create single-page apps with multiple API integrations is very lucrative.

Edited to say, "good luck!"

GC

Getting your first programming job is difficult. If you have an idea of the companies you want to work for, get your foot in the door with a role more related to the companies business. Once there, hang out with the programmers, buy them lunch and find out where they hang out after work. You will get early heads up when jobs open up and they can help you customize your resume. Basically, start walking like a duck until you get your opportunity to be a duck

I think you ought to work on writing some programs to make computers pray to God, to say prayers for people, stuff like that. It can't hurt.