I second this whole post, but especially that part.
I would add one more bit: It helps a lot to have a friend who’s already a programmer. Not so you can say “teach me how to program”, but so you have someone to go to when you don’t know what words or phrases you need to Google.
IRC channels or newsgroups relevant to the language/library/application you’re using can substitute for that but aren’t quite as helpful.
I second this whole post, but especially that part.
I would add one more bit: It helps a lot to have a friend who’s already a programmer. Not so you can say “teach me how to program”, but so you have someone to go to when you don’t know what words or phrases you need to Google. IRC channels or newsgroups relevant to the language/library/application you’re using can substitute for that but aren’t quite as helpful.