[agentultra]

You can probably hack something out from tutorials, books, etc... but it won't be good. It'll work and seem impressive, but you might be surprised by security holes or server outages. Dealing with those issues will teach you other things... but it takes a certain amount of thick skin to learn in such a "trial by fire."

If it's your own time/money -- go for it.

However, mastery of anything demands sacrifice and dedication. If you want to go beyond practical application and become really good at something where you can create and contribute new ideas; it will take you years of work and study. You will have to crack open text books, take notes, read source code to old operating systems, review the important academic papers, constantly hack on new projects, and spend a lot of time developing poor vision, lower back pain, and RSI. Learn to fear the outdoors and make sure you find a partner who'll remind you to take care of yourself and stop sitting in front of the computer so much.