| Consider giving yourself a break. You talk about going back to school, finding a new job, overcoming a learning disability, learning computer science fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, operating systems, software design, discrete mathematics, compilers, and command line essentials. I think you will feel better if you step back and focus on one thing at a time. ... Perhaps you should pick a new language, pick a well known introductory book for that language, and then commit to spending a few hours after work every day going through the book. You can do this on your Windows work computer- don't bother to learn the ins-and-outs of a new operating system. Read each page, type out each exercise, consider how what you're going through relates to what you already know. If, after a month, you're making progress and still looking forward to spending time with the book after work, I'd bet programming is for you. ... As a next step, find a local user group for whatever language you pick and drop in. If they seem like nice people, if they are talking about interesting stuff, if it is something you enjoy, keep going back. After three months, I'd guess that you will have finished the book, you will know a bit more about a new language, and you will have met some other people in your area that area up to something interesting. ... While any language and book will do, try to find something basic that you can finish in a few months. If you're looking for a specific suggestion, you might try ruby and http://pragprog.com/titles/ltp2/learn-to-program. Take care. |