[planxty]

Yes, absolutely. I did at 35. Find the aspects of the work you love the most and let them guide you. A bootcamp or similar educational experience should help you ask the right questions at the outset, and will be a significant boost to your self study.

Any mid-life career change carries risk, so I recommend speaking with your family and/or loved ones to make your intent clear. I also saved money for a while before joining a bootcamp to take pressure off of my wife during the training and to ease the job search after finishing.

Most important tip: talk to people. Ask software engineers about their work, lives, interests, practices. Whether you take some formal schooling or not, learning about how people work and why they make decisions will help you move forward more quickly. Without that context it's easy to get lost in a sea of details.