[dhosek]

I'd second the emulator recommendation. While programming, say, an Apple ][+ can be fun, getting one running maybe not so much. Plus, with an emulator, you'll have the ability to do things like write your code in a modern editor and then paste it over to the emulator rather than trying to work with 8-bit tools. I used to hand-assemble my 6502 code back in the day because I couldn't afford to buy a fancy macro assembler, but I wouldn't recommend writing code in long hand and filling in the hex codes on paper before typing it all in to anyone in 2022.

[drivers99]

An intermediate step between real hardware and emulation could be buying the hardware for a MisterFPGA.