[frogcoder]

Start with something you can handle. Which language doesn't really matter but keep in mind that are so many possibilities. When you are comfortable with your first language, try some other, preferably with a different paradigm. It's totally fine using one language for development most of the time, just remember there are so many ways to accomplish one task.

The age does not matter as long as you can sit down and code. You don't see many old people doing programming because it's simply not many there. Computing is relatively new. It's obvious most people entering this field would be young, older people might require a change of career hence less incentive.

[john_the_writer]

My Pa just retired. 30+ years of coding. Most older people aren't coding because they get promoted out of it. Some stay with it, because they love the puzzles.

Here's what I say.. If you can fix a car you can debug code. You take all the info you can get and you make guesses, then you narrow it down. Writing new code is about the same. Find something you want to do, and poke until you get it. As time goes on you get faster.

Important bit of coding as a job though. You are always falling behind. Tech moves so fast, there's always something to learn. It's a blessing and curse. Sometimes it feels like too much, and other times it's just the best thing ever.