[DanBC]

Something like "The art of electronics" and "the art of electronics lab book", coupled with virtual or real equipment will teach smart people pretty thoroughly.

The books are old, and so there have been a number of advances, but that's okay because people like you need a solid grounding in the basics (the simple circuit you mention) and the rest will be easy enough for you to work out.

But it'd be great to see a modern electronics course for programmers.