How hard is it to learn to code?

[Cobblersandhogwash]

I'm looking at various courses with a view to retraining. They offer studies on HTML, Python, Ruby, C++.....

It's a good job there are lots of free introductory courses out there. My head is spinning through my research.

Is it really hard and cerebral? I don't mind hard work. I just need to manage my expectations.

It depends what you want to code! Some things are easy. Others aren't. I write scientific software - so that can involve tough maths, sometimes the challenge is how to handle large data, sometimes it's about writing code fast enough to be useful, quite a lot is designing and implementing good user interfaces so that it's easy for the customers to do difficult things, but always it's the science that matters most.

It’s VERY boring. You literally sit at a desk typing and staring at a screen all day with very little social interaction. It’s not particularly difficult but you need a mind that likes to solve puzzles and retains information well.

You need to be really good at maths.

No you don’t. You need to be good at logic but maths is different.

Anyone can learn how to code to a reasonably proficient level. However, not everyone can become a really good coder.

Once you’ve learned one language it’s much easier to learn another so start with something that’s not too difficult. I’m a long time out of the game so can’t advise on the best language but you’ve got plenty of good advice here

ou need to be really good at maths.
No you don't. That bullshit was pedalled at me in secondary school but I've been working as a software developer for 25 years despite being bad at mathematics.

That’s kind of like asking ‘how much does a car cost?’.

The answer, of course is ‘it depends on a lot of factors’.
If you are literate with a basic ability to use logic then you can code at a beginning level (so most people baring some learning difficulties).

After that it depends on what you want to do. Being good at math is important for most advanced coding/algorithm design not because you necessary need to use math ( you might or you might not) but because the type of thinking that makes someone good at math applies to this level of coding.

If your interest lies more with the user side of things, user interfaces and web pages then a good understanding of graphic design and being able to put yourself into someone else’s situation (I.e. how would my nan react to seeing this option on her bank website etc) helps a lot.

So basically it’s flexible and if you can grasp the basics there are lots of different ways you can take a career (or hobby) to suit your personal interests and skills.

Ref: 20+ years of coding, designing/architecting, testing and releasing SW and hiring for and leading SW teams :)