All the same applies to any job that requires formal education. A rested mind, good enough food, free time, a safe environment and so on. There are also peopl

All the same applies to any job that requires formal education. A rested mind, good enough food, free time, a safe environment and so on. There are also people who do not do well at all in an educational environment, and the lack of one is a benefit towards learning programming for them. All that most people are saying is the barriers to becoming a software developer vs. other professions are lower and cheaper than most others. There are still barriers and challenges, just like everything else in improving one's life.