Do this course: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~cis194/spring13/lectures.html http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~cis194/spring13/lectures.html I know it sounds ridiculous but

Do this course: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~cis194/spring13/lectures.html http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~cis194/spring13/lectures.html I know it sounds ridiculous but a) it took me about seven evenings b) it's a lot of fun and c) I guarantee you'll get some proper programming insight, whatever language you use for a day job.