Learning to code was mostly done by people who naturally gravitated to logic and computers and could solve problems on their own or with the help of a mentor.

Learning to code was mostly done by people who naturally gravitated to logic and computers and could solve problems on their own or with the help of a mentor. I think in the 90's there was a growth in what I call career programmers: people who chose to get into programming because it was "the thing to do", though they didn't have the natural skills or passion for the work. They just worked really hard to learn and found a nitch to fit into...before moving on to management (or getting fired). A lot of these people were the foundation for classroom training and certifications. I think millennials are a combination of natural skill and passion, but in many cases lack the background of computer science so they do great and terrible things all at once. I'm mostly self-taught, but having Google and Stack Overflow are really amazing tools. Except when you're asking the wrong question (Google lacks context). Then you need something else, which doesn't exist. Yet.