Well, I qualify by your definition. I just did a lot of it, starting sometime around 1981. I wasn't trying to learn programming per se, but actually trying to s

Well, I qualify by your definition. I just did a lot of it, starting sometime around 1981. I wasn't trying to learn programming per se, but actually trying to solve problems with it. What I suggest is find some other interest that forces you to program. That way, the problems come from the subject matter, and you can't avoid the things that are hard. My interests were math, science, and electronics.