The key here is that in all probability you need a realistic programming task that will result in a piece of software you want to use. It is exceedingly diffic

The key here is that in all probability you need a realistic programming task that will result in a piece of software you want to use. It is exceedingly difficult to just "learn to program". If you were to go to college then you would be set tasks that you would be motivated to complete (for a qualification of what have you) and you would thus learn enough about programming to complete the task. Without the motivation for each stage of learning - the task of learning would be pretty dry.