but I started modding Tiberian Sun in 2000, at the age of 12 ("coding"). I tried picking up my first C++ book when I was around 14. None of my relatives are in a technical/engineering profession (as a matter of fact, my mother dismissed my interest in making games and mods as a waste of time), my IT-inclined friends at the time were far more interested in how cool this piece of hardware is over the other, so they couldn't be bothered with the "programming nonsense", teachers in high-school couldn't be bothered with spending time with me about something that we might cover for an year in IT class when I turn 17. After Generals, I "retired" from modding to focus on my studies. I didn't mingle with people, who code until I went to uni at the age of 18, so in that span of 6 years I was completely on my own - books, tutorials, write code, repeat, experiment. When I started my first degree (in Informatics), I was ahead of most of my classmates, when it came to Programming classes.

My reasons for quitting that degree and going abroad are completely irrelevant to the topic of learning the "kind of stuff", so I'll cut to the chase. It is hard doing it on your own, and based on what I've said above, I think that I completely understand you and a lot of the people who are just starting out (or are anxious about starting out). At the same time I can't help to think that people nowadays are exposed to so much more sources of information, compared to back in the days, so with that in mind, I think that "quite hard to learn it.especially on your own" is a bit exaggerated.

It's no walk in the park, but nowadays there are ways to learn things (that used to require going to specialized schools) without leaving your home. People can go beyond the basics and even into so many other areas without having to shove money into an institution and/or spend ages sourcing materials from books. There are so many forums, Google+ Hangouts, communities - It's crazy!