As someone who has transitioned into becoming a developer via 'the computer guy (change ram, install windows ..etc)' -> 'sysadmin' -> 'scripter' -> developer path, these two points resonated well with me:<p><pre><code> > I went back for a technical master’s degree but shied away from pure
> Computer Science because I was afraid. Afraid I couldn’t compete with
> people who’d been coding since they were 12, who majored in CS at college
> the first time around, who were wizards.
and
> I didn’t realize that intense difficulty is normal in CS. No one told me
> that *everyone goes through it*...
</code></pre>
IMHO, programming <i>is</i> for everyone -- with the caveat that the person needs to be willing to work at it even if they just want <i>learn</i> it; as opposed to some other skills where one has to work hard only when one wants to <i>master</i> it although learning the basics is relatively simpler, eg: mathematics or playing an instrument.