I think your drive to learn is what's really valuable (disclaimer, I'm 23). Looks to me like a lot of people give up on learning anything at some point, and just rot away.
The fact you're still learning something radically new for you at 31 means your soul hasn't been crushed. Stay that way!
I took a couple years not coding after a stress attack, and just recently I've been getting back into it. Entire days debugging, writing, learning; it's the biggest joy I have in life besides music and my two guinea pigs. It's also the most creative and powerful tool suite I have. Maybe it's like that for you too.
I had a dilemna in my late teens, I thought it was too late to learn to program. Most of the best people I know of started around age 11. I decided I would never become a programmer, I just couldn't compete. Then I went to university and by chance, took an intro course, had a good prof, and learned anyway. I still can't compete, I only got one short job as a programmer, but I'm a lot happier for understanding how the Internet works, and my computer, and cpu design, and... everything.
So, I don't know at all how your age will affect getting hired. Maybe just don't mention how recently you learned to program :]
Regardless, I'll bet your life is more worth living for having learned more computer science, so at least for that, keep it up.
The fact you're still learning something radically new for you at 31 means your soul hasn't been crushed. Stay that way!
I took a couple years not coding after a stress attack, and just recently I've been getting back into it. Entire days debugging, writing, learning; it's the biggest joy I have in life besides music and my two guinea pigs. It's also the most creative and powerful tool suite I have. Maybe it's like that for you too.
I had a dilemna in my late teens, I thought it was too late to learn to program. Most of the best people I know of started around age 11. I decided I would never become a programmer, I just couldn't compete. Then I went to university and by chance, took an intro course, had a good prof, and learned anyway. I still can't compete, I only got one short job as a programmer, but I'm a lot happier for understanding how the Internet works, and my computer, and cpu design, and... everything.
So, I don't know at all how your age will affect getting hired. Maybe just don't mention how recently you learned to program :]
Regardless, I'll bet your life is more worth living for having learned more computer science, so at least for that, keep it up.