[cadandcookies]

I was not a programmer on my team, but after three years of trying to learn to code on my own, the most effective way for me to actually learn to code and how to write code that people wouldn't hate me for was taking a class with a guy who was in industry for around thirty years. Obviously it was a school class, but I learned more in the last year of working with him than I did in three working independently. If you can find a good teacher, I would definitely argue that that's the best way (and arguably the fastest, since you'll pick up significantly fewer bad habits).

But that's just my experience learning Java in a non-robotics setting. I certainly wouldn't consider that route the only or best way. Unlike mechanics, where you can learn from a textbook or via physical experience, there are a million distinct ways to learn programming. As always though, a disclaimer: "Like all of my advice, your milage may vary."

I know that there's been some discussion of non-experts answering questions outside their experience, but I hope I haven't muddied the water too much...