Is anyone here familiar with this? It makes a lot of promises, particularly that [with hard work] you can get enough programming knowledge within six months to get an entry-level job. In the same author's book, Teach Yourself C++ in 21 days, she explains that if you put in 12 hours of study a week, through about six months, you should know enough C++ to get an entry level programming position.

So what I'm wondering, has anyone had success with these books, or simply from teaching yourself a programming language and skipping any sort of college or technical university? To make this clearer, how long did it take those of you who have jobs in the programming field to get those jobs (from the point you knew near nothing about programming to the day you were hired)? How old were you when you got your job? Is it considered atypical in the IT industry to hire someone under the age of 21?