Ask HN: How to be a programmer? Where do I start?

Traditionally, most people start with an interest in computing. I was a biology major that stayed up late at night learning C++ instead of studying biology. I ended up switching into computer science as a junior and never looked back.

If you enjoy building things, spend time building something simple for yourself in a language that is easily approachable like javascript, python, or go. A good first program to write is a generator of some sort. Perhaps a maze or Sudoku generator. If that goes well, then a related solver.