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Pick a "stack", and go nuts.
My "stack" is .NET: Windows; C#; WPF; WCF; SQL Server; IIS; etc.
Then there's the "LAMP" stack: Linux; Apache; MySQL; PHP.
Or, go "mobile": Android; IOS; Xamarin; etc.
Then start going to "freelancer" sites and take stock of who wants what ... And start bidding on jobs.
You now gain experience working on little jobs and learn "business" at the same time: estimating; client relations; getting ripped off; etc.
And, before you know it (if you're good), you have a (5 star) "portfolio" and you're in business.
(Starting "another" new SCADA project for the largest company of its kind after "making myself" in just that fashion).
"(I) am amazed to see myself here rather than there ... now rather than then".
― Blaise Pascal
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Choose one among several ways that lead to the cloud.
1. Pick a cloud provider ( Amazon and Microsoft are the two biggies )
2. Learn their infrastructure as a service and platform as a service offerings and develop small applications with them ( You can have free credits of their cloud offerings ). Keep it public on git so that it reflects on your portfolio
3. Host your own website/blog on their free offering.
4. Build your resume with their taglines and start sending to small companies who are looking for cloud talent. See how you fare, come back and learn what you are lacking. Keep Repeating step 4 until you get your first gig.
5. Once you get your first gig, do not stop learning, keep building your knowledge.
I have to tell you it is a slow and pain(ful) process till the time you get your first gig.
Best of luck
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I suppose I'm well late with my advice but here are my thoughts.
Programming is an unusual profession because it doesn't necessarily require qualifications to gain entry. Experience counts for an awful lot. I would say pursue your studies (HNC) at night school - it is what I did - but now you must focus on gaining that entry.
I don't think a lack of experience has to work against you, it could be an advantage because you will be so much cheaper. At 28 you ought to be able to present yourself as a reliable and mature person that an employer will be able to rely upon.
Having said that, you may find that you have to attend a lot of interviews before you get anywhere. Would be employers are incredibly cagey and interview practices are notoriously subjective. At one point in my career I did something in the order of 40 interviews before I made any headway. It probably won't be that bad for you because I had a number of mitigating circumstances, but even so don't be disheartened when a would be Senior Dev pulls your wings off because you didn't 'get'his pet problem.
Agents can be tricky to work with, but a good one can really make the difference. Just be careful that they are telling the truth about you to a prospective employer.
To begin with I would suggest you may be able to pick up short term contracts at a low rate. Possibly you could discuss an extended probation period with a full time employer. Working from home might be an option. Be careful of picking up work from places like People Per Hour. Make sure you carefully scope any work. Expect to have to travel, but you might be surprised how many local firms there might be. You might also find that there are local firms that might want a bit of IT done on the side for cheap. You may also consider testing automation (Selenium, simulators) as a route into development.
In your situation I would avoid any jobs that are directly related to supporting an existing product. That will come later on anyway and there won't really be the opportunities to flex your new development muscles in the way you would like. Don't get me wrong, support can be a very challenging environment but it often doesn't get the respect or kudos it deserves. If you wind up as that support engineer there is a very real possibility that you will be passed over on the really good development opportunities.
Finally, remember: software development requires confidence in yourself and your abilities. If you lose that confidence you're toast as a developer. Never take criticism from other developers to heart - software developers never agree on anything and are always right. 
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Never too late! I'll take every piece of advice I can get at this point and thank you for taking the time. I have looked around the local area and there are a surprising amount of positions in development around! A hell of a lot more than I expected there to be. A lot of apprenticeship type position aimed at school leavers which are very low paid and quite a few junior dev positions 25 - 30k, my problem at the minute is I don't know enough for a junior dev position in my opinion and I can't afford the pay drop back to an apprenticeship! I'd be taking a pay cut to a junior position but I always expected that! I'm gonna continue with my studies for a couple of years I think and then try and get into an junior level position. I want some more knowledge behind me before I take the leap I think but I am going to keep my eyes open to see what's around.
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Some kind soul recently gave me a CD of Norton A-V, and I have found it incredibly useful.
I recently got one of my DSLRs back from service, so I though I should check the micro-adjust settings in case they had been changed. I needed a detailed target for the centre A-F point, and I realized that the bright yellow and black CD inside the case would make a nice high contrast subject so I wedged it into one of the old scaffolding holes in the outside wall of the house. I was able to re-calibrate the micro-adjust of the appropriate lenses in no time at all.
A most satisfactory result - but wait - it goes further in Norton's incredible functionality.
I realized that with spring coming up, the pigeons would be back nesting in the walls, which attracts snakes who like the eggs. So - time to zero-in the 'scope on my air rifle. Again, the CD did sterling service as an aiming mark, though I fear for the repeatability of the exercise.
So, all you Norton nay-sayers, Norton A-V is clearly an excellent and versatile product. 
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Waiting 'til you find out about AOL, that's the dogs bollocks.
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I feel quite ashamed that the best use I've made of them is to support hot-liquid containers, preventing heat-damage to varnished wooden surfaces.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I remember my first and only use of Norton...
I was about 15 at the time, so it's almost half my life ago.
Thought I'd install Norton as it was THE AV program to have.
As soon as it was installed it kept giving me pop-ups of all programs and processes that tried to do ANYTHING on my computer.
After clicking away about 100 pop-ups I decided to uninstall it right away.
Unfortunately, one does not simply uninstall Norton[^].
I started early in the evening (about 9PM) and it took me until about 4AM before I had it completely removed it from my computer... 
I'd probably do that a lot quicker now, but I wasn't as tech-savvy back in the day 
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Sander Rossel wrote: I remember my first and only use of Norton...I was about 15 at the time, so it's almost half my life ago.
Then it's a shame that you're not old enough to remember what a great and glorious thing the Norton Utilities were, before he sold the company to... some jerks; I know nor care not who.
Back in the DOS days, the Norton Utilities (which he originally wrote for his personal use, but later released as a product) were like a lifeboat in an ocean of commands that you had to type to achieve the same ends -- but which you could only type after God-knows how long of research into how it all worked, which was not so easy, back in the early days of the Interwebs.
I've always found it upsetting that his name has been so besmirched by the cretins who bought his work from him.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I have to agree, Peter Norton was highly capable. Unfortunately, as you said, the current Norton Utilities, can't hold a candle to the high quality of the old days.
Just because the code works, it doesn't mean that it is good code.
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You have to give young Sander a break, the poor whipper snapper wasn't around in the hey day of DOS. Lotus 123 was also another great product at the time and wordperfect - no that was always crap.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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Try this: [^].
Been a while since I actually came up with a solution on my ownsome I had not seen on CP or StackO'Flow. That does mean, of course, that you should treat the hack like the arrival of an unexpected package post-marked Chernobyl.
cheers, Bill
«When I consider my brief span of life, swallowed up in an eternity before and after, the little space I fill, and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I am ignorant, and which know me not, I am frightened, and am astonished at being here rather than there; for there is no reason why here rather than there, now rather than then.» Blaise Pascal
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Probably it won't be easily found as not much of us try to wtite to the console...
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You don't? I put quite a lot of stuff there, much easier than somehow reaching all the way up to the GUI from inside the bowels of the beast.
Of course that only applies when there even is a GUI, more than 90% of my projects are console projects in the first place
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Sorry, I was only trying to tell that the author has written wtite and not write on the subject.
I guess that my super-English and the lack of the joke icon has made it...
Anyway, he should improve the title.
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Oh that. I completely missed it both times.
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Well, gosh, why should you leave helpful feedback on the content where it is posted ... when you can increase the static on the Lounge, and revel in someone else making a mistake typing ?
«When I consider my brief span of life, swallowed up in an eternity before and after, the little space I fill, and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I am ignorant, and which know me not, I am frightened, and am astonished at being here rather than there; for there is no reason why here rather than there, now rather than then.» Blaise Pascal
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Oops Bill, I thought I was telling it to you at the beginning... and then I did not remember to post it again... 
My fault.
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Don't worry, I still love you.
cheers, Bill
«When I consider my brief span of life, swallowed up in an eternity before and after, the little space I fill, and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I am ignorant, and which know me not, I am frightened, and am astonished at being here rather than there; for there is no reason why here rather than there, now rather than then.» Blaise Pascal
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I don't care what they say about you - I like your Dragon avatar.*
* My being born in a Dragon year doesn't have too much to do with that, I think
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Hi, Balboos, that avatar (photo by me, manipulated in Photohop) is the ground-level stucco/cement finial of a decorative stairway leading into the Dhamma Hall at Wat Buppharam in Chiang Mai.
Usually these stairway decorations are makara, a chimeric creature, a composite of creatures, often a mix of sea/river-land-air creatures. Usually the creature at the end of the makara will be some form of Naga (water serpent, Thai: phayanaak).
The style of this one does appear to be a Chinese dragon. Here's a photo (not by me) in context: [^]
While the origins of Wat Buppharam date to 1497CE, this decorative sculpture, and the building it connects to, are certainly from the modern era.
cheers, Bill
«When I consider my brief span of life, swallowed up in an eternity before and after, the little space I fill, and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I am ignorant, and which know me not, I am frightened, and am astonished at being here rather than there; for there is no reason why here rather than there, now rather than then.» Blaise Pascal
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Way random question here, but did you used to live in the Seattle area, circa 2000? I used to work in a company with a Bill Woodruff who was supposed to move to Thailand (I believe... it was somewhere very Eastern).
Pretty crazy if you are him. Pretty crazy if not in any case, LOL.
FWIW I happened across your profile while reading a comment in an article about Sprache:
Sprache.Calc: building yet another expression evaluator[^]
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If the DEBUG compile time constant is not set, that won't do anything though?
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