3 steps to becoming an actual software programmer

1. Build personal software
2. Build internal software (for a select group of people)
3. Build public-facing software

If you've only ever built personal software you're not qualified to build public-facing yet.

As you climb the rungs the stakes get higher, your constraints get tighter, and you need to QA harder.

So my advice for anyone who's never built an app is this:

Find a small group of testers (even 1 is great) that will actually use an app you built in their real lives.

The feedback you'll get will blow your mind. It'll show you how forgiving you are of your own crappy product. You'll begin to focus on process and quality.

It'll be frustrating, slow, and hard work.

That's programming.