It is absolutely possible to teach yourself programming. I started with Java (Swing baby) when I was in my mid-teens and moved into college with a strong foundation.

And in the event that you ever plan to go to college for software programming, it would be a huge help if you go in with some sort of experience in programming. The noobies in comp sci had really no idea what they're doing their first semester, and by the end of the semester less than half of the students were showing up to classes.

If you ever have questions or troubles, definitely go check out /r/learnprogramming on reddit. You'll get your questions answered.

Scratch
Good for learning basics, also fun to play around with

Any language will begin hard to learn because it's literally like learning a new language. You have to learn all of it's nouns and adjectives before having an actual conversation. (Methods and Functions before making a program). Java is an amazing language to begin to learn but do NOT be mistaken, Java will help you learn to create plugins but do not learn Java by DEVELOPING plugins.

This is the opposite way of doing things. You should learn the language first before learning a Spigot or Bukkit API.

I'm on the same page as Irvau, taught myself and was really lazy about it to start off with. Started with Java and simple things in GLSL, then just moved full time to GLSL because I find it to be more rewarding and I'm much better at it now. Though it really is something you really want to do for you to actually be able to do it well. The passion is what drives you to learn more on your own, and in the end will probably teach you more than just taking classes on it with no interest in the subject matter or activity.

Yes you can teach yourself. I say learn java if that what you want to use. Learning another then come to this make double the work in learning the syntax.

I taught myself. I started with commodore64 basic 2.0, then move to qbasic, then went c, c++ , D, and python. Just started learning java, rust.

http://www.learnjavaonline.org/en/Hello%2C_World%21
This is teaching the basic of programming.
Experience programmer won't need this.

Programming is just pushing number and characters with commands.

Simply programming has
Variables ,
Loops,
Logic,
Objects (Containers)

Then you choose use Terminal (built in) or GUI (Graphic User Interface)
Each program languages has there own entry point.

To learn programming you need to ask question and show work.
You also need to type it out. Not copy and paste.

Have Fun.

Use a YouTube tutorial. Many things online are paid, but YouTube is always free.

to be fair it's challenging just gotta start from basics.

Java is really hard to start with, I needed half a year to understand the basics of the syntax, and after years of developing I'm still learning new things about the syntax. You should start with easier languages like Visual Basic or HTML/CSS/JavaScript. Maybe you can even make some games using Unity. In my experience the best way to learn is watching YouTube videos since they are really easy to follow. I did learn by my self tough and if you have the persistency, you should be fine with video-tutorials or websites. But if you really, really want to learn Java you should begin very basic. Even more basic then Hello World. Try to understand how everything works, before moving on to the next subject. Like Scott said: "However, the books aren't often made anymore and the ones that are are outdated", they are. But if you search "java for dummies pdf" > then choose the 5th edition, you get a really nice tutorial book of the Java syntax and some SDK libraries (Still a bit outdated though).

JaackMacyHow many of you experienced programmers learned by your self?

*raises hand*
I was lazy while doing it, and it took me at least 3 years to get the hang of it, but after endless fiddling I finally got the hang of it. :^)
...although, on second thought, I dunno if I count as an "experienced programmer", at least what you're looking for,

JaackMacylooking at the first lesson I feel like I wont get anywhere, this looks like its a guide for someone who already knows other programming languages.

Aw come on, "looks like"?
At least try it before you decide to give up.

Anywho, as for whether or not you should pay for classes: in my opinion, that's a "no". There's plenty of free stuff floating around on the internets, I don't see why you can't learn from that. Just keep on searching and searching and trying and trying. Persistence will pay off.
Although, I suppose if it gets to the point where you aren't learning anything after a year or so, either a) you're coming at this from the wrong angle, mate, or b) it might be time to dish out money to teachers.
Honestly though, imo paid classes are something to keep as a last resort.

I did, and I learnt from what I would no longer recommend. I picked up a programming book, on Visual basic (don't start at a high-level language like java, or you just get confused). From there I learnt the basics of programming, and then worked up in "levels". From this I learned multiple programming languages, but also the stages of knowledge so that when I came to java, I had an understanding of the basics and why functions work.

However, the books aren't often made anymore and the ones that are are outdated