ask your dad: would you be willing to ride a bicycle if you didn't know how? what about learning how to cook?
it's not only doable, but exciting if he is able to get into in.
also, i would in the first stage drop the professional from professional programming. He needs to grok what programming is at a newbie/hobby level first and needs to enjoy it before even thinking about anything professional.
he also needs to understand that this is a long journey (ie it will take years to be any good and/or have someone pay him to write code). If he has the patience and determination to do it he will be successful.
it's not only doable, but exciting if he is able to get into in.
also, i would in the first stage drop the professional from professional programming. He needs to grok what programming is at a newbie/hobby level first and needs to enjoy it before even thinking about anything professional.
he also needs to understand that this is a long journey (ie it will take years to be any good and/or have someone pay him to write code). If he has the patience and determination to do it he will be successful.