Don't learn to program, program to learn. Of course this is just an adage. You won't learn good practice only by trial and error; that's reinventing the wheel. Still, writing (and rewriting) a non-trivial project in one's spare time is the best way to learn. It's comparable to learning a foreign language - you need to have live conversations, not just study grammar and memorize vocabulary.

Create some app of your own - or several - and opensource it once it is of fairly solid quality. That's a ticket to getting a proper programming job, even if you're in your 30s or 40s.

Do not overestimate the role of a technology stack that you happen to choose.