Couldn't have said it any better my self.
Code Academy is very useful to get the basics down. Learning how to write bots is a lot simpler than learning how to write actual java code imo. As you stated, its important to get the basics down. Most scripts just use the basics over and over again. If you can understand if/else logic, you should be good to go. Everything else just comes with practice.
You can do it man. I actually really enjoyed it when I was doing it so time flew by. I would start writing a bot and then I would look at the clock and 4 hours had passed by.
Goodluck