- When you try to do things as quickly as possible you often end up cutting corners, sometimes too many corners.

- There's a lot of people trying to fast-track their learning and get into software and it's not an easy position to be in. It's a saturated market.

- It might turn out that software isn't for your friends either - personal preference, interests, aptitude etc.

I would point them to some beginner resources and let them explore it for a while in their spare time before jumping in and committing seriously.