Application of Programming

Hello everyone,

I am attempting to teach myself programming and am at a bit of a loss as to who to apply any of what I am learning. I read through books and they teach the theory of the code, but I fail to grasp its actual application. I would like to code professionally but I have no concept of what it actually entails.

I am a "hands on" type of learner and come to you all looking for some guidance as to how to develop into a diverse and skilled programmer. Any advice or resources would be greatly appreciated.

I am currently working through CSS and Java script for the reason that it allows business opportunity via the internet. I am also teaching myself through java and C++. The theory and concepts are simple enough, but I don't really know I can use all these variables and "classes" to make something useful.

Am I right to deduce that software is just "hard code" working through user friendly GUI's?