Speaking as someone who got a degree in CS / software and then taught myself electronics after I got out of school. I relied heavily on Sparkfun.com to get started. Adafruit.com is also a strong competitor these days. They each have a ton of really great tutorial material for beginners. There are a lot of links here that people are listing that are great content but not for beginners. Along the same lines I would explicitly avoid reading any books on the topic cover to cover. I bought the Art of Electronics because it is billed as a bible for the field. It is, but I never use it.
As for tools and supplies. I would avoid buying very many things upfront* instead buy them as you need them to complete a project. The only general tools I would buy are a multi-meter (Fluke 115), bread board, jumper wires, resistor kit [0], solder iron (Weller WE1010NA), and maybe oscilloscope / digital logic analyzer combo like the Saleae Logic 8. You can get all these things, name brand top quality tools, for about $800 total. I would stay away from super cheap import type stuff to start. Some of it is fine but it isn't worth the frustration for a beginner when it doesn't work. The more expensive stuff will also grow with you as you get more advanced where as you will quickly out grow the cheapo stuff.
As far as formal equations you need to know the only ones I ever really use are V=IR (Ohm's law) and P=IV. If you paid attention in high school physics you probably already know these.
*The problem with buying a lot of stuff up front is that you end up with a bunch of less expensive stuff that doesn't really grow with you or a pile of parts that are a pain to keep organized and are obsolete by time you get around to using them or that you can't find datasheets on.
Ditto. Also software wonk who landed in embedded. Followed a lot of the tutorials on Adafruit and Sparkfun. Bought a lot of equipment and parts from both. Have done a lot of fun little digital circuit problems. Halloween is definitely more fun these days.
As for tools and supplies. I would avoid buying very many things upfront* instead buy them as you need them to complete a project. The only general tools I would buy are a multi-meter (Fluke 115), bread board, jumper wires, resistor kit [0], solder iron (Weller WE1010NA), and maybe oscilloscope / digital logic analyzer combo like the Saleae Logic 8. You can get all these things, name brand top quality tools, for about $800 total. I would stay away from super cheap import type stuff to start. Some of it is fine but it isn't worth the frustration for a beginner when it doesn't work. The more expensive stuff will also grow with you as you get more advanced where as you will quickly out grow the cheapo stuff.
As far as formal equations you need to know the only ones I ever really use are V=IR (Ohm's law) and P=IV. If you paid attention in high school physics you probably already know these.
*The problem with buying a lot of stuff up front is that you end up with a bunch of less expensive stuff that doesn't really grow with you or a pile of parts that are a pain to keep organized and are obsolete by time you get around to using them or that you can't find datasheets on.
[0] https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10969