as a basic answer, what resources might i need to create my own lemmy instance?
i’d like to make one but i don’t know how to code, for one, and also don’t know if it’s something i can just make on my ipad or if it needs a lot of resources.
You need a computer and an Internet connection that isn't too restrictive. Install Yunohost on it (or on a VM) and then the Lemmy app. It's not perfect, but it will work. That's what I do.
For a smaller instance I would always go with PieFed, it's much much easier to set up and to maintain, uses way less resources and has basically the same feature set.
Resources:
small VPS like the smallest from Hetzner for example
Linux installed on it
Postgresql database
Python 3 and pip installed
domain to point to that server
letsencrypt certificate to run it with https which is necessary to federate
If you mean running the lemmy software on your own hardware to have your own instance, you don't need programming skills for that. Self-hosting things is a related but different skillset. There's a decent learning curve, though.
If you are familiar with self-hosting, you can probably set up a Lemmy instance pretty easily. If you are not, then running a publically federating service is probably not a good starting point. You should be able to search up a beginners guide to self-hosting, or take a look at !selfhosted@lemmy.world. I think hosting a personal wiki is a good starting point, since it is then a good place to write down everything you've learnt!
An iPad isn't really a good server. You could use an old laptop or pay for a cheap VPS as a starting point. Many people start with a Raspberry Pi.