Programming isn't all one thing. You have to have what amounts to an epistemology about the system you're working on right now or you're going to break things.

Programming isn't all one thing. You have to have what amounts to an epistemology about the system you're working on right now or you're going to break things. A degree improves the chances of this. About half of what I do is teach these things, on the job. Just being able to classify a systems error can be daunting - is it a show stopper, or an ignore, or something in between? I see bootcamps as being fine for getting people into seats, but the rest takes a long time. Finally, employability and what (IMO) CS/programming should be about are diverging rapidly. This was not always so. This is starting to be a real problem.