From reading your story it seems to me like you have plenty of aptitude towards programming. Getting a degree is definitely not a requirement to get a job in th

From reading your story it seems to me like you have plenty of aptitude towards programming. Getting a degree is definitely not a requirement to get a job in this sector, so that should not be an issue. The most valuable thing is experience, and not the 'x years' kind, but the 'x projects' kind. If you can demonstrate that you have an ability to build things, you have value to an employer. (Or you can employ yourself and just sell things you make) There are tons of great courses online that teach you all the things you would learn in a traditional CS course, but I would suggest a big focus on building things. In the end the best (most employable) programmers are the ones who build things, and getting a CS degree from reading books doesn't make you a good programmer. Build some projects of your own, or build things for others in your surroundings. If you get confident enough you can even charge people money for the things you make. If you don't have any inspiration on what sort of things to make, there's lots of online resources that can help you with this as well. Things like https://javascript30.com/ https://javascript30.com/ are great to get you just building things. Another bit of advice is to try and find a mentor with some experience working in the field, just for advice on day-to-day things. It's hard to find a book on 'how to be a programmer', things like how to set up your work environment, what tools people use, all the meta-things. By far the most effective way to get into this is having someone experienced around who can show you some of the chops. Good luck on your journey! Nothing is impossible if you believe in it Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have