I wouldn't assume too much about a CS degree. If I relied solely upon what I was taught in college, I wouldn't be able to get a job. It was sheer providence t

I wouldn't assume too much about a CS degree. If I relied solely upon what I was taught in college, I wouldn't be able to get a job. It was sheer providence that some of my profs were so bad that self-directed study was an obvious necessity. Best advice I could give to any professional is to ACTUALLY READ the great books of the field. Everyone wants the distillation and the cliff's notes versions, and a lot gets lost in translation. There are a lot of threads on HN where people recommend their favorite programming books. The other thing would be the old "harder you work, the better you'll get" adage. Book learning can only take you so far.