I find the distinction not very relevant to this question. Of course, there's more justification in more rigorously vetting someone's credentials and abilities

I find the distinction not very relevant to this question. Of course, there's more justification in more rigorously vetting someone's credentials and abilities who is building a bridge or performing surgery (although software development work has absolutely caused loss of life). However the question posed here is the value added by a solid theoretical grounding, and I believe it's not too different in terms of pure skills benefit. I bet I could wing it in a lot of professions whether it be developer or surgeon, the main difference being more people would die in the latter example. Considering only the benefit to a person's abilities of more rigorous training, I see no reason why skills would not increase similarly.