I've been a software engineer for 30 years and by far the best programmers I've ever known were all self-taught. I'm not knocking college degrees. I have one

I've been a software engineer for 30 years and by far the best programmers I've ever known were all self-taught. I'm not knocking college degrees. I have one myself. However, those who are self-taught tend to take far more initiative and invest far more time in studying and understanding how things work than those who just got a degree. They seem to be intrinsically drawn to the craft and don't just do it for grades or accolades. Software engineering is an integral part of who they are and they are brilliant because of their unquenchable fascination with it. At least that has been my experience.