Most of our developers either have a degree unrelated to programming or hold no degree. Of our top three programmers, two are dropouts and one has a degree in p

Most of our developers either have a degree unrelated to programming or hold no degree. Of our top three programmers, two are dropouts and one has a degree in physics. Two of them started with us having dropped out undergrad (unrelated), and the third we hired after decades of experience at other companies. The common theme I've found with all three is a passion for programming and learning in general. If they didn't do this as a job it would be their hobby, this is what makes a good engineer or developer. Forget the experience, if a person is driven they will learn what they need to know. But my viewpoint is skewed, there are only about 25 of us at our company.