Author here. The funny thing is not that you're wrong about me, it's how completely wrong you are. I'm self-taught, and started programming Commodore Pets unde

Author here. The funny thing is not that you're wrong about me, it's how completely wrong you are. I'm self-taught, and started programming Commodore Pets under PetBasic with, woohoo, 4K of RAM and a cassette tape. Wrote my first contract program when I was 16, on an Apple II. I had written my first game a few months before that. I think I had four college-level programming classes in my early 20s. That's about it for formal training. I'm very much a tinkerer. But you're right about the books. Being self-taught, I had to voraciously read, especially starting out. Since I ended up doing this for a living, and since everybody else had the advantage of a college degree, I felt very much under the gun: learn or starve. I read like a maniac. I don't think people "fit" in the scale in any one spot. Different jobs require different skills. Much more interesting (to me) is if folks understand the levels and are able to work as needed in them. So far the comments look very much hit and miss, which was about what I expected. Interesting analysis, though! I appreciate the feedback on how I sound.