Education really serves as a dual purpose in our society of both providing knowledge and demonstrating in a actionable way (i.e. someone will hire you based on

Education really serves as a dual purpose in our society of both providing knowledge and demonstrating in a actionable way (i.e. someone will hire you based on it) that you know something. But most of what you need to prove is not something you actually use in your job. A A in compilers will help you get a job as it makes you seem smart, but very few developers will ever write one. So in that case, the A in itself is the goal.