Not really as far as I can see. Plenty of self-taught programmers are good or better than the uni folks, and vice versa. The real test is whether they are curi

Not really as far as I can see. Plenty of self-taught programmers are good or better than the uni folks, and vice versa. The real test is whether they are curious and can continue to learn throughout their career. A uni CS degree is essentially a very specific sort of history degree, it helps but it's not essential. What is essential is knowing if you're right or wrong or can't tell (and being ok with being wrong and taking criticism, which is maybe the biggest obstacle to computing for most people), knowing when to ask for help (early and often, btw) and allowing yourself to always continue to explore new ideas and technologies. Those are the traits required to be a good software developer, everything else is anecdotal.