Do developers *really* need a college to learn?

Depends on what You want to do.

Depends what you want to do, and what the industry expects for that field.

For me, no.
But then I don't build rockets so 🤷‍♂️

For big tech companies, the answer is probably yes. Not because you can't learn all the theories and software engineering by yourself, because you probably wont. Colleges forces you to learn them. They generally don't teach you everything but at least they force you to research and learn. I am a lazy guy. To be honest, if I wasn't forced to learn things in school, probably I would never know most of the things I currently know. So its not a must but it helps. I dont think its waste of time.

Some companies like ZOHO has a university program where they do not expect and college or school degree, u just need to write a test, get selected, get trained and work for them and get paid. So if u really don't want a degree then find an opportunity like this..

@AkashM do you know more companies like that?

Don't know, but check this out....
https://zohouniversity.com/join-us/

Well, the answer is no if you are self learner, have good grip on technology stack, have soft skills and know how to handle people. Take this in mind you should know more (have some work experience, any great work in tech field) than a degree holder because at same level recruiters will hire someone who have degree.

Not going to college means you are gonna miss so many things. Actual personality development starts from college (once you are in industry, no one is going to teach you or help you out. Everyone will be busy with their own shit so be prepared). In college you will learn to handle things on your own (writing assignments, submissions, projects etc). You will make friends for life. You are going to miss the festivals, extra curricular activities (research paper, hackathons, event management) conducted by college. Again you are getting degree for that too, degree is just like ticket which makes you eligible for jobs.

Well @k33da is right!

Well ain't i the elephant in the room.

@C0D4 The Maester

Depends on what you want to do, if you’re into robotics or ML, any tech that is popular on google scholar then maybe yes

Some of the colleges also teach you how to learn, think and solve problems better. It's doable without it, but it's easier when someone else plans and does this for you.

But guys college life is totally different in India, we are actually studying only for the degree, other than that we get nothing, and that's why we always go for YouTube videos and Online courses

Of course not. If you can find the right resources (of which there are plenty of these days online), then you can learn heaps on your own.

In practice though, most people tend to learn more effectively with a structured course, with other humans teaching them where they can ask questions if they get stuck, and where they'll often be shown things they didn't know they needed to learn.

And despite the debate over whether it *should* make a difference, it's hard to deny that a degree on paper also carries a lot of weight when job hunting.

nope

Ive seen many people get into the field without college. More often than not, i find devs and other techies who went to college for something completely unrelated to tech (a linux security guy that I am friends with majored in history and minored in sign language. He's lead on his team and makes a damn good paycheck).
It depends on if you have a foot in the door to establish a job position, and also can depend on what other "extracurriculur" things you do.
I, for example, needed to go to college because my already existing skills were not well enough to land a stable job. My "extracurriculars" also consisted of things like volunteering at an animal shelter and running family events for my step fathers company, neither of which showed that I possessed any dev skills or interest. I had interviewed for many, and all of them ended along the same lines: rejection from lack of exposure/initiative.
I now have a two year degree in computer science from a really really cheap technical school and got hired after my first interview, while still receiving 4 other offers from companies.
I would say that I really didnt learn much at all at school, but the degree has greatly improved my career security.
College ended up being the right choice for me, personally. But I dont think everyone needs to do it if they have the right things going for them.

As a slightly important point, university gives you resources, people, and standing to do stuff which would be rather difficult otherwise. Robotics, ML, CV, graphics, aviation, specialized engineering, anything that's a bit more cutting edge and/or research related, and once you're in the system you can stay in touch with academia throughout your life, which I would count as a big plus. I mean, you're not going to get the labs and facilities at a good university anywhere else unless you're rich or a big company somehow puts you in a related project, which would be rare without domain knowledge. Plus you meet great people, plus there's the academic mindset which allows you to explore stuff because academics. It's also easier to jump off into a career after a degree.

Do you *need* it though? No.

Yes I recommend something really reputable like Harvard...

Depends on the person.
Some people need a school environment.
Others don't.

Specifically to LEARN... No.
There's resources available everywhere now. If you're determined, passionate and even somewhat disciplined; you can learn on your own.

It may not be as straight forward as going to class, listening to a lecture and doing assignments but it's very possible and IMO a better way to do things since you'll be inclined to explore and dig deeper when your mind is free to wander instead of being tied to the curriculum. (Of course wandering does not mean stop learning and browsing r/memes)

Now for getting a job... Then college is probably a good idea. Not necessary, but a good idea. That and college, depending on which one and how things are where you live can be a good experience outside of just learning.