I took two years of CS then switched degrees. I've been working in technology since 2007 with those two years, a bunch of O'Reilly books, and some awesome mentors. I guess that is a dev bootcamp. We didn't have those in my day.

While I do have a degree, I don't recommend people to get one unless you are legally bound to get one; barber, hairdresser, doctor, lawyer.

Gonna chime right in here and say not going to uni was the worst decision I made.

@monr0e care to elaborate on why?

Get a degree. There is discipline and insight that you can get from your professors that is invaluable for your career.
There is also mathematics that is a fundamental aspect of cs and very few people have the discipline to teach that to themselves.

@codeblue ++ for the fair point. I definitely agree with the math part

@AllenII half the employers I apply to throw my CV in the bin. Half of those that don't just want a laugh at my expense. I can't answer standardised questions, because I often lack the terminology to describe something I'm doing. Spoken word never really demonstrates ability in our field anyway, but I'm at a disadvantage because I sound like a toddler with a thesaurus. Stick me behind an IDE and I can solve world peace, but you can't really ask for a work trial as a developer and I can't afford to spend six months earning nothing whilst I build a rudimentary profile. Instead, I'm stuck doing the lower end freelance jobs until I can build enough repertoire to command a higher wage, meaning I have to push back my dreams of starting my company another five years.

All that said, I wasn't eligible for student loans, and I couldn't afford £9k a semester so I'm stuck in a hole. That's the result of a society that requires a bit of paper to prove the owner can turn a switch or lay a brick.

@monr0e I 100% understand your pain. I can code, but being informally taught, i know for a fact thst a whiteboard would spell 'not getting this job'. I'm actually trying to go back to school in August--im still young and my grades are good enough to get a scholarship and go to a community college in the US just for the sake of having the darned degree if nothing at all

I'm at the stage where going to Uni would actually set me back a few years. I just have to eat it now, then come back when I'm successful and stick a middle finger to my government.