Same here. I would definitely count you as one of the people who worked really hard for a long time. That was my main point -- if you love programming and have an interest in it, then you will develop those ten years of experience easily. However, most people have nowhere near that amount of experience, including CS majors. The one insurance point that a CS degree gives you is that you've been exposed to programming for at least 4 years. In fact, coming out of college, I would put self-trained programmers (like you and me), regardless of degree, above any CS major who just started programming in college. I think CS teaches you a lot of useful things (I regret nothing from my CS theory courses), but when it comes to actually developing applications, experience rules all.
Same here. I would definitely count you as one of the people who worked really hard for a long time. That was my main point -- if you love programming and have an interest in it, then you will develop those ten years of experience easily. However, most people have nowhere near that amount of experience, including CS majors. The one insurance point that a CS degree gives you is that you've been exposed to programming for at least 4 years. In fact, coming out of college, I would put self-trained programmers (like you and me), regardless of degree, above any CS major who just started programming in college. I think CS teaches you a lot of useful things (I regret nothing from my CS theory courses), but when it comes to actually developing applications, experience rules all.