Ask HN: How can I become a professional developer without a degree?
Coming from someone without a CS degree.  Learn that every problem you are solving is for a person in the end.  Learn to communicate with people, learn to break down problems and explain them and focus on people.<p>If you can do this, even if you are only &quot;good&quot; as a developer you will surpass the vast majority of CS grads and make far more money in your career.<p>I fully admit plenty of devs are probably better at specific things than I am, but few bridge the gaps I do between business, marketing and development.  That makes me odd, but also makes me valuable and useful to almost any business.  I am also highly competent in architecture, design and can adapt quickly, so that has been helpful, but I have met many others like me as well, many without a CS degree.<p>For my part, I have also raised my kids to understand that being able to apply what you know and learn is more valuable than feeling you know everything or having some specific degree.  In the end I prefer to think that education never ends and a degree is just a stamp at a given time, it doesn&#x27;t necessarily make someone more valuable or more intelligent than another.