Experience without a degree

Robert Lane · 2013-03-08T17:20:37

This is my first post in Gamedev forums in a long time, I used to have an account a little over 10 years ago but since forgot the username etc... I would like to say it's great to see Gamedev is still alive and active and full of the same great content I used to see here. That being said, I have a tough question that I hope I can get some experienced knowledge and perspective around. I have been developing web services and web applications for about 10 years now, and I do love coding for a living. Before actually landing a job in the industry I was coding only as a hobby, and hoping that I could some day trade in my retail job(s) for one in development. My first language was C++ simply because that's what was taught at my local high-school From there I toyed with VB, Java, C# and eventually ASP/PHP for web-pages. I feel I have a solid understanding of data structures, algorithms, software design/enterprise patterns and computer architecture. All of this I have attained with passion and seeking help from professionals in the field or related fields. I have taken a total of 5 college classes in my entire life, and while I've always considered going to college a huge benefit, I've never actually made the commitment to go. Present day I find it very easy to land a development position in web/biz dev. and the compensation is so far fantastic. That being said, I still find an enormous amount of discrimination by engineers & co-workers who have one (or several) degrees. I'm not exactly the most secure person, and I've always had a shy personality (with a touch of social anxiety) so I don't exactly brush off co-workers jokes or remarks. Really it makes me question my situation and assess my goals. What I want to get some feedback on is this. Would someone in my position benefit from a Computer Science degree? I don't want to ask if I would benefit from any degree, because to me this answer is almost always yes. Other then CSC I have also considered electrical engineering as I would truly want to increase my knowledge of hardware. I have also had experienced people tell me that I shouldn't worry about a degree and my experience is enough to continue to drive my career. I understand where they come from, but can this statement really be true? I try to take it all with a grain of salt, however I have a huge passion for development and want to do the next right thing when it comes to my career. If you read my entire question, thanks for taking the time, and I appreciate any and all feedback.