I couldn’t agree more with this. They key to becoming a successful programmer is the ability to learn quickly and the desire to keep growing your skills and learn quickly. The best and most successful programmers I know are people who are passionate about their craft and take ownership for their own learning.

The stuff you learn in a CS degree is basic theory and concepts that provide a foundation for future learning. A CS degree won’t teach you how to build apps and websites. You develop skills and knowledge of specific technologies by working on projects.

With or without a degree, you’ll always need to learn on the job: new languages, frameworks, architectures, tools, processes, etc. It’s important to learn off the job too. While you might be using X language or framework at work today, those skills could very well obsolete in 5–10 years.

Never stop learning.