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I see benefits of education and raw experience. And in the end, it will depend on the individual and their drive to improve and learn.  do not learn well in a classroom setting. but give me some research sources and a problem to solve I will figure it out and be able to set it up and work properly. I prefer It because coding for me is about as fun as watching paint dry, and I was never into chip design and manufacture. When I was considering an education those WERE my only options. neither seemed to make sense in the end for what I wanted to do wich, was IT. By then I had been using computers for a decade as a kid and figuring them out and I moved into a support role that let me learn more and have made steps for improvement since. And while I understand the rules to code and how to gather the resources to do so I still hold off if I can because it is not my passion or interest and I really only get into it when I am trying to compile someone else's code for some purpose or adjusting a script for my needs.

There are two things I have learned in the last 20+ years of working in IT and technology.

Schooling is best for people who have no idea where to start in an industry they have interest in. And there are some roles that strongly benefit from a degree, and others that I feel require a degree. There are other roles that lend themselves better to on the job training with supplementary education (certification courses and the like).

But in the end, it really depends on the Individual, what they want to do, and how they learn. No amount of experience or education will matter in this.

PS this was a great discussion until we started getting personal and snide to each other.