I am self-taught completely. I started when I was 15. I'm 44 now. To me, programming is an art form. The computer is my canvas. Over the years, I've hired both self-taught and developers with a degree. By far, self-taught ones perform better. I don't know why. Maybe it's because there's a certain passion that self-taught people have. One of my standard interview questions is: what hobby projects have you created? Those with degrees often don't think of programming as a hobby, so don't even bother with it outside of work. Self-taught people do. I think that's the difference.