Unlike others, sounds like you feel like there is a difference between having a CS degree and not. What sort of differences do you find? If you could go back, would you have started out with a degree?
Do you have any suggestions for specific programs? I'm particularly interested in getting a better understanding of data structures and algorithms (granted, that's super broad), because that seems like the hardest kind of thing to learn well online.
This really resonated with me - thank you for posting it. If you don't mind me asking, what convinced your future employer to give you a chance? (and/or what convinced you that you were ready to take the plunge)
Thank you for taking the time to put together the links! The "show your work" part feels like the hardest, but I guess that's just something I have to push towards to figure out. As an aside, do you know anyone who's learned successfully from codecademy/codeschool? I love the idea of them, they just seem really simplistic.
Honestly - I feel like I don't have enough time with work to be able to "prove" myself enough to get hired. (and also when I study by myself, I get about 0 feedback from others, so I feel like I'm learning terrible practices). I guess two specific questions: 1 - how can I "prove" myself? and 2 - what kind of places actually take junior programmers?