UX/UI Designer and Developer, intern at IBM. Loves studying, from Astrology to Computer Science to Art. Dog person, interested in sci-fi, writing enthusiast.
From what I've seen, most self-taught developers focus on making things work, while CS people will sit down and think about theory and trade-offs, although I've seen the opposite happen.
I think it depends on how much effort you put into understanding how the computer will handle your source code (things like compiling, computer architecture) and how to improve it (algorithms optimization, data structures, heuristics, AI), which is what a CS course forces you to do throughout it's duration. If you're self-taught, you'll have to do these by yourself, which leaves room for mistakes and misinterpretation if you're not cautious.
In general, it's just two different skill sets; but in the end, it majorly depends on the person to learn these things either way.
From what I've seen, most self-taught developers focus on making things work, while CS people will sit down and think about theory and trade-offs, although I've seen the opposite happen.
I think it depends on how much effort you put into understanding how the computer will handle your source code (things like compiling, computer architecture) and how to improve it (algorithms optimization, data structures, heuristics, AI), which is what a CS course forces you to do throughout it's duration. If you're self-taught, you'll have to do these by yourself, which leaves room for mistakes and misinterpretation if you're not cautious.
In general, it's just two different skill sets; but in the end, it majorly depends on the person to learn these things either way.
Valid point!