I get something like this question all the time. Should I get a computer science degree? Should I do a development boot camp? The general point of the question being, what is the best way to get started working in software development?
Since I'm asked this so often, I thought I would put my answer here on my blog. Also, the answer is relevant for several things I'm doing lately and for where software development is heading these days.
First...
Decide if you want to go to college
If a degree isn't important to you and you want to just start working, go to a bootcamp. All that matters when looking for a programming job is knowing how to code. A bootcamp is a great way into the industry.
If you do want a college degree or if getting an education is important to you – and I can't stress enough that I'm a big believer in higher education – then take the following path.
Start by getting a liberal arts degree
I can't stress this enough given that state of the technology industry. AI is impacting everything. It's probably going to affect coding itself. Routine, work-a-day coding is going to be done with less developers. You know what isn't going to change? Having carefully crafted thoughts about what all this means and how best to write software for human beings.
The best way to understand what it means to be human is not with a computer science degree. It's with a liberal arts degree.
Major in English. History. Political Science. Philosophy. Anything other than computer science.
While you're in college, working on that liberal arts degree...
Take a couple programming classes
I would focus on the intro to coding style classes. Learn the basics of programming. Then take anything your university offers related to app or web development. Probably 2-3 classes is enough. That's less than a minor.
Then...
Go build something
Programming is something you learn by practice. Build web sites. Build apps. Build a web site for your sports or gaming league. Build your own blog. Write an app for your favorite hobby. Whatever interrests you, find a way to build some software for it.
You get better at coding by doing it. Write software. But make it fun.
When all that is done...
Go get a job
Highlight the things you've built on your resume in a portfolio section. Be clear that you have a liberal arts degree because you wanted to study what it means to be human, but now, you're really looking for a programming job.
Then read books like Cracking the Coding Interview and practice for coding tests at sites like leetcode and Hacker Rank.
Then, profit. Or save your money well. Or go back to grad school part time for advanced study in computer science or the liberal arts. At this point, you've done it. You've made it as a programmer. Now it's up to you what you do with it, but hopefully, you understand that well because you're a programmer with a liberal arts degree.