> At some point, a student requires one-to-one mentoring and repeatable reinforcement. Like learning a second language or playing the piano.

It’s entirely possible to be a self-taught pianist. It’s also entirely possible to learn a second language without ever speaking to someone else in that language. What you can’t realistically do is become conversational, because you cannot practice that skill in isolation.

Similarly, it’s entirely possible to learn to develop software independently. You can learn languages and SQL normalization and good design all by yourself. You might learn faster with a teacher, but you can do it independently. You cannot learn to work well with others (properly subdividing designs, dependency ordering, giving good feedback, etc) in isolation, but honestly these are the things you generally learn on the job, because schools also suck at teaching these things.

Case in point: I'm self taught and have a junior manager job in software engineering. I had a lot of good resources and got some guidance, but I never went to a boot camp or had a dedicated mentor. It was just a lot of "learn something, apply it as much as I can to the job I have, keep learning, keep trying to understand the big picture." Eventually I developed enough knowledge to get hired as a programmer and moved up from there.

Good job. I think determination and willpower like you have is fairly rare, at least where I'm from (Midwest US).

I think it depends... I've worked on interviewing and hiring candidates that come out of coding schools. It's generally those that go above and beyond the assigned homework that get hired. When you're working as a developer, most of the time you don't have a prescriptive answer and you need to figure it out. Sometimes it's not the best solution, but that is the point advice can be given on how to improve/mentor.

Self-drive is probably 50% of success as a software developer. 35% is knowing what some of the options are (prescriptive or otherwise) and the last 15% is aptitude. You can be a solid B level developer without any aptitude, but it requires more drive. YMMV.

Different people have different personalities. When I was 4yo, I broke the training wheels off my bicycle and figured it out myself because it felt like they were more in the way trying to ride. In my early career, I spent time removing obstacles and learning literally everything I could. I am self-taught, not higher education at all. Other people need more hand holding. Once you start working, you need to be able to jump into the deep end and at least tread water.

One on one dedicated mentoring is very beneficial but not a requirement. You can also obtain mentorship/advice just by visiting various communities and asking questions online as well.

Over the past decades, many developers are self taught. And online communities and resources have only improved over time.