Attending university is unbelievably useful, but it's not really because of the subjects that you take. I can't remember half the things I learned in class, but my persisting friend groups and life opportunities can all be traced back to my time in university. (Which isn't to say that the subjects were useless; they provided a solid foundation in math and computer science. But to say they prepared me to become a professional programmer would be a baldfaced lie (conveniently, a lie that my first employer seemed to believe without me needing to tell it)).

I also have friends and am a professional programmer. I did not attend a university. It sounds like you got swindled.

Attending university is useful for making friends?

That's not what I would classify as useful. You can get friend from many many places. Attending university for friends is not a valid reason to attend imo.

It's not exactly a hot take that networking in general is one of the advantages of attending university.

Likewise, if one's opinion is that the point of university is to get an education, you could just as equally counter with "well, you can get an education from many places". And frankly, it's much easier to recreate the educational aspects of a university than the social aspects. I was a hopeless teenager coasting apathetically through life, and attending university got me to break out of my mold and learn how to socialize, set life goals, and be a functioning human being. I wouldn't trade that time for anything.