i started programming at 13.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2268783&forum_id=2#23295190)

Another dude is independent as well and I don't really know what the fuck he does exactly but posts on FB about buying this home in cash, probably 600k+ in an area where that is a TON, has pics of outrageous boats and cars all the time, apparently has been making money at IT stuff since he was in high school.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2268783&forum_id=2#23298883)

The money doesn't come from the coder, the money comes form the IDEA behind the code.

If you want to get an entry level job making ~$60k per year, then yes, CS is an option.But if you want the real money, skip it...

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2268783&forum_id=2#23295356)

listen, faggot, american companies -- and the rest of the world -- LOVE american software ENGINEERS. indian coders are PURE SHIT. these programs can make shareholders BILLIONS. you are INSANE if you think they are going to go with secondrate indians for $5/hour over American software engineers at a paltry $100-200k.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2268783&forum_id=2#23411046)

Pick up a couple of books for absolute beginners and give yourself 20 hours of work to see if you like it. Expect to spend a few hundred hours on a language before you can cobble together a resume, then a few hundred more to actually speak coherently about it during an interview.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2268783&forum_id=2#23295416)

I think developers with 10 years of experience often peak out at around 120k

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2268783&forum_id=2#23411122)

of course there's little chance this will last long. I doubt fifteen years from now the same mediocre guy will push much past 120, although it's still a very good lifestyle if you don't mind coding.

these companies do seem to have a pretty annoying mindset though. they're in it either for a quick buck without ever turning out a real product or really believe in their retardedly specialized custom-social-lamp-sharing startups.

bigdata and analytics I would think is far more promising in the long term, but of course this is much harder to break into than being a webdev where someone in an unrelated field can take a year off to learn shit and provided he has enough dedication/adderall get a job.

edit: this is a really good article about how even mediocre webdevs are in demand, and that the ones who really think about what they're doing instead of buying into the "rockstar" bullshit tend to sometimes feel unsatisfied even while pulling down massive $$$:

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/living-together/james-somers-web-developer-money/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AeonMagazineEssays+%28Aeon+Magazine+Essays%29

this part in particular made me chuckle:

I have a friend who’s a mechanical engineer. He used to build airplane engines for General Electric, and now he’s trying to develop a smarter pill bottle to improve compliance for AIDS and cancer patients. He works out of a start-up ‘incubator’, in an office space shared with dozens of web companies. He doesn’t have a lot of patience for them. ‘I’m fucking sick of it,’ he told me, ‘all they talk about is colours.’

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2268783&forum_id=2#23411954)