In coding there is a big difference between "doing the job" and doing it in a way that's worth paying 100k a year for

I don't want $100k.

that a really good veteran coder is worth ten, even twenty just-started ones - but you only have to pay him twice as much

I don't see how them willing to be underpaid makes me overpaid.

For the kind of coding job that pays more than 50k a year, hiring someone who will do the former but not the latter is actively harmful; he'll bollocks up the code in subtle ways that cost you a million dollars of developer time in five years

Yeah, I'm familiar with coding patterns, like Observer and Command, and principles like "classes should be closed for modification and open for extension."

why did you choose such a useless degree in the first place? Nothing to do with what major looked easiest, was it?

Business Management, from a top 20 business school. I didn't think it was useless at the time. But when I finished, I knew "revenue - expenses = profits", which I already knew before I started. I can't point out a single measurable skill that business school taught me, not one that a company would be willing to pay for.

you're doing a remarkably bad job of faking in this thread

I don't need to do it on Reddit, just at work.

someone makes a huge mistake and hires you for a good job

Eh, someone already did. Was making $50k. But that was before I had taken any upper level CS courses. They gave me a performance review on my second day, told me I sucked at programming, and put me on probation with a bunch of conflicting goals to meet. Fired a couple weeks later.

I have now taken almost all the Junior-level courses, and will be starting the Senior-level courses in the Fall. I'll be (hopefully) a more skilled programmer this next time around and be able to hold onto the $50k job. Getting the job isn't the problem; holding the job is.