philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

The most intensive schools, like Seattle-based Code Fellows, are so sure they can get students work they will refund a student's tuition—$12,000 for 16 blitzkrieg weeks to get a person from zero to trained—if that person doesn't get a job.

Mr. Carson, co-founder of Treehouse, says his own computer-science degree, which he got in 2000, is useless. Technology now moves so quickly that programmers must constantly retrain in new frameworks. This provides an opening for students willing to learn exactly the skills that are hot right now as long as they're also willing to continue learning for life.

“…the future comprises two types of people - those who know how to program and those who must obey the machines created by them.”