Teach yourself is the best boot camp (Score 1)

Self-taught + learned on the job + books. Getting familiarity with various machine architectures, multiple languages, compiler quirks, and having to work within the tight performance constraints of earlier OS's & hardware definitely helped. There is a lot to be said for understanding how to do it yourself (even if you end up using some pre-packaged solution). Anything handed to you on a silver spoon loses its value when the silver rubs off.