I would say that most of the self-thaught are people with experience working in other fields and have come to work in tech. From people I have met, I can't remember someone that went from high school to being a self-taught developer and been long term. Self-thaught takes a level of maturity that is incredibly rare from someone that hasn't had worked in the real world.
You don't need either. All the best developers I know or have met, are self-taught
I would say that most of the self-thaught are people with experience working in other fields and have come to work in tech. From people I have met, I can't remember someone that went from high school to being a self-taught developer and been long term. Self-thaught takes a level of maturity that is incredibly rare from someone that hasn't had worked in the real world.
Most self taught developers I know started before they left highschool. I started very early at aged 7, back in 1983
I have not studied high school yet but I suppose that I am doing well in my field.