Over the past few months, I have been thinking about going to college, such as Pensacola Christian College or NJIT, to earn a degree in computer science and software engineering. I want to earn a living as a computer programmer. Since earlier years of my youth, I have been on the move learning programming languages such as Visual Basic and C++. While I never finished a complete software solution, I did successfully prove to myself that I was capable of programming in those languages by writing small applications and doing experiments. Now, however, I am interested in Java, and want to earn a living as a Java programmer, because the language attracts me so strongly. I like its simplistic programming interfaces and other features of the language that facilitate programming tasks.

But although I have this ambition of being a computer programmer, going to college may not be feasible for me. I may not get accepted, and due to my current living conditions and mental conditions, it is even more difficult for me to get into college. Therefore, seeing I just recently became aware of a Java Certification exam, I now wonder if it is possible to get a programming job without earning a degree. My question is, if I learn everything covered on the language exams and developer exams, and pass them, will I be qualified to work for a company, or will they accept me if I show them a certificate alone?

Also, will I make a decent amount of money as a java programmer. And what are the advantages amd disadvantages of working for a company programming in Java as opposed to one the programms in one of the C languages or visual basic? Any feedback would be appreciated.