So it turns out that my recent wonderings on whether I was really getting applicable programming skills useful in the real world have been answered, and with a heartening yes at that. I was listening to Tom (big guy, like a walking mountain) speak of searching for programming positions as of late, including some interviews, and from what he has said, we're actually getting very high grade larnin' here. Apparently, the very fact that he knew what "is a" and "has a" meant answered like 4 interview questions and put him ahead of tons of applicants. And the fact that I too basically know it means I'm not too bad off myself. Yay!