Assuming you mean software engineer, probably not. You’ll learn a lot from surfing the net, but here are some hazards that come from solely using the web:
- College curricula in CS are thoughtfully designed to build a base of knowledge and then build upon that base. Just surfing the net will likely give you a scattershot, disorganized collection of ideas and facts, leaving you with lots of holes in your knowledge.
- While there are some excellent publications on the web, there are also atrocious ones and legions in between. You won’t necessarily know how discriminate the good ones from the ones that are incomplete or riddled with errors and misunderstandings. Reading college textbooks is a better way to get high quality, organized material.
- Being a software engineer means programming — a lot. You can learn to program on your own. It is better follow a program and get feedback from an instructor. It is best to do both. If you don’t find yourself forgetting to eat or sleep because you are too engrossed in writing a program, you probably aren’t interested enough in being a software engineer to be able to compete in the job market.
- Being a software engineer means working well in a team. Solitary reading does not give you the experience in collaboration and group problem solving that are required to be successful.