A good programmer loves what he does. He does not do it for passion to the project or to the job or anything.

He just loves programming and the sense of achievement when a task is successfully completed, especially tasks requiring research and new discovery.

Certificates? well, a good programmer will never boast about his certificates "if they ever exist", you would not see papers on the wall with his name on it. It means little to nothing. All what he needs is the theoretical knowledge acquired in a BS.