First thing I want to say is this community seems super positive and I’m really excited to find this (FREE!) resource with a wealth of information!
I am a 33 year old massage therapist who is feeling ready to move on into a more secure career. I never thought coding would interest me, but I have been exploring it over the past month and I am enjoying a lot of the challenges. I have completed about 15% of Angela Yu’s Online Bootcamp on Udemy, which I paid about $13 for. I found freecodecamp just last week and was intrigued by its learning presentation. I find my brain clicks in a little more with the challenges. I think ultimately I will need both visual presentations and the written word to really sink the impressions of knowledge into my brain.
I’ve also been toying with the idea of taking an online bootcamp such as CareerFoundry’s program. I may be in the wrong place asking about this, as freecodecamp seems almost anarchist in its fundamental nature, and I don’t expect anyone to answer the question I ultimately have to answer myself, but does anyone have a recommendation on a path to commit?
I would like to learn quickly and efficiently. The bootcamp intrigues me because of their guarantee to streamline you into that line of work in less than 6 months. I live in the Seattle area, too and it seems like there are plenty of jobs out there. The structure and timeliness of it all seems helpful and obviously throwing down a big hunk of change will add some pressure to really put the time and effort in. On the other hand, I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews on bootcamps and I do know that 7 months (flex) isn’t enough time to master anything.
I guess what I’m asking is what worked for you? Did you do a bootcamp? What platform was best for your learning? What path would you recommend committing to first? And I guess what kind of timeline did you or are you following in this commitment? How do you stay disciplined and focused? How many hours a week?
Please add any other advice that you have. I do appreciate your input.
The goal isn’t to master anything but rather create a healthy foundation to build from. It is literally impossible in any timeframe to master web dev, game dev, AI, etc. Technology is constantly changing.
It is more important to know how to learn and research.
For me, I don’t do well with long video formats. I took a couple of udemy courses by jonas and brad traversy but I personally didn’t concentrate as well as I do with FCC.
Consistency is key. Decide to put in a certain amount of time in coding on a regular basis.
That really depends on your schedule. I personally do about 3-4 hours a day. I do most of my coding in the mornings and evenings.
Nope. Nothing wrong with bootcamps but you have to do your research first. Not all bootcamps are created equal.
Only you can answer that question and it is solely based on your learning style.
If you want to do a mixture of udemy and FCC that’s up to you. There is no wrong choice.
If you have a big enough WHY you are doing this then it will be easier to stay focused and keep learning. Of course there will be moments when you are tired or not feeling well but if this goal of becoming a developer is something you truly want to achieve then you will find a way to keep going.
Thank you for your response! Yeah I like Angela’s teaching style!
Freecodecamp seems very practical because it requires more focus and reading things over and over again.
Every approach has its pros and cons.
Every set of pros and cons lives in a dynamic relationship with you and your life circumstances.
And every approach has a lot of people who love and hate it.
That’s why you have to create your own approach.
I see. Then do ONE THING. Not a Udemy course, FCC and a bootcamp all at the same time. There is a lot of redundant knowledge that is holding you back while telling that “But I put in the hours”. Doing the same stuff over and over again is not efficient. You have to do deliberate practice most of the time.
Learn to overcome the fear of missing out, because somewhere on the internet there could be this magic course.
Also learn to overcome the feeling of the need to feel ready to do your stuff. Programming is sometimes hard and frustrating.
Beware of tutorial hell @jojo4545.
It is very tempting to take udemy class after class on the same subject because its on sale. (udemy is always on sale)
But at some point you have to break free from the tutorials and build projects on your own as scary as it is. Learn the basics and then start building projects
You will never be 100% ready to tackle a project but that’s ok cause it is part of the learning process.
I am in somewhat the same boat! I am 19 and I started college a year ago, with intentions of going into nursing, but I have recently decided that might not be for me. Never would I have thought about computer science/web dev but my boyfriend will be graduating in the spring from USC with a Bachelor’s in Computer Science, and I have been very interested in the projects he has created. Here’s my only problem: I don’t know whether I should go get a Bachelor’s degree, or do a boot camp/online course. He thinks I should go to school, but I do not know which to choose, especially if doing a boot camp could give me a lot of the same opportunities. Any advice or input would be amazing! Thank you!
Where/when would you recommend starting projects? Are your projects coming out of pure imagination? Or are you working on things from specific prompts? Is OpenSource a place where you can find this kind of work?
My approach has been to learn some basics and then do a project.
Projects are where you put all of the pieces together from your lessons.
I like to start with the FCC projects and then do projects on my own.
Being able to com up with an idea and put it into code is an awesome thing. It can be frustrating too but you learn so much in the process.
Open source is contributing to someone else’s project.
You can contribute in a number of ways by fixing typos in documentation, adding a new feature, assisting the other contributors with existing features, or fixing bugs.
The thing that I have learnt is that there is no 1 “right way” of learning to code.
I used to drive myself insane trying to find the perfect learning path, and eventually the paradox of choice stopped me from learning anything at all. It is best to get used to the idea that you will combine loads of resources together. What has helped me so far is to combine a video course (Colt Steele Udemy Course) to learn the foundations, FCC, & a personal project to make the learning more active. I keep hearing that a lot of coding is actually just Googling to try solve a problem, and so far it seems to be the way I learn the most.
Ultimately it depends what you want to get out of it. Some say that a bootcamp can help as recruiters may be more willing to hire someone with some bootcamp certificate, but on the other hand I also hear that some are a waste of money. I also know that a lot of bootcamps help their students to find a job using their network.
I am really enjoying FCC a lot. I’m about halfway through the first certification. I feel like FCC is helpful because it’s all written and it asks me to be more present with the directions and information. I will probably continue with the Angela Yu Udemy course as well to round out some of the things I don’t understand or need more help with.
Your advice is helpful because that was exactly how I was feeling, like I was at a crossroads and not really sure which way to go. Now, I feel a little more supported and I see that there is a wealth of information here on FCC and many graduates that have applied themselves and that have found jobs on their own accord. I think that’s awesome! The social networking thing may come as a challenge later if I really want to do this, but I suppose if the skills are there, and I have to resort to a bootcamp down the road, I’ll at least be ahead of the curve! I will relax my FOMO as much as possible, study hard, and see what happens.
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