devCodeCamp

I graduated from devCodeCamp as a Flex student back in October of 2022. I was one of the first to participate in the flex opportunity and was able to successfully complete the program while still having a full time job, and even a second part time job,... Read More AND I got married! The camp was extremely flexible with everything I had going on and they were constantly supportive and making sure I was set up to succeed. After graduating, career services assisted in helping me create a resume and they also kept me updated with open job positions. Because of them I have gained tools to land a job as a local web developer. I completely recommend taking this course whether you are just breaking into the field or even just wanting to freshen up on the newest and most relevant skills in the industry.

Before coming to devCodeCamp, I had 8 years of varied experience in the IT sector, with small dabblings in C, C++, and a variety of topics before I found that self-teaching without any prior basis in the topic was an intense struggle for me. So, I began... Read More weighing my options for educational assistance. I found that a bootcamp course would probably be my best option. I pursued a number of different bootcamp courses, some were okay, some were very bad, but devCodeCamp seemed on the level. And, initially, it went great. Their introduction, featuring python, was wonderful and I took to it like a fish to water. Concepts like Object Oriented Programming and Algorithms were taught, live, with an instructor and it was exactly what I expected. It went absolutely great, and the instructor was very helpful. Inheritance, SQL, database concepts, ORM querying, and many projects went swimmingly. 5 stars. And then, in the 4th week, on day 17, there was a sudden and drastic shift. It started with the Django REST framework: suddenly, the instructor live sessions ceased and we were left watching tutorial videos in order to teach us the concepts. Now, while these videos could be argued to be far more on topic with the task on hand, I did not plan on paying thousands of dollars for content I could find on youtube. This kind of self-taught approach is good for those already out in the field, but I strongly felt that I was not ready for this, and it was not what I was looking for in a structured learning environment. This, I feel, was much better suited for a more self-paced learning environment. And my grades reflected this. While not terrible, it was clear I was struggling with this particular method. It wasn't a show stopper, I muscled through it, and, for a while, things went back to the way they were. We picked up JavaScript, HTML, and CSS utilizing the old method, and I hoped that was just a bump. It wasn't. React.js was introduced with another slew of tutorial videos, and it was absolute hell. And whenever I inevitably ran into issues, I heard the same litany of "it's in the help center" as if I had even the vaguest idea of what I was looking for and "you should know this" when my grades showed that, clearly, I did not. And then the capstone came around, and guess what? It involved react.js, which at this point I was already quite vehement towards. I will admit! I gave it my best shot, but my user stories didn't match up and I failed by a few points. In the follow up weeks, I fought and fought and fought with react.js while my instructors became steadily less and less helpful until finally? I noted very keenly how the user stories did not specify using react.js. So I didn't. I disabled it all and wrote the entire frontend in JavaScript with some help from some coder friends. My instructors didn't notice until after they had passed me with flying colors. Despite mentioning it my EOD reports. And my GitHub updates. However, the trouble didn't end there. I found Career Services to be distinctly lacking. On the onset, I found them difficult to contact and difficult to get instruction from. Then, after some help with my resume, I was sent to watch, guess what, more tutorial videos, mixed in with the occasional PDF, which they apparently expect us to just memorize and utilize. What little face-time I received with these instructors was usually spent trying to force me out of my comfort zone, into doing things that were self-depreciating, and then expecting me to be a natural at it. I began reaching out to my fellow students, one who had passed on the initial try, to see if this was the case with them as well. I quickly found out that they, too, were quite underwhelmed by it all. It felt like they were inattentive at times, or missing crucial details. I had to be asked, twice, if I was a veteran, and shortly there after? My resume was sent off to an unknown without any of my prior console or consent. And there was a bit of a bump, as much as I hate to bring up anything that may involve someone's personal drama, but: one of the two career counseling folk promptly resigned from the company, and twas evident by their LinkedIn post that they had not yet lined anything else up yet. And, mind you: this was shortly before the holidays with all its juicy bonuses. I cannot even begin to claim to know half the details of what went on here, but.. with what little I was presented, it seemed evident something was amiss. The issues were an ongoing thing, one after another. The new instructor kept harping about GitHub updates, which would be fine and well, if they could get the number correct. My reports said I was due 5 updates each week, where as their number kept jumping around, despite me repeatedly informing them of this. And then the other instructor wants to start to seeing "research on the company" and "who you reached out to highlight yourself", two things I have not been doing because I have no idea how I should. I started to dig into that pile of tutorial videos and PDFs, and, along with noticing how they were fraught with typos and errors, I did indeed find the section where they covered this. It really felt like something that should have been focused on in the first week. This is the point where I started calling the loan company to talk about refunding, because, devCodeCamp was clearly not worth it. You might as well just watch youtube videos, because, half the time? You'll be doing that anyway. Unfortunately, it looked like I was stuck paying for a weak, watered down product. And any hopes of becoming a developer are gone.

Tech has always been a part of my life and my focus into what I wanted to do WITH my life. My journey was a little different than most I would think; I started by being an integral part of the "other" side of IT. I was a Systems Administrator and Network... Read More Engineer for most of my professional career that I was more than lucky to break into WITHOUT a degree. During this time I had the opportunity to work with numerous amounts of diverse pieces of software and the more I worked with them the more intrigued I got with how they worked and how they were built. This led me to my choice to attend devCodeCamp. I was increasingly worried that I had made a mistake or would regret my decision to leave my current career to pursue software development. When I first started at dCC I wasn't exceptionally confident that it would pan out. But as time progressed and the more I got to work with my instructors and classmates I was very quickly shown the support and positive feedback needed to ensure myself that anyone with the drive and willingness to learn could pursue software development. While the course material is very fast paced, the instructors and resources provided were extraordinarily helpful to make sure I stayed on task and up to par with the coursework. Everyone learns and adapts at different levels and paces, but the instructors were incredible and constantly provided a lending hand when asked. The way dCC is designed is essentially "learn by doing" and for a hands-on learner like myself this type of work was perfect. You have to stay vigilant with the strong combination of independency, resourcefulness, group work, and the idea that while the instructors aren't constantly visible - they are there, present, and ready to assist. Anyone with the right mindset and grit can and should get into the tech field of software development and devCodeCamp has the tools and personnel to help anyone along the way

I recently completed a 14 week course at devCodeCamp and I can confidently say that I feel prepared to start a career in software. The course itself is great. The instructors take it step by step and build your knowledge just enough so you can tackle... Read More the next project and then the next. I never felt overwhelmed but when looking back, the amount I learned in a short amount of time was impressive. But the real value of is the support system. The instructors and staff are great. You can tell they genuinely care about your success. If you can't figure out a problem, they can push you towards solution the right way, so you still figure it out yourself and aren't just given answers. On the other hand, if you finish a project/lab early, they always have more problems and projects to challenge you with. I am only a week into the start of the job search, but I am already impressed by the career services team. I know they will guide me through the job search process just as well as the instructors did with coding. If you are thinking about taking a devCodeCamp course, just know the more work you put into it the more you will get out of it. And it will be hard work, but devCodeCamp definitely gives you all the tools you will need to be successful.

devCodeCamp is a great option if you are thinking about a career transition or wanting to learn some of the languages and technologies they teach. I took the full-time full stack engineer course (online) and devCodeCamp was a great experience for myself.... Read More I was able to learn at a fast pace with plenty of resources available to me to reference, while also having access to an instructor when needed. The simulated class environment was very welcoming and easy to work within. My instructor was very willing to help, but also made sure I was self sufficient in finding solutions to what I needed and did not hand feed me answers. The learning curve does start out moderate but does increase the further along you go as you should be getting more comfortable with the material and concepts. The class time allotted for each day is more than enough to finish assignments and projects, but if you are determined and interested in what you are doing I recommend spending a little extra time so that you can cement the concepts into your knowledge. I will add that before beginning my bootcamp with decCodeCamp, I self taught and familiarized myself with Python, HTML, and CSS, which extensively helped me digest the concepts in which we learned throughout the bootcamp. Coming in with some sort of prior knowledge or slight understanding will be a great help and lighten the load of concepts that you will need to understand to be successful within the bootcamp. Overall I enjoyed my experience at devCodeCamp, I feel as through I have learned an immense amount of knowledge in such a short period of time, and that I am fully capable of building a full stack application front to back. The Instructors are very friendly and insightful and will always help you find a solution as long as you are willing to put in the work to understand or get to one as well. I'd recommend this bootcamp to anyone SERIOUS about learning how to code!

Before devCodeCamp, I was a former environmental professional who was unsatisfied with the career path that I had chosen. I had my fair share of doubts during the lead up to the start of the Full Stack bootcamp, but once the bootcamp started majority... Read More of my doubts went away. The class sizes are kept small so the instructors can actually spend quality time listening to your questions and offer pointed guidance and explanations for the bugs in your code. The instructors all possess expertise in the subjects/concepts/frameworks they’re tasked with teaching and are all very personable and patient, as well. The bootcamp is definitely a grind and you’ll feel the fire, but if you stay the course, you’ll finish a confident developer. My post-graduation experience has been very rewarding – much of that due to the ongoing support and guidance provided by the Career Services team. They kept me inspired and accountable during the job hunt and constantly reminded me of the importance of continued learning and persistence. Through their mentorship and interview prep, I was able to land a jr dev job a month after graduating!

I had a pretty good experience at devCodeCamp. First of all, the staff is wonderful. I think the curriculum and the way the material is taught is where I really wasn't quite meshing with the course. I found myself really not keeping up with the content... Read More early on, and though I did expect a coding bootcamp to be challenging for anybody, I definitely did encounter more obstacles than the average student. Some of these were circumstantial and unrelated to the bootcamp itself, and some were directly related to the bootcamp. For my review, I intend to focus on the latter. I signed up for the full stack web development course that ran full time (11am-4:30pm with a 0.5hr lunch break) for 11 weeks, Monday through Friday. After I enrolled, I was immediately given a basic Foundations of JavaScript course to complete before the course's start date, which I did. This precursor material was somewhat challenging to me, though I was hopeful I would understand it better once I gained more context from the real coursework. Programming was something entirely foreign to me from the get-go as I only had some prior experience with HTML and CSS. JavaScript and React were a whole other beast that require a certain type of thinking that I floundered to get a grasp on. I was extremely open to my instructors regarding my troubles throughout the course, asking questions as needed and explaining that I just wasn't getting it or that I felt I was missing something. They were all wonderful and ensured me that though I felt I was flying by the seat of my pants, I was learning more than I realized and everything would culminate eventually and just start clicking. I did have an instructor help me on a Saturday afternoon one-on-one which I will be forever grateful for. He was able to help me redo an entire project and submit it for full points, which helped boost my grade by quite a bit. My coursework involved 10 projects and around 25 lessons and about as many verbal lectures. Many days were filled with lectures over Zoom which wasn't ideal for me because I'm simply not somebody who learns by listening to lectures. Fortunately, the PowerPoints used during the lectures were available for download, so I was able to refresh my memory about what we went over. I was able to complete projects with my classmates utilizing Agile SCRUM paired programming methodologies, which wasn't always my cup of tea, but was a useful industry standard to learn regardless and I'm glad it was included in the curriculum. At the end of the bootcamp, I felt I still had a lot to learn, but a decent foundation had been laid out for me to build upon. I feel I could have benefited more from more hands-on learning and fewer lectures, more structured time and less time given to me to work independently, and more instruction on what JavaScript and the MERN stack are actually doing when we write the code, because I kind of felt like somebody who learned a foreign language and could recite phrases and sentences, but couldn't quite actually understand what any of it meant or how to understand other speakers of that language. The biggest benefit I walked away with, though, was the ability to teach myself programming on my own. I'll definitely be continuing to refine and bolster my skills in the future.

Starting the journey of changing careers was incredibly daunting to put it lightly. Combine that with choosing a career in the ever-changing tech world, made me feel lost and intimidated. However, I was determined. The first time that I ever coded was... Read More the day I met for my first class with devCodeCamp. Not only did I not know what I was doing, but there was a constant hum in the back of my head telling me that I couldn't break into tech without a bachelor's degree, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I can now say with confidence that this journey is for anyone with the drive and or desire to break into the programming world, degree or no degree. Will it be easy? No. Will the instructors and team at devCodeCamp do everything in their power to help you get through this incredibly challenging period? Yes. The team at devCodeCamp not only prepares you for your first role in tech, but they speak to the human experience that will undoubtedly transpire along the way. I had self-doubt, anxiety, fear and above all else, I had rampant Imposter Syndrome. The Instructors and Career Services team at devCodeCamp are unmatched and continually went the extra mile to push me forward, even when I had every doubt running through my mind and stunting progress at times. They calmed anxiety's and helped me put strategies in place to help me be successful. I can without a doubt say that, for anyone looking to get into the technology industry; this is the boot camp for you!

I started my programming journey learning programming languages from college courses while I served in the military. As I began my transition out of the military, I decided to pursue software development and I knew I not only needed a refresher but also... Read More needed to learn current technologies and techniques. This is where devCodeCamp really helped me. The curriculum was great, moving through several languages and technologies to provide both skills and confidence in my ability to be a software developer. I never felt that I was learning stale or useless information or skills while going through this course. I really enjoyed the interaction with the instructors as they taught and guided the class to not only learn syntax of a language but to problem solve the assignments as well as challenges we came across during the coursework. I couldn’t sing them enough praises, from their experience that showed everyday to their patience with students, and their ability to stay engaged every day. I’m looking forward to applying the many skills I’ve learned from devCodeCamp into action as I start a new career.

Coming into a program with no previous experience is definitely a daunting task, but an opportunity to improve upon yourself if you put in the work. devCodeCamp did an excellent job of bringing students up to speed and ramping up educational materials... Read More at a consistent pace - ensuring all topics were covered in a clear and concise manner. The instructors are there to support you however they are able - each and every one of them has been an absolute dream to work with. I left this program with the tools needed to fully explore the Development world and a newfound passion to continually learn as I go.