Are coding bootcamps the golden ticket to a lucrative software development career, or are they just a bunch of hype?
On one hand, bootcamps promise to catapult you from coding novice to employable developer in a matter of months.
On the other hand, critics warn that bootcamps' accelerated pace and limited scope may leave you with a superficial understanding of programming, limiting your career growth.
So, is it bootcamp or bust? Or is there a more balanced path to becoming a software developer?
Debate is open!
Top comments (9)
My most valuable takeaway from participating in a 3-mo bootcamp was learning how to learn. I think one of the trickiest part about getting into web development is how overwhelming everything feels and the million different paths you can start with. This provided guidance on how to approach new subject matters, as well as a safe place for no dumb questions.
I agree with you that bootcamps are a good starting point and a way to know if you like the development world or you'd better off. I believe it's not just black or white, bootcamps have their place but their place is not to land you a 6 figure job as the hype states.
The idea that a bootcamp would make a complete novice with no prior knowledge or experience employable is a myth.
I haven't attended any personally, but I've enrolled team members in some. I found the outcome to be underwhelming. Team members did not come out with a solid understanding of the technology, and their ability to deliver new features (outside of the scope of what was covered) was non-existent without further mentoring and guidance from senior team members.
I strongly advise against using your own funds to pay for a bootcamp. The value just isn't there. Here in Australia, the costs for a month long bootcamp is about the same as a semester at university, with far less contact hours and a much lower quality of education.
On the other hand, if you're already employed in a developer role, attending a bootcamp to learn a new technology (paid for by your employer) can be valuable for some people. Although, I'd suggest that spending the same amount of time doing self-guided learning will net you a deeper understanding of the technology than a boot camp could hope to.
Of the boot camp curricula that I've reviewed, they mostly cover the absolute basics that could simply be learned by reading the docs and following along with the examples they contain. There are so many to-do app tutorials out there, you shouldn't spend thousands of dollars on one.
I would never pay for bootcamps as the paid ones basically teach the same than a free Coursera course. But yeah, as I said before, they're not bad as a starting point to learn a new thing starting from the basics
To clarify, when I hear someone say bootcamp, I assume they're referring to paid courses. That's generally what is meant by this term as far as I know it :)
Aaaaah, ok ok. I've heard of both paid and free bootcamps and generally they cover the same few topics but even being free, they don't usually worth the time!
This post could be a tweet
Bootcamps are a waste of time and money. They promise everything and yet, if you have any prior knowledge, you see that most of them don't even grasp the basics of the knowledge needed to actually build something without the feeling of being complete ignorant to the subject.
"learn by doing" is used as a motto, but what you actually experience is some sort of "watch me doing and copy it". They don't even care to provide more material on what you're watching if you desire to have a deeper understanding.
Again, bootcamps are a waste of time and money.
They're a waste of money... if you pay! Better a free YT bootcamp at your own pace and, onec you know the basics, read the docs.