The Definitive Guide to Choosing a Coding Bootcamp

Authors

Marco Morawec, Ken Mazaika

There is a revolution taking place in how coding bootcamps change the world of coding education for everyone, and we wanted to help people understand how to be part of it. Those who understand code and are able to build their own applications in the future will have a competitive advantage that is hard to overstate, and we wanted to provide a solid framework for thinking about it.

Who is this guide for?

This guide is for career switchers, entrepreneurs and anyone who wants to learn web development and is seriously considering getting a top-notch coding education. If learning how to code matters to you, then coding bootcamps should matter to you.

How to use this guide?

We designed each chapter as a standalone mini-guide that can be read in isolation, but to get the most of our guide it would make sense to read it all the way through at least once, and then return to it as a reference resource when needed.

What is a coding bootcamp?

A coding bootcamp is a technical training program that teaches the parts of programming with the biggest impact and relevance to current market needs. It enables students with very little coding proficiency to focus on the most important aspects of coding and immediately apply their new coding skills to solve real-world problems.

Is a coding bootcamp right for you?

People go through a coding bootcamp for several reasons, but undoubtedly the three most common reasons why people learn how to code are to change their career, launch their own idea, and directly driving technical innovation at their current job.

The Profile of a Great Coding Bootcamp

There is a vast difference in curriculum quality, instructor skills, and student outcomes across the coding bootcamp landscape. This chapter shows you the key traits that make great coding bootcamps exceptionally good.

Understand The Different Coding Bootcamp Options

Standard online resources will give you a good introductory overview to coding. Both in-person and online coding bootcamps provide you with an in-depth experience that will prepare you to land a job as a junior web developer or launch your own web application idea.

Coding Bootcamp Research Strategy

Setting up a strategy to research your different coding bootcamp choices and knowing what your exact coding goals are (hint: it’s more than just “I want to job as a developer”) is the first step of becoming a real-world coder. This chapter explains how to state your personal coding goals and research the best options to reach that goal.

Comparing Bootcamps: What actually matters

It may be tempting to boil complicated decisions down to a few simple metrics to make a fast decision on which coding bootcamp to choose. This may work and look good in theory. However, in practice, boiling things down to a few “marketing” metrics isn’t really helpful to make a good decision.

Hard-Hitting Coding Bootcamp Questions to Ask

The fastest way to filter out all the marketing and sales noise from the different coding bootcamps, is to get on the phone and ask the questions that cut to the core values of the coding bootcamp.

Picking Your Winning Coding Bootcamp

Through this definitive guide you have a considerable amount of high quality coding bootcamp information. This chapter will bring all your research together, help you pick your winning coding bootcamp and make a decision. You also learn why you should talk with students of your final coding bootcamp and how to structure your conversation.

How to Commit and Start Coding

Last considerations before paying your coding bootcamp tuition include a double check on payment plans and refund policy. After those last two steps it’s time to pull the trigger and start changing your life.