AI Software bootcamp | On campus, full-time

At the time when I started Le Wagon bootcamp, I already had experience with IT. My initial plan was to enroll at the university, but 2-3 years of study were too long for me, and I realized that a 9-week bootcamp was the best choice.

Every day, coding was not difficult for me. In the same time, we had additional exercises for experienced programmers. The atmosphere was very good and the teachers really tried to help you. I made some very good connections with teachers and students. Also, we had every week offline meetups with interesting subjects.

As a result, I found my job at the end of the bootcamp.

Highly recommend.

I started my career in the shipping industry (oceangoing tankers) and got quite frustrated by its conservative working methods, especially the lack and quality of software I had to work with. Coming from a background of economics, I understood linear programming problems but had no knowledge about coding. After playing around with excel macros I learned that I enjoyed these kind of problems but did not know how I could get into coding as I hadn't studied computer science (and I certainly did not intend to spend years in school again). Also the false idea that you have to love math left me somewhat reluctant. I decided to take a break and travel for some time. 

Close to the end of my trip I ran into the concept of coding bootcamps. I don't remember what the lead was that made me look in this direction but as soon as it caught my attention I got very excited. I specifically liked LeWagon since they are hosting a program that is oriented towards building a product (I am entrepreneurial by nature so this suited my personal interest). Also they were priced most competitively. 

During the bootcamp I was amazed by the learning curve. I had zero knowledge of coding; I initially did not know what frontend or backend meant, what Github was or what happens with an http request. Actually, even html and css were new concepts to me. A new world opened up to me! During the bootcamp you have a morning lecture, followed by working on problems with a buddy (pair programming) in the end of the morning and afternoon to discuss the problems and live-coding at night. This mix of learn-by-watching, learn by doing and learning-by-teaching method is extremely effective.

Apart from the super fast learning that I enjoyed I became very excited about how there is no end to the innovation and creativity in tech. Halfway the bootcamp we got to pitch our own ideas in order to choose a final project. From my time in shipping, I had an idea to automate a complex process of contract assessment in order to determine what charterers have to pay shipowners for incurred delays in port. Three other students chose to join the project and we worked on it for the last two weeks of the bootcamp. Many times we thought we got in way over our heads but there was a lot of support from teachers to help us crawl through the challenges we faced. Eventually we got to present a well working and good-looking MVP at the grand finale: demo day. In those last weeks basically everything that we previously learned came together and fell into place perfectly. We did not only learn how to solve coding problems but also how to collaborate in teams and align the many different tasks that the project required. 

Since the bootcamp many new ideas came to mind. You start looking at problems in a different way and it so much easier to evaluate what the scope of a project is and whether it is worth to get started on it. And to get started has become very accessible now. 

I strongly feel that learning to code for my generation is equally important as being able to speak English. Even if you don't end up becoming a developer, knowing how the digital world fits together is essential. I have already recommended this bootcamp to many of my friends. In my opinion this is the most effective way to learn the essential range of concepts and skills in a very very short time. 

Le wagon has been an incredible experience in an uncountable amount of ways. If you’re considering doing a coding bootcamp, choose Le wagon.

Where did it start?

My interest in coding started when I experienced some limitations at work; I really wanted to create something and I knew how it should work or look but I didn’t know how to tell the computer exactly what I wanted. I researched coding and web development and used many free online tutorials, and I felt like I had made some progress, I could really write some lines of code and manipulate things on a website (felt pretty cool), but I didn’t know where to go from there, I could write some lines, knew some syntax, but there was no way I could create a full product, where would I start? After drowning myself in all the resources out there, I felt more and more confused and decided it was time to get some guidance.

Before choosing...

After researching coding bootcamps, it was clear that Le wagon was going to be a great choice. Although, I was a little skeptical at first because they seemed to just have endlessly positive reviews and I thought that can’t be right? Are these reviews real? (I can of course confirm that they are, now that i’m here writing one myself). Le wagon appeared to offer many interesting technical skills, but also seemed focused on teaching students to create a product as a whole, and focused on supporting entrepreneurship too. I watched a bunch of their demo day videos* from many cities and I was beyond impressed. I remember thinking “Wow, some of these ideas seem absolutely genius, and the presentation of the final products are really inspiring”. I wanted to be able to create something like that!

Which city should I choose?

Le wagon offers their course in heaps of cities, and although I was choosing between several cities, Barcelona was a clear winner for me. I wanted to stay in Europe, and after researching, Barcelona had one of the lower costs of living. Not only is it home to many start-ups and makes a regular appearance on lists about tech hubs in Europe, but it is also located on the lovely Mediterranean, and who would turn down a city with sunny beaches and beautiful mountains all in one.

After applying…

After I filled out the form on the Le Wagon website to apply for the bootcamp in Barcelona, I got an e-mail from Gus, the driver, offering to book a chat on skype. We had a great chat that resulted in getting the offer to do the technical tests. I was given some material to learn in a few days along with some tasks and then I was given a test which should be completed more or less in an evening. I was very glad to know that I passed the tests and had been offered a place at the bootcamp. The time between my admission and the first day of the bootcamp I was given some prep work to complete.

Before the Bootcamp…

I cannot stress enough just how helpful it was that I had completed the prep work given to me**. There are several videos to watch with some questions afterward, loads of useful resources linked in the descriptions. I really suggest you read/complete the info in the links. One thing that is great about the prep work is that it gets you into the mindset of how the bootcamp will be, consistently getting fed knowledge and new information. Lastly, DO NOT underestimate the javascript part, this will take you more time than you might expect.

Before the bootcamp started I also received a few really helpful email from the campus manager, Avalon, who gave me loads of information about the city and also helpful tips about finding places to stay during the bootcamp. She was really helpful and answered all the questions I had.

During the bootcamp..

From Day one I was so happy to meet so many interesting new people with so much of their own culture to share and stories to tell and I knew that I was going to really enjoy the 9 weeks to come.

First third of the bootcamp

The first week we learnt about the Ruby basics which was really helpful because they’re the fundamentals to learn any programming language, the important part was understanding the concepts as opposed to just learning syntax of by heart. It was intense, just as I had expected! On the friday we all went out for some beers to reflect on the first week and despite being tired and our brains overflowing with not only new information but also a new way of thinking and learning, everyone was in a great mood and we had a lovely time getting to know each other.

Something that really impressed me was the learning platform that the creators of Le Wagon have developed. You can’t even imagine how well structured, engaging and useful this platform it, it really was the key to being able to learn so much in just 9 short weeks. They have video lectures, slideshows, daily challenges, flashcards, and a super impressive “search” function where you can just look up any keyword you remember from a lecture and it will give you all of the content related to that word - I really relied on that!

The second week we learnt about more advanced programming concepts and we actually created some pretty cool mini programs which was the first time I started to feel like a developer.The third week we focused on Databases which was really interesting and it was really useful to learn how to communicate with Databases. So the first three weeks really focused on understanding the back-end.

Second third of the bootcamp

The next two weeks were focused on the front-end, we learnt HTML, CSS and Javascript, and also discovered libraries such as Bootstrap. We were able to build a profile page, learn how to build web components, good UI and UX practices. It was interesting to learn just how much logic is behind design, and it was actually really different from the back-end. It was refreshing to touch a new topic but it was just as challenging.

During this middle part of the bootcamp when we were focusing on  front-end and design, we were also taught about how to pitch a product, and we had a practice night pitching all the ideas we had to our fellow wagoners. This is a really valuable skill to learn, as they really taught us the ins and outs of a good product pitch.

The next week we learnt about Rails and oh my god - the magic behind Rails was mind-blowing. Rails is fantastic and seeing everything come together was really rewarding, it was great to finally understand why we were learning everything we had been learning.

Last third of the bootcamp

Now that we had acquired all the necessary skills to build our own app it was finally time to build one! We had one week (5 days) to build a clone of AirBnb in teams of 3, 4 or 5. This was really good practice to learn how to efficiently collaborate both in person and on GitHub, we learnt how to organise ourselves as a team and also how to deal with problems that we would run into. This practice week was so exciting because we had the opportunity to present what we had created to our classmates which was a great taster for when we would be presenting the actual product we were going to develop.

The final two weeks were intense, exciting, nerve-wracking but amazing. We worked in sprints and we were able to build an MVP in just 10 days. It was incredible to be working on a project building an actualt real-life app just 6 weeks after not knowing how to write a single line of code. God that was an amazing feeling.

On the Demo day, the day we would present our products to not only our classmates but also a general public audience who had signed up to join the event. We had a great day practicing our presentations and spending time with our fellow campmates, though it was a sad day saying goodbye to all my new friends, it was also a great day as everyone had a genuine sense of achievement and we were  all really proud to present what we had been working so hard on.

So that was it, after 9 weeks, I could now call myself a Junior Full-stack developer.

About the Teachers

Le wagon Drivers are great at choosing teachers who fit very well into the culture. Oftentimes the teachers have done the bootcamp themselves and so they are really able to relate to the students and understand which sections of the course tend to be more challenging and how students react to the content in the course. All the teachers in my batch were super friendly, we got along so well and it really made it a fantastic learning environment. There wasn't a strong sense of authority and superiority coming from the teachers which made the atmosphere more comfortable knowing that the teachers are really just there to support, help and guide you through the course. They help you learn how to solve problems by yourself so that you’re ready for the real world of developing and so that you don’t become dependent on them. (although I do sometimes miss having them around)

After the bootcamp

Earlier I spoke about the incredible platform built by the Le Wagon founders, and the best part about the resources is that they’re available to you for the rest of your life. They are not only aimed at students who are currently in the bootcamp but there is a massive active community (4000+ students) contributing to the resource part to help you continue to learn after the bootcamp.

They have channels to help you find a job, work as a freelance, help you if you get stuck while coding (fixing any errors you can’t seem to fix yourself). Everyone who has been a Le Wagon student is very supportive of other wagoners, and the worldwide community is great. If you attended the bootcamp in Tokyo but you are looking for a Job in Barcelona, the wagoners from Barcelona will be sure to help you. This is something that I am infinitely grateful to be a part of.

Why should you choose Le Wagon Barcelona?

Looking for a career change? Le wagon.

Want to become a Full-stack Developer in no time? Le wagon.

Looking to build your own start-up? Le wagon.

Want to learn how to communicate effectively with the devs in your company? Le wagon.  

Looking to become a Project Manager with Coding knowledge? Le Wagon.

Want to become a freelance developer? Le wagon.

Seriously...the list is endless in the number of ways Le Wagon will benefit you. You can learn so much and in such a beautiful city with so many international people. I highly recommend Barcelona.

What did I personally learn?

Apart from the obvious coding part, Le wagon actually taught me many useful life skills. I got to meet a bunch of awesome people from many different cultures and get insights into their lives, I learnt about how to approach …, I learnt how to tackle problems along the way, I learnt about teamwork in a technical environment, and I overcame my fear of public speaking from the support of the driver and teachers, which I will always be thankful for.

*anyone who is considering Le Wagon as their bootcamp choice, I would really recommend watching the demo day videos.

** All aspiring students should really take the prep work seriously.

Le Wagon was one of the experiences in my life that I could call "unforgettable". Despite having a stable job and great benefits as a multinational executive, I have decided to leave my job and retake my career in the IT world. The main reasons for that are, firstly, I love technology, secondly I was tired of the bureacratict environment and, lastly, I love new challenges. It's important to highlight that I started my career as a developer in the mid-1990s, graduated in Computer Science in 1996, and finished my first MBA in 2002. So, it is easy to say the world has changed a lot since then both in terms of quantity and in terms of technology. After developing VBA code to help with my financial work, I have identified coding was what I would like to do again. I had started writing code on my own, but I was missing interacting with other people and creating vices of those who learn alone. Thus, I searched for in-house courses, but I was not willing to spend 2 years studying in an outdaded learning model. So, I was searching for short code labs with lots of practice. I found Le Wagon after reading many reviews and I can say it was one of the best decisions I've ever made since I knew it would be hard for 9 weeks coding full time. My life after Le Wagon has completely changed, even for someone who already had some experience. Even so, I have updated existing knowledge and learned new things that will help me a lot in the current job market, as we did exactly what is done in practice, both in planning and in the organization of the work. I feel extremely proud of having become a LeWagoner !!! Thank you Pedro, Fernando and the teachers for the amazing experience !!!!

I am very satisfied with my experience at Le Wagon Bali. During my time at the bootcamp I reached all the learning objectives I set myself. Prior to Le Wagon, I was a business student with an entrepreneurial mind-set and I was frustrated with the fact that I could not turn my business ideas into reality. I thus came to Bali with the will to learn how to code credible MVPs and that’s what happened. Le Wagon allowed me to learn how to build web applications with a clean front-end and relatively complex back-end incorporating APIs, external ruby libraries and “gems”. Thus, following the Le Wagon curriculum one is able to build a multitude of different web applications ranging from simple websites to dynamic platforms with multiple users, payments, geo-location etc. Knowing this in the digital age is an incredibly powerful and valuable skill. In fact, now that I am back at business school, I am part of the small group of students that knows how to code. This clearly “sets me apart from the rest of the crowd” and has attracted the attention of many of my peers which are in the same position as me prior to Le Wagon and who are now considering doing Le Wagon too. Every time one asks me for advice about Le Wagon I always encourage them to do the bootcamp as long as they plan to code after the bootcamp as coding is like language, if you don’t practice it, you loose it.

Furthermore, the Le Wagon team in Bali was super competent and friendly. I always had the feeling to be in very good hands. The lead teachers had in-depth knowledge about all the topics covered and the teaching assistants very always very helpful and friendly when helping us with the coding exercises. Learning to code on a rooftop in Bali with a view on the sea is a unique experience and very difficult to beat in my opinion. Additionally to learning how to code I also took several surf lessons before the coding classes. The morning surf sessions with the rising sun in the background are unforgettable memories. Moreover, the people I met at Le Wagon in Bali were all very open-minded and friendly and the entire batch quickly became a good group of friends with which we organised very nice week-end trips to Nusa Penida and Ubud. Overall Le Wagon Bali was an incredible and very rewarding experience and if I had to do it again, I would not hesitate for a second!

After being graduated from Top French Business School, I had various professional experiences where i was in contact with programmers. Fastly, I realised that I had no legitimacy to run my project correctly because I was not able to talk their language properly. My conclusion : I needed to understand them to be more efficient in my work.

I heard about Le Wagon when I was in Business School while they organised a workshop and I really loved their methodology: learn by doing. So I decided to get in touch Le Wagon Barcelona and few interviews after, I was on board.

On my first day, I have directly been amazed by the variety of profiles in my batch : engineers, medical students … I probably couldn't have the opportunity to work with so many different people in one place. And it had been a real chance because this is what makes this experience so unique - people with totally different backgrounds, different points of view, different skills - but with the same purpose: learn to code and change life.

Those differences had been the engine of our success: we were combining our soft and hard skills to reach a common goal: create a product that we were believing in.

To any applicants: I highly recommend you to follow this bootcamp. This is a really challenging moment that requires a lot a work and involvement.  And at the end you'll learn so much more than code.

Le Wagon Bali was one of the most intensive educational & fun months of my life! Dirk & the other staff made sure traveling across the world was easy by providing us accommodation recommendations and a fun environment to always have something to do. The structure of the course was extremely cool and allowed for both beginner and slightly more advanced students have a filled day. If you really understood a lesson one day you still have bonus exercises that introduce new topics and offer fun challenges to push your learning to the next level. For me - I already knew how to build Wordpress & ClickFunnels sites but those don’t require much, if any coding experience. Since the batch - I have been able to build custom mapping estimating software and more importantly for me - hire someone to build the base code and have the ability to manage a workforce of programmers, because now I understand their workflow and structure. Being able to quickly understand and edit code saved you $1,000’s of dollars in development costs vs someone without a coding background. I thank Le Wagon Bali for all of this education and the time of a lifetime. Definitely an experience I recommend.

I did batch 205 of Le Wagon in Lisbon, finishing in December 2018. It was a great learning experience, very rewarding and challenging!
I have a business background, and was working in the retail industry for a few years. I've always been curious about how products are built and how to develop products tailored to consumers' needs. I didn't have any previous knowledge of programming but thought it could be interesting to learn how to code. A friend of mine told me about Le Wagon, and after checking the program and reviews from previous students, it seemed like a great option, so I quit my job and joined the bootcamp.
The bootcamp was very intensive and demanding. It really pushed me forward and made me step out of my comfort zone but it was totally worth it. I now know that anyone can learn how to code, it just takes commitment, effort, passion, and being surrounded by the right people and environment. And Le Wagon provided just that.
For me, a crucial part of my experience were the amazing teachers and TAs. They are very supportive, understanding your problems and helping you, adapting to your reasoning and own way of solving the challenges instead of just giving you their solution. This really helped me to feel more confident and understand things better.
Another great aspect are your fellow students. They know what you're going through, everyone supports each other, and the environment is really collaborative and friendly. This makes it so much easier to go through those days when you feel more lost or insecure about learning how to code. Pair programming is also a great feature of the bootcamp, allowing you to work with someone different each day, and helping each other. There's also time to relax and have fun together.
The last two weeks are very challenging and rewarding since you develop a real product in a team of 3 or 4 students. After prototyping our web app during demo day, I felt proud and amazed with what everyone achieved in 9 weeks!
Overall, I recommend Le Wagon to anyone who wants to learn how to code! You will be amazed by what you can do in 9 weeks and challenge yourself!

Before I took the jump and booked onto batch #190 in London I was a full time swim coach with no prior coding experience. Now, having graduated two months ago, I am Junior front-end engineer at an awesome sales start up in London. The course at Le Wagon can genuinely change your career path and your life as it gives you the technical knowledge and team work experience that employees are looking for from their next Junior Developer. On the course the teachers (most are past students) will happily help you with any problem, ranging from a small typo to a error that takes half the day to fix. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Le Wagon and encourage anyone who wants to gain the technical knowledge to become a Junior Developer or set up their own business to apply and get on with it!

Le Wagon makes you think as a developer starting from day one.
The learning method is extraordinary since it makes you get so much knowledge in a short period of time. When I started, I didn’t have any previous coding experience, and in just two months I learned how to build full web applications and much more.
The way the course has been created makes you improve day after day and also teaches you how to struggle without giving up, allowing you to create amazing stuff in no time.
In Le Wagon, you don’t only learn to code, but also to work in a team.
Coding the daily exercises with a different classmate every day, and spend more than two weeks building real projects in a small team clearly enhances the bootcamp experience.
When you decide to join Le Wagon, you don’t only join a bootcamp. You also enter a community for life, full of amazing people from different horizons ready to help you and share.
Two months seems like to be very long when you register, but when you start the course you soon realise that time flies, and in a while you find yourself coding a full replica of Airbnb.
Doing it in Bali was even more sastisfying and fun. The bootcamp is in the center of Canggu fulfilled with nice and cool cafés, restaurants and bars. There are many activities to do during the weekend with your batch. Going to the bootcamp in your scooter and sun everyday is for sure something that only Le Wagon Bali can offer you.  
Thanks to Le Wagon, I now feel confident in coding and in my capacity to learn quickly.
I am very satisfied with the course, deciding to participate was one of the best decision I have ever made. 

In 2016, I voluntarily joined a 2-hour coding workshop by Le Wagon at the University of Mannheim in Germany. It was an optional workshop which was offered as part of a congress I participated in. This was the first time, I actually noticed how much I enjoyed coding. One year later, I joined a young e-commerce business where I was exposed to SQL and again I figured, that I really enjoyed it. After finishing my bachelor’s degree, I did not feel like moving on the way I did for my future job. So I remembered the coding workshop I did in 2016 and started researching about coding schools all around the world. In the end, Le Wagon convinced me the most, as I had some minor experiences with their teachers during my workshop in university and at the same time it was the shortest and least expensive coding bootcamp I could find on the Net.

My experience at Le Wagon Barcelona came in with so many highlights. Not only did I enjoy learning a new professional skill, but I met loads of amazing people who inspired me every day. I loved going to class and buddying with a new partner daily to solve our coding challenges. Learning to code was fun and challenging at the same time. Looking back, I can say, that this coding bootcamp has changed my life for the good and that I have made friends for life.

I loved living in Barcelona because it is a lively city, but still relaxed at the same time. It seems hard to get tired of all the things Barcelona has to offer – be it pubs, clubs, sporting activities, hikes etc. I myself love to do sports and to be in nature. Living in Gracía, the Tibidabo mountain was not far and it always allowed me to enjoy beautiful sunrises with a view on Barcelona in the mornings before class. I was also able to join some cool boxing classes, bootcamps in the park, yoga sessions on rooftops and so on for almost no money, as the first class was always free while the choice of different sport studios was huge!

For future students, I would advise to live in the area of Gracía as you will mainly be busy with class during the week and it seems painful to have to take the metro every single day to get to class. Moreover, you will notice that most of the times, you will hang out around Gracía for drinks in the evening as this is the area where students and teachers will know where to go because you always pass some cool places on the way from or to class.

In terms of preparation for class, I can only advise future students to actually watch the lecture each night before class, so you will be able to quickly grabs the logic of coding. I also found that every time I watched the video the night before class, I was able to understand things, which I had not noticed by only watching the video or solely visiting the lecture. Hearing things twice really helps to get a deeper understanding of things!

Learning to code at Le Wagon is a life-changing experience!

I graduated from Le Wagon at the end of Nov 2018, and now I’m working at a FinTech startup as a full-stack developer in Japan. Looking back, I’m sure Le Wagon is the best choice if you really want to change your life.

Here are the things I liked:

- Extremely well-organized learning materials and resources, which you’ll think of like a bible even after

- Well balanced challenges given every day, keeping you concentrated regardless of your initial skill-level

- Great teachers and TAs, all of them are friendly and taught us that coding is fun

- Great classmates, and community where graduates and teachers all over the world are actively communicating

I was a banker in investment bank before joining Le Wagon. Though I didn’t have any coding skill, I really wanted to change my career and my life, and Le Wagon made it.

Please let me tell finally that the most important thing is… your heart!
9 weeks go really fast with intensive experiences!!

I’ve always been interested in learning programming, and after finishing my bachelor with a business major, it seemed to be just the perfect time to actually start.
I pretty quickly found out that I would prefer a full-time bootcamp over self-learning, and that’s how I ended up in Milan starting the 9-week LeWagon full stack bootcamp.

Your usual day at LeWagon begins with lectures in the morning, where new concepts are introduced along comprehensive examples. In the afternoon you then have to solve related problem sets, in order to deepen that knowledge.

From the first day on, Francesco and his team were doing their best to make this experience as nice as possible. Every concept was taught thoroughly and during the problem session, no question remained unanswered. 
This is where I also see the biggest benefit of bootcamps over self-learning in general. With the 1:1 on-demand help of the teaching assistants, you are able to learn way faster.

The highlight of the bootcamp though was the last three weeks, where the 16-people course was split up into 4 groups. After only 6 weeks, we were already able to program an Airbnb clone within one week. The great thing about this project was also, that you had to combine all your prior learnings and connect them in order to make your first "full-stack” project successful. 
In the following two weeks, we took that even further, with the individual groups coding their own apps, so completely independent of any lecture script. That’s where I also learned the most and the assistance of the experienced teachers is very valuable.

In general, LeWagon was a huge boost for my career. I started coding in a professional working environment right away after the course, without any problems. 
Thanks again to you Francesco and the whole LeWagon Milan team!

Having spent many years as a sales assistant and after many failed job searches, I knew the time had come for me to take the learning route in order to change careers to where my interests lie. But how? While searching for coding courses I stumbled across Le Wagon (only ranked #1 coding bootcamp in Europe). I decided to take the punt and boy was I right to do so.

It’s pretty amazing just how much you can learn in 9 weeks. It’s very intense and can be overwhelming at times considering the amount of information there is to take in, but the teachers and teaching assistants were great. They were always on hand to help. I especially liked the fact that they aided me in finding solutions rather than just giving them to me. I found that this helped my understanding massively.

Le Wagon had so much to offer. The evening events and talks from people in the industry or ex-alumni were a brilliant insight into the working world as a developer. Also, the vast community of ex-alumni in which you become a part of is particularly exciting.

It was an extremely rewarding experience for me. I felt very comfortable and at home there and was in perfect conditions to learn and soak up as much as I could. The 9 weeks flew by and in the final weeks I didn’t want it to end!

I wouldn’t have imagined that I would be able to build the products that me and my team achieved in such a short space of time. Le Wagon is surely the best decision I’ve made!

I had always been interested in becoming a programmer, but it seemed like an impenetrable industry with a steep learning curve and conflicting advice on the best way to get into it. Like many people trying to teach themselves to code, I spent countless years being stuck in “tutorial purgatory”. I lost count of how many beginner courses I completed, but I just couldn’t see how it would translate into an actual career. I lacked any direction or roadmap and didn’t have a network of peers that I could turn to for advice.

The other problem was not knowing how to code within a team. What’s the general etiquette? What tools are used? How are projects divided up amongst team members? It was the day-to-day of working in the industry that online courses were not giving me. Add to that the fact that I was stuck in a job that left me feeling exhausted and stressed that I simply did not have the energy to continue my learning at a sustained rate.

I decided to take the plunge, quit my job, and enrol at Le Wagon (batch #190). I can honestly say, it’s been one of the best decisions of my entire life.

Within the first week, I had already surpassed what had taken me 3 years of self-study to achieve. I am going to be completely frank, this course is intense! I strongly advise anyone taking this course to make sure that they have no other commitments whilst it’s running. This will be the hardest you will have worked for a long time.

I was taken aback by how slick the entire setup was. Their teaching platform (called Kitt) is hands down one of the most well designed and impressive sites I have ever seen. You have access to all of the lectures in case you miss a day (although definitely try not to miss any days if possible!), and this access extends to after you complete the batch (more on this later).

The teachers are all extremely knowledgable and very patient, especially with some of the harder concepts. The teaching assistants also were a great help, with a lot of them being recent Le Wagon graduates.

But the most important question is what is life after the batch like? Will you actually get a job in development. Well, almost all of the fellow students I speak to have already got jobs or have been offered jobs. I myself was offered a teaching assistant role at Le Wagon itself. This has been great as it’s eased the pressure a bit whilst searching for a job. As I write this now, I am scheduled to have an interview later this afternoon, so it’s definitely improved my job prospects.

The best thing post-course is the support you get afterwards. You still get access to all the learning material (you could do the entire course again in video form if you like). But you also get access to a massive Slack community for alumni. This was one of the missing pieces for me, I now have that group of peers that I can call upon that I didn’t have before.

Whether or not Le Wagon is right for you depends on your circumstances. The amount of effort you put into it is what determines what you get out of it. I can only speak for my own personal experience, but what I was looking for was a clean break away from my old job and to dive straight into a new career. Whilst I am still job hunting at the moment, I can safely say that I will not be going back to my old career!

I always had, somewhere in my mind, the idea to, one day, create my startup, run my own company.
So I decided to start my journey with an International Business School (That’s what most people do). At the end of the Business School, I had to fulfil a 6 months internship, where I met recently graduated people from Le Wagon. They showed me what is coding and told me about Le Wagon and how amazing it is during and after the 3 months courses.

After this, I wanted to learn to code, this would be the next step for me to build my future. After the bootcamp, I would be able to understand and read code, and get ready to start new experiences as a developer.

Coding was fun, really fun, it’s such an amazing experience, whatever your background is!
I’m using computer everyday of my life, and for anything, and at the beginning, I thought coding would be super easy.
To be honest, it wasn’t hard, it was enjoyable every single day, every single minute, but it was far from what I was expecting. And the reality is that, even with almost 0 computer knowledge, who ever you are and wherever you are from, you can do it and change your life.
Also, we had such an amazing batch, people were so nice, teachers and teachers assistants were awesome! Without forgetting our lovely and amazing community manager Avalon!

Having a coding buddy everyday is the best thing to learn coding. If you’re stuck, your buddy will help you, or you can help him. Both of you united, you can face any challenge (almost, any challenges, some are pretty hard ahah).

Learning to code was also a really great experience because, you know, Barcelona. We had exceptionally sunny October, November and December, weather was pretty beautiful and people in Barcelona are really nice. There are so many activities to do apart from coding, during your free time, there is no time to bother!

The advice I would give, and the one that was given to me the very first day when I asked for one : “Do you flashcards!” - If you don’t know what it is, you will know it soon enough!
Also, don’t try too hard. If you’re stuck on an exercise, it’s a normal thing, you’re here to learn, and you will, in the end, know how to do it. So if you’re stuck more than 45min/1hour, ask your buddy, or ask a teacher, they will help you. But do not ask immediately, you have to try by yourself if you want to learn, and how proud of you you will be once you find the solution by your own, trust me, amazing feeling!

One sentence to describe my experience : Le Wagon was the best thing I could have done in my life so far, and it truly changed my life and my future.
Enjoy every moments Wagonners and future Wagonners!

I must confess that my expectations were incredibly high before I start the bootcamp, but in reality the course was even better than I was expecting. It starts hard, and that's necessary for you to embrace the complexity of the program, but once you understand how things work, you can do anything you can without much effort. The reality is that every one of us build super amazing applications within 2 weeks, much faster than many professional web developers. I was even able to build my personal website in 2 days, after finish the bootcamp: https://hugoabreu.pt 
So, if you're looking to become a web developer, or like me, to embrace a career of technical project manager, Le Wagon is your place. I did my course in Tokyo and I can only recommend the staff from there! 

Le Wagon has officially changed my life.

I hadn’t done too much research before I applied to Le Wagon. I had read some reviews online and everyone had amazing things to say. Honestly, there were soo many good reviews that I started fearing that it was too good to be true. But now, having finished the course I can say I was not disappointed. In all honesty, I wish I could wake up every day and head to class. The 9 weeks are tough, I mean if you are learning something that could be taught in a span of 2 years in 9 weeks, can you expect anything less. Some days went by so fast while other days I was so overwhelmed with the coding language. There were also times of stress and exhausting, but nothing that I couldn’t overcome at the end of the day.

The reason  why I believe Le Wagon works and would highly recommend it is:
1 - Students become teachers
    Le wagon has built up a family of alumni who are so passionate and believe in the lesson that ex-students come back to class and become your TAs. From day one, you meet people that can relate and understand everything you are going through. In addition, it is super encouraging to know that soon you could also be teaching the next batch.

2- The Setup
    It’s like waking up every morning to take part of a startup. Tables are communal, there are plants on every desk, there is an open floor plan, everyone can talk to everyone, and people work at their own pace. Want to take a 2-hour lunch break? No one is going to say anything, as long as your work is done by live code. Also, free beers at the end of a day is always a plus

3- The Final Project
    The opportunity to be able to pitch an idea, and have the idea chosen to be built is amazing. I was so lucky to have a fantastic team to work with. During these 2 weeks, you learn so much about yourself, coding, working in teams, and what the future can hold.

If you are reading this review it means that you at least have some interest in learning to code. Good! It is amazing!

Le Wagon made me realise a couple of things. The first thing is: knowing how to code and how developers think and work is indispensable if you want to start you own startup and/or manage developers.

The second thing is: if you put in the time you can become a developer. Before the bootcamp I was a Teacher/Freelance filmmaker and I never really saw programming as something I could do even though I have done some coding during middle school and university. Then I joined batch 173 of the Le Wagon bootcamp and felt right at home. It was such a diverse, friendly and motivated group that it felt like hanging out with friends. Don't get me wrong. You have to work hard. But you are working hard together and supporting each other during the bootcamp.

The teachers and TA's are a great plus as well. The teachers know the industry and the programs you will work with inside and out and the TA's are just like you but with a couple months more experience. They did the same bootcamp and can relate with the problems you might run into.

They teach you not just how to work with Ruby and Ruby on Rails but also the knowledge and skills you need to learn other programming languages. They give you a solid base to develop yourself from.

Le Wagon starts as a bootcamp but becomes a supportive and positive community. It has been a couple of months and I am still in contact with a lot of people from my batch.

I have made some lifelong friends and have a sound foundation in coding. I would recommend this bootcamp to anyone!

Despite working as a translator, I had a background in IT prior to coming to Le Wagon (mostly programming Windows applications and Linux scripts on my own time). For me Le Wagon was a transition to web development, so I perhaps cannot speak to the difficulty of the course as objectively as those for who coding is a brand new experience. Nonetheless, my time at Le Wagon London was time well spent.

The hours are long, and the amount of content daunting, but the unconditional support provided by the teachers and assistants, many of which are ex-alumni who have gone through it all themselves, help make the 9 weeks go by in a flash. The general atmosphere in the office gives you a good sense of what it's like to be a part of a startup, and during the last 3 weeks you get to be part of the process of designing an app from scratch all the way to production.

Finishing the course is not easy. It's a lot of information to assimilate in a relatively short time-frame, which can be exhausting. But getting through it is extremely rewarding and something you won't soon forget. All in all, after being a part of batch 190 in London, I can safely say it was well worth it.