Java

What an amazing program! Everything about this place is great, from the faculty to the administration to the facilities. I've learned so much in such a short time. From java & spring, to Angular and Ionic2, job placement / training, all the education I've received here has been top notch. The small cohort size allows us to really get to know the other students and learn from each other as well. As a non-profit, I really feel that Zip Code cares about me and my success, not just lining their pockets. You can tell the alumni feel the same, because many of them come back in their free time to help the current students with whatever they are working on, from assignments to personal projects. Many of the alumni are still working at the jobs they found out of the program, so the job placement is not just a temporary internship but a true start to your career.

If you are thinking of attending a coding bootcamp, there's no reason to go anywhere else.

I've learned more in the past few months than I have in the past few years before signing up. Not just coding, but people-skills, resume help, and general mentorship from staff and regular visits from employed alumni.

When I started Zip Code I had high hopes for a promising career in Software Development. I was hoping for a bit terrible place to work, a better paycheck than anything I e ever had before, and a job that could tolerate going to each day. Well, I've been at my job for over half a year now, the company I work for is actually pretty great, I'm making more than I ever did or think I would, and everyday I arrive to my job and leave my job happy & satisfied. Even the really tough days are actually enjoyable. Not only do I do what I enjoy but I've met some of the greatest people through ZC, and I'm not talking about foreign dignitaries or senators, I'm talking about the people that went through Zip Code with me, the people that went before me, the new students coming in, and especially the staff. 

In the midst of applying to thousands of dead-end jobs, a friend of mine mentioned a nonprofit coding bootcamp. I wasn't thrilled about the idea (Programming? I'm no good at that!), but I was desperate for work. One month later my entire life was upside down and backwards. Zip Code was that push I always needed to get ahead. The teachers and staff are incredibly dedicated to helping us grow as students and employees, from resume building to cutting edge technology to the much needed emotional support. And the students are all equally dedicated to learning.

But perhaps the most impressive thing about the program is the networking opportunity. Hiring managers and executives from Fortune 500 companies come to Zip Code to give morning lectures, attend networking events, and even stay to help us with our projects. At the end of the program they conduct first round interviews in house, right inside our own classroom, and everyone gets a chance to shine.

Two weeks after I graduated I signed the paperwork for my first ever job in IT, earning more money than either of my parents at more than double my previous salary. I love the company and my team, and am finding opportunities each day to advance my career. In just three months I went from starving artist to valued computer scientist. For anyone who needs a direction, a change of pace or just that final push, I strongly encourage you to apply. These could become the most important three months of your life.

Challenging and intense but an extremely rewarding program. One of the hardest things I have done. Incredibly fast-paced, averaged over 100 hours a week. They do an amazing job at preparing you for interviews and teaching you the core skills you need to prepare you for a career as a software developer. The teachers care about your success and work with you to help you learn and are often there on weekends / nights. Very thankful for the opportunities and experience I got by going through ZCW, would definitely recommend.

Zip Code Wilmington developed, and continually improves their curriculum by talking with companies throughout the area to find out what their exact needs are.  What these companies need is someone who knows the fundamentals of object-oriented programming, can implement those fundamentals in a programming language (Zip Code teaches Java), understands clean coding principles, is eager to learn, excited about technology and is a problem solver.  If you are eager to learn, excited about what technology can do and a problem solver, Zip Code gives you the rest of the pieces of the puzzle and helps you put the puzzle together enough to be able to figure out the rest and sends you on your way.  

There is no substitute for hard work, and there is no such thing as an overnight success.  What Zip Code does is find people that have the ability within themselves already but just need a little direction to unlock their potential and matches them up with employers that want to hire these exact type of people.  Although, I should add..."a little direction" is an understatement.  Zip Code arms you with the highest quality of software development knowledge to become the best possble developer you can be. Your future success from this point is a byproduct of your attitude and hard work.  The 12 weeks of bootcamp is just the beginning of a long road.  If this is the direction you know you want to go, Zip Code will put you on the correct path.  As a former student I’m thankful everyday, because I certainly know I would not be able to find that path so quickly by myself, and feel the same confidence as I started my journey as a software developer.  

My experience with zipcode was tough but beyond worth it. Its really a family in the long run and i owe them for the opportunity to shine. You cant go wrong choosing them.

Zip Code Wilmington is the ultimate place from which to launch a career in software development. It's intense and rewarding. I would have never imagined I could learn so much in 3 months! I would whole-heartly recommend Zip Code to anyone serious about starting a career in software development. 

I was in the business world for years and then most recently working as an artist. I had no previous coding experience before starting Zip Code. And through the amazing instructions and mentorship of the Zip Code team, I am going to embark on a new and exciting career that I love. It was a LOT of hard work and long hours, but they gave me the tools to perservere.

I was in the September cohort and it ended in December. I had to leave school due to financial reasons before I found Zip Code. I thought Zip Code was too god to be true, but I applied anyway because it was free to apply. It was the best decision of my life. I am now a full time software engineer at JPMorgan Chase. I went to being a server making 2.25 an hour to a developer making 20x's that. If you are interested in Zip Code do it!

This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I taught myself some languages and had 10 years of experience using them personally. But after taking this course, I've learned 5x as much about programming as I had in the past 10 years.  I landed an amazing job paying 3x what I was getting before this course.  I have recommended it to many friends who are looking to get into this field.

ZipCode Wilmington was, without a doubt, the hardest thing I have ever done. I remember all of the nights spent awake and bleary eyed staring at my own broken code, or pouring over some mystic text explaining what it was to write a program in Java. I recall quite a few moments of total despair and frustration, where I was sure I had made a grave mistake, or that I had somehow fooled everyone into thinking I could pull off the impossible and actually become a software developer.

For all those moments, I also remember the amazing instructors, who were patient when I needed time, and commanding when I strayed off into a rabbit hole of messy functions and bad code. The moments when something would run successfully, despite the mess of code it took to make it, and the sudden urgency to improve and clean that code to make it better, and in turn, to improve myself so that next time it would take less time and would be brilliantly written from the start.

With a curriculum shaped by the employers within the local community and some of the largest financial instituitions in the world, what you learn here is exactly the skillset to place yourself in a meaningful position doing software development. The challenge is not easy, and many times you'll doubt yourself, but I know that without a shred of doubt, ZipCode Wilmington was the hardest thing ive ever done, and I have cherished every moment of my time there.

Zip Code Wilmington is the pinnacle of what every coding boot camp should be. It promises the world, and it delivers in every possible way.  This school has changed my life and brought me from a minimum-wage retail associate to a professional software developer in twelve weeks. Twelve weeks of Zip Code gave me everything I needed to get a job that most people would say was only possible after four years of college.

I simply cannot say it enough. Zip Code Wilmington has been the greatest educational experience of my life. It has challenged my mind, pushed my limits, and built a confidence and trust in myself that never existed before. If you have any desire toward technology and the grit to match, do not hesitate to apply as soon as possible. You will never regret it.  

                Zip Code Wilmington has set me on a path in my career that I have been trying to achieve for years! After learning from friends about this new coding school in town, one fateful day in April, I decided to make the phone call that would change my life. Getting admission to the course was the first big challenge I faced. There were four levels of interviews and technical challenges that we had to clear before getting admission to the course. Having prior coding experience would be helpful, but is not a must. What they are looking for is a passion to learn programming, and logical thinking and problem solving abilities.

                As an SAP consultant in my previous life, I did have functional IT experience, but had never done programming per se. I was eager to learn and was thrilled to hear that I had been selected! Being one of 25 selected from a pool of more than 250 applicants, I knew going in that the next 3 months were going to change my life! Every waking hour (which would be 18-20 hrs, no exaggeration!) of the next 12 weeks were spent learning core Java, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, frameworks like Spring MVC, Angular JS, app building, just to name a few. Core Java is the skill that is the most in demand in today’s industries, and you will come out of this boot camp very well prepared to deal with the challenges you will face as a Java application developer, and also equipped with the wherewithal and confidence to learn new languages and skillsets.

                You will get to meet the big wigs of the banking industry based in Wilmington, who are eager to hire from Zip Code. There are many opportunities to meet and network with hiring managers and senior executives from most of the major companies in Wilmington. There are talks every week by speakers from companies like JP Morgan, Bank of America, Amazon etc. that give you an insight into their hiring process and work culture.

                And last but not least is the amazing group of people at Zip Code that make this boot camp possible—This is a group of people solely dedicated to helping you ascend the career ladder as a software engineer! Tariq, Froilan and David are exemplary teachers and will push you to do your best, even beyond your wildest expectations! And, the heart and soul of Zip Code is Melanie, the Head of School, who will move heaven and earth to make sure you are gainfully placed in a job/apprenticeship after the boot camp. She went the extra mile to get me interviews with companies that I was keen on joining, and ultimately, getting placed with Bank of America, made my dream come true! I would highly recommend this boot camp to anyone with the passion, drive and perseverance to work towards your goal of becoming a software engineer in 3 months!

A challenging program that puts it on you to dictate your success. No one is here to spoon feed you. However, what do you get it is an envirnonment that is the breeding ground of underdogs. If you can push yourself through the fatigue, and keep yourself motivated, you will see your efforts bear fruit.

The program curriculum is rock solid. It teaches you the skills that employers want. Then, you can get placed in a job that will make sure you do what you learned. All you have to do is just listen to the teachers and do what they say.

To this day, I feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to participate in this amazing program. First off, we were selected from among 250 applicants to give a cohort of around 25 students so it is very competitive. Secondly, the instruction and support we received throughout the program was unmatched, the faculty and staff really do care about your success and will go above and beyond to ensure that you get the very most out of the program. Finally, while the support and structure is there to almost guarantee placement in a job opportunity, it's not a given. Based on my experience you must be 100% sure that you are willing to commit and invest in yourself to see the program through and level up as much as you possibly can prior to interviews which come during the final weeks of the program. As of now, 22/25 of my classmates got placed with really good jobs after 3 months. You can't argue with those results!

There are 3 things that you will get by investing yourself into this program:

1. You will get cutting edge skills to begin a journey as a software developer

2. You will get constant exposure to employers, building a network and "putting a face with a name", and in most cases these are top leaders and hiring managers for those companies

3. You will grow as person, a major theme for success in software development is having the right attitude and the staff "meet you right where you are" and help you to make any adjustments that you will need to be successful in a corporate setting.

Zip Code is the full package, hands down!! It's a special place that anyone given the opportunity to participate in will remember for the rest of their lives. Also, all your fellow students and colleagues will be great people!! Wishing you the very best and hope you apply.

My background before:

Worked as a Chemist in academia, Zip Code Wilmington helped me to make a transition into my current role as an application developer at J.P. Morgan.

This bootcamp is a tough three month commitment but the results will be worth it and more. Not only does Zip Code Wilmington help you find employment but it provides you with unparalleled networking opportunities and a support network of like minded individuals.

Zip Code Wilmington was not only one of the most life-changing courses of study I've ever been through, it also taught me all the skills I needed to become a full time Java Developer.

Most coding bootcamps out there will teach you front-end development languages and frameworks like Javascript (and AngularJS) or Ruby (and Rails). A few out there will teach you database management or testing frameworks.

In my research prior to signing up, I set the explicit goal of learning Java because it is the single most in-demand language for any developer to know. Zip Code Wilmington is not only one of the only schools teaching Java (in addition to Javascript) in a bootcamp format, it was also highly successful in teaching my entire class how to learn new frameworks on an as-needed basis in order to successfully complete any given project on time.

The other big benefit of Zip Code Wilmington's course design is the emphasis on testing. By designing accurate tests for your functions before writing them, you set explicit criteria of what you're trying to accompish with that function, which clarifies what you're trying to do so effectively that it's almost always obvious how it should be accomplished from there.

Zip Code Wilmington is a difficult course to survive. When I applied, more than 250 other applicants applied for the same cohort. Of those 250, the top 30 were selected to participate in the class. Of those 30, 26 made it to graduation. This kind of intensive program takes a lot of grit to survive, but once you're through it, you have the confidence to take on just about any project, because the pacing is almost guaranteed to never be as intense as Zip Code's breakneck grind.

But if you have the grit to make it through, you'll find yourself in a new career path with a decently large (and very active) network of fellow Zip-Coders to ask for help and career advice. The school offers an excellent apprenticeship program that pays well and puts you on the road to success as a Java Developer.

Zip Code has my highest recommendation to anyone with the grit and smarts to handle it.

The first thing you should know is this is a NON PROFIT school. They are not here to make money, they are here to help you. That being said, entrance is competitive. You have to put in the work to get in, and put in 3x the work to stay in. Sleepless nights, no free time, lots of stress and doubt. In the end it is only 3 months and totally worth it.

Not only do they teach programming, they teach professional development. They make your resume shine! They teach you how to network. They force you to go to networking events to enforce said skills.

In 12 weeks we went from barely being able to do coding challenges to being able to craft an application, from database to front end. The company sponsers are involved and see this, and want you because of it!

The only way you wont get a job at the end is if you dont put in the effort (which if thats the case you wont make it through) or if you dont want one. When you get a job you will not be in debt to the school as the sponsers pay the rest of your tuition.

Best decision of my life.

Thank you Zip Code Wilmington! 

There is a bit of magic that goes on at Zip Code Wilmington. The magicians are those who Wayne mentioned in his review, plus the head magician and Head of the School, Anthony Pisapia, who makes sure all the most important people in Delaware are watching and supporting the bootcamp.

A continuous promotion of ZCW is being done daily by all the main actors, and that unrest makes the classroom what it I like to call a glass showcase for employers. The students are on display for the entire course of the 3-month program. Involvement beyond the daily classwork is made known and encouraged by Anthony and the instructors who are on the look out for relevant applications of the work being done in class. Those who volunteer themself for the additional events and projects only help themselves to shine brighter on display among a tireless group of aspiring developers. Meanwhile, more and more local employers sign up to become partners liking the drive they see.  

It seems like every day, a new representative of one of the partners and future partners are stopping in to see the magic that is happening each day in the classroom. Because of this, students are getting many opportunities to get to know the employers and the employers are scouting out the individuals they want to give a job to at the end of the course. ZCW gives you what other schools don't--3 months to show a future employer that you are worth their investment. That is what is truly magical about Zip Code Wilmington.

My Background:

I am an alumnus of the first Zip Code class. Before Zip Code I was teaching math in various roles including Long Term High School Math Substitute, and working as a waitress during the summer. I have a Bachelors in Psychology. I chose to go through Zip Code over the option of pursuing a second degree in Information Security as I desired a career in technology. I had minimal experience in HTML/CSS, with no experience in JavaScript and Java prior to the pre-coursework. When I learned about Zip Code, I quit my part-time summer job to focus on the pre-coursework. In the last 3 weeks of the bootcamp I was offered a fulltime software developer position with one of the partner companies, and invited to start immediately upon the course's end. I love the continuous challenges that are presented at work. In my free time, when I am not taking care of my dog, I am taking on additional opportunities to be involved at the firm and giving back to Zip Code and the tech community in various ways. Zip Code gave me the lifestyle I have been searching for, and a clear vision of my future with a series of goals I look to achieve in the upcoming years.

Articles that include things I got to be a part of while at ZCW:

http://technical.ly/delaware/2015/10/21/5-zip-code-wilmington-students-building-app-tedxwilmington/
http://www.delawareonline.com/story/money/business/2015/11/20/del-techhire-initiative-preparing-21st-century-workforce/76100100/
http://technical.ly/delaware/2015/12/07/zip-code-wilmington-grads-making-bank/
A must read: http://technical.ly/delaware/2015/10/29/zip-code-wilmington-boot-camp-is-no-joke/