Software Development (Flex, Online)

I am very happy with DigitalCrafts. The coursework was intense (as expected), and this allowed me to really hone my Software Development skills in a professional and collaborative environment. Everyone at DigitalCrafts was very helpful, all the way from my Instructor, my TA, Career Services, the Campus Director and everyone in between. They really care about their students’ success. 

As with everything valuable in life, this Coding Bootcamp takes effort, dedication, passion and commitment. My advice for incoming students would be to completely do the pre-work assignment they will give you and practice coding every day. This will allow you to hit the ground running when classes start. 

Best of luck!

Joining DigitalCrafts to become a web developer was the best decision I ever made. The school is great. My instructor was amazing. 

Attending DigitalCrafts was a really great decision for me. Before starting the bootcamp I had been self-taught for about year and half, and while I had shallow understanding of many of the topics covered in the course, the Full-Stack Immersive program really helped me dive deeply into it all. I learned a great deal over the 16 weeks that we were in the program, and I would definitely do it again. That being said, no bootcamp could be perfect, so I will split up my review between things I loved about the program, and things that could be better. 

Things I loved about the program:

1. Veronica was a great instructor who would move mountains to help her students. Having the kind of enthusiasm and care from a teacher like Veronica is an invaluable way to start your programming career.

2. Career Week. Career week was a week long module within the program in which we got to: hear from speakers who are currently out working in the field, participate in mock interviews and whiteboarding to learn what we might face when applying to jobs, and learn how to make great resumes and portfolios specifically for jobs as developers. I found this week to be great and it really gave me the confidence necessary to consider myself a professional developer.

3. Group projects. I can't speak enough about how valuable the experience I gained from working on group projects was. Software Development for the most part is not really a 'lone-wolf' kind of field, so learning things like pair-programming, source-control collaboration, and good communication, is an experience without equal. Group projects also allowed us students to learn a lot from one another as each and every person brought a very unique set of skills and knowledge to the team.

4. A focus on the fundamentals. This was something that I really enjoyed about both Veronica and Paul's teaching. Rather than chasing down a million different frameworks, we learned how to write clean programs in Python and vanilla JavaScript. Frameworks come and go, but I am confident that knowing the fundamentals and core technologies of the web stack will show long term career benefits and I am really thankful Veronica applied that same belief to her teaching.

5. Friday interview challenges. Another really great aspect of the DigitalCrafts curriculum. Each Friday we would be split into pairs and would have an hour to answer as many questions as we could ranging from programming trivia and brain teasers to pretty difficult coding problems. Not only did these challenges test our problem solving skills and knowledge, but they also forced us to learn how to communicate well under a time crunch. I am very glad that this was a part of the course.

6. Business pitches. Just before our final projects we got the chance to listen to local businesses pitch us their ideas about work or projects they needed done. We then had the option of working with these businesses for two weeks to develop and ship a real product for them. This was another amazing aspect of the course and having worked for one of the local businesses, I gained a lot of experience from the project. I would 100% recommend that DigitalCrafts continue doing this for future cohorts.

Things I was not such a fan of:

1. A lack of community. I really wish DigitalCrafts had placed a greater emphasis on building community at the Houston campus. Aside from an awkward pizza party at the beginning of the course, and the occasional sharing of champagne to celebrate job offerings, there was a pretty massive lack of social-life within the bootcamp. Most days were spent listening to the lecture(s), doing the exercises, and then leaving for the day, with practically no after class activities provided that would build camaraderie. On the very last day of the course the staff did take us out for happy hour, however, it was somewhat disappointing to only get to know all the awesome personalities within our cohort and with the staff at the end of the course rather than throughout it.

2. Not enough attention applied to computer science fundamentals. To preface this point, coding bootcamps are not supposed to be replacements for computer science degrees, so I am not saying that DigitalCrafts should aim to teach what you would learn in university courses. However, CS basics do make up the foundations of programming, and learning basic concepts like what data structures are, what Big O notation is, binary, networking (TCP, HTTP, FTP), and memory management, are somewhat essential to excelling as a programmer. When the curriculum allowed, Veronica was really great at teaching these concepts and she covered them with great clarity. The lesson in which she explained the difference between "pass by reference" versus "pass by value" during our JavaScript module was a eureka moment for me. Unfortunately, these were usually very short snippets of the lesson and I feel that the concepts did not really "stick" for most of us.

3. Teaching Assistant turnover. TA's were a pretty essential aspect of the course. Veronica could not be in three places at once answering each student's questions, and having TA's available to answer questions when Veronica was unable to was really helpful. Unfortunately, these TA positions are only meant to be temporary positions for DC alumni while they go through the job search or long interview processes. This meant that there was a lot of TA turnover throughout our course, usually losing and replacing one every 2-4 weeks. I really think it would a great idea if DigitalCrafts made this a full-time position that lasted the length of a cohort so as to provide more continuity.

4. The pre-course work could be better. Having gone through the pre-work with a couple of other bootcamps such as Hack Reactor and General Assembly, I felt that the pre-work for DigitalCrafts could benefit from being a bit more methodical, rather than just being a list of somewhat random learning resources.

DigitalCrafts is a really great program, it is a lot of hard work, and at times it can be overwhelming. However, if you put in the effort, and truly enjoy programming, it is a great experience with a lot to offer. 

Digital Crafts is a 16 week full stack immersive bootcamp.  It is time consuming, but definitely worthwhile.  The covered material is interesting, and will be needed by job seekers when entering the job market.  The instructors are dedicated and knowledgable, and there are a lot of resources available to you throughout the duration of the course.

If you are looking for a career change I would definitely recommend Digital Crafts.

P.S. Don't worry if you have little coding experience!

I went into DigitalCrafts knowing close to nothing about web development, and before I had finished the course, I had accepted a job offer. As had many others in my class.

This course is not easy and will take a lot of dedication, but will pay off if you work hard. The instructors were very knowledgable and did all they could to make sure the students were successful. While at the same time they don’t hold your hand, and will teach you to work past your own technical roadblocks, which will benefit you in your career. They also offer good career support and advice to help you get a job.

Overall it was a great experience that helped me get a foot into a new career and would I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a coding bootcamp.

Having done most of the pre work to prepare for the class, I found the first part of the class very easy. Once we got to node.js, the work became very difficult for me to the point I thought I would never understand it. However, during the end of our back end project with the help of the instructor, TA's, and other students, it all finally started to make sense to me and I now really enjoy using node.

Although everything we learned in class could be self taught, I think the best part of this class and what made it worth taking is having so many people around for support when you get stuck on a problem.

The fact that the full-time program is 16 weeks (compared to the typical 12 weeks) was a huge plus. I felt like there was more time to understand the concepts, ask for help, and more projects and exercises to complete for more practice.

I also feel like DigitalCrafts does a great job of seeing what skills are in demand and teaching those to us as well as practical examples of how we would be using them. The Career Week is sooo helpful in getting your resume, portfolio, LinkedIn, and interviewing skills sharp to feel confident during your job search. And, they are always sharing job opportunities in your area to apply for.

Coming in with just a basic understanding of HTML and CSS, I fell in love with front-end development and also feel strong with the back-end. We had 4 total projects, which were the most useful to me for learning. If anything, they teach you how to be resourceful and figure out new things since you will always be learning in this field.

I highly recommend DigitalCrafts if you are serious about making a career switch since you will learn high demand skills and be able to market yourself well to future employers with what DigitalCrafts teaches you.

I had a really great experience at DigitalCrafts. However, it you want an experience similar to college you will not get it. A lot of the learning and becoming very good at coding is left to the student; which ultimately is a good thing. It may be off-putting at first but trust me, you will be thanking the coding gods DigitalCrafts is set up that way. When you get a development job, it will be expected of you to be able to look up and learn things yourself. If you can't find an answer or are really stuck, then the teachers and TA's are more than willing to answer your question.

Overall I really enjoyed my time at DigitalCrafts and learned a tremendous amount.

I had a good experience at DigitalCrafts and gained a great deal of knowledge that I did not have despite holding a "Software Development Degree in Java" prior to joining the bootcamp.

It is really smart that the program is not stricted to teaching students coding only, but other essential skills that every software engineer should know including: pair and team programming, interviews' practice, logic and problem solving, and also learning other technologies that are being used in the industry like github and its git commands, AWS and many other things.

They also provided students with lots of help in finding jobs and keeping them posted on the job market. Serviced the students to have and reflect a professional image in order to land a job.

If there is one thing that I'd like to see differently at DigitalCrafts! that would be providing another stack to teach such as .NET, C# & Angular. And that would give the enrolling students more options to choose from.

Lastly, DigtialCrafts was probably the best choice I have ever made in my professional career as it helped me in landing my dream job on my last week of the course.

The course is worth the dollars required for more than just the technical knowledge that you leave with. While anyone could theoretically take the time to learn the curriculum presented in the course on their own (albeit at a slower pace than you would in the course) the extra benefits of Digital Crafts are as follows.

1. Learning how to work with a group. You might be good at coding, but most employers want to see that you work well in a team, because on any big project your code isn't worth much if it doesn't work with everyone else's.

2. Portfolio review. At about the two-thirds mark through the course, the student coordinator reviews your social media, Linked-In, and Github accounts, as well as your resume and any portfolio website that you may have created. This is instrumental in helping you be ready to apply for jobs.

3. Mock interviews. If you're anything like me, even if you know how to code, you have no idea how to properly solve white-board problems while talking through your process to the interviewer watching you whilst also answering behavioral questions in a manner that best displays your talents. The mock interviews you are given access to really help you in your job search.

4. And when you leave, on top of all the coding that you've learned, you have access to a messaging application that consistently updates with jobs that have been found by members and alumni of Digital Crafts.

TL;DR - If you're on the fence about whether or not to take a camp like this, I had it explained to me like this: learning to code is like learning a language. Learning on your own is like trying to learn Spanish out of a textbook-- it can be done, but it will take you a while and it will be a lot harder than it would be if you moved to Mexico for half a year. Immersing yourself not only in the language but the nuances that come along with it and the culture that the language evolves in will ultimately make you more proficient than you ever could be on your own.

Great teachers. Great curriculum. High standards.

You'll learn the best tech that people are looking for right now like Python, Javascript, React, Redux, NodeJs and Postgres.  You'll be challenged in new and exciting ways. You'll make really great friends and you'll land an awesome job. I couldn't be happier with my decision to attend DC. 

The one piece of advice I constantly give to prospective students is to be prepared! I don’t recommend going into such an intense and expensive program as a total noob. 

The course is very intense and fast paced. In my experience, it was pretty much up to you to make sure you had all the material down. Every day consisted of a lecture and lab time for completing assignments. The instructor was present and available to answer questions, which is one of the most valuable parts of the program. I expected the instructor to be a little more involved but never felt uncomfortable asking even the smallest question. 

 The second most valuable part was interacting with students. Studying on your own can be intimidating, lonely and sometimes confusing since you don’t know how you measure up with other beginners. Group projects and collaborations were extremely helpful! 

Overall, I am happy with my experience at digitalcrafts. I learned many different subjects, even if I didn’t end up being an expert by the end. It will always be up to you to continue building your skills once you’re on the path. 

My advice would be to begin working on your portfolio and resume earlier than the curriculum let’s you! Also, Udemy 10 dollar sales are your friend. 

If you’ve spent a good amount of time preparing for a coding bootcamp, and know exactly what you’re wanting to get out of it, then don’t think twice about signing up. Put both feet in and you won’t regret your decision. Realize that nearly any bootcamp across the country will expose you to similar technologies and that you’ll only scratch the surface of each topic. There's only so much you can cover in 3-4 months. What you’re mainly getting is the structure of everyday practice in a collaborative, supportive, and social environment.

There were times during the program that I questioned my decision of enrolling and what value I was actually getting out of it. Most if not all that we learn is available to us online for free, but the momentum to keep going is not. Sometimes that’s all that I needed to continue pushing through roadblocks. Additionally, the opportunity to work with other classmates on projects was a valuable experience that is difficult achieve through the self-taught path.

It can’t be stressed enough that preparation before enrolling will only multiply what you get out of the program. Additionally, don’t expect anyone to hold your hand. The lecture is barely 2-3 hours and the rest of the day you’re primarily on your own. Learning to become independent is only going to make you a stronger developer. Your level of success is strictly determined by the amount of hard work you put into it.

Lastly, a lot of prospective students I met were concerned that they didn’t have the background appropriate for this sort of a program. I studied Anthropology & Philosophy as my undergraduate degree which has no relation to software development whatsoever. However, what every successful student at DigitalCrafts has in common is the willingness and determination to work hard and succeed.

No review is complete without some feedback on the program:

• I would make the pre-course work more challenging, and use the first month to cover more in-depth topics instead of covering the same material as pre-course work. The first three weeks were sort of redundant after having prepared for this program.

• Incorporate daily algorithm toy problems. I believe this is covered by the CS elective, but it would still be good to warm up before the day starts with a short toy problem sprint. This would also make a great opportunity for pair programming.

• Offer more electives that focus on UI/UX, and spend more time on GitHub, and launching/hosting our projects.

• Help students establish coding best practices. Writing clean code is something prospective employers will look for in a candidate, so knowing the good and the bad of clean code early on would have been helpful.

• Offer more diverse assignments. The majority of what we practiced building were to-do lists.

• Consider changing ‘Career Week’ to ‘Career Days’ that are incorporated throughout the program. This would give us more time to polish our resumes, portfolios, etc. throughout the entire program instead of cramming it all into one week.

• Lastly, I would encourage the instructor to be more involved in the students success. The instructor checked in with us during the first few weeks during lab hours, but throughout the rest of the program they were just made available to students for questions following lecture. I think there's a lot more to gain from having an instructor there full-time. Learn and connect with your students to understand who they are and what their professional goals are.

My time at DigitalCrafts was mostly interesting and fun. There were a lot of hurdles and and bumps in the road along the way but the experience gained was worth it. The curriculum is fast paced and you will have to put in a lot of hard work in order to succeed. Make sure you do the prework! There is a reason calls to do the prework is written in a lot of the reviews. Overall, my time at DigitalCrafts helped me gain friendships with my classmates and set the foundation for a career in web development.

The job support is decent. They will review your resume and portfolio along with other facets of your online presence and give you helpful tips so that you can maximize your exposure to potential employers. However, the Houston area isn’t as in demand as other places with tech job markets. If you are willing to relocate you will have an advantage in possibly finding a job sooner so it is something to consider before starting the course.

In closing, I would highly recommend DigitalCrafts as a way to launch your career as a Developer. Jason is easy to talk to and my instructor Azam has many years of experience and will give a lot of helpful tips on how to prepare better for the job search as well as teaching the different technologies and languages.

DigitalCrafts was a fantastic experience from the get go. One of the things I liked the most about them was their communication and transparency. From the moment I applied, Jason (Campus Director) was always very accesible to answer questions and quick to respond to my phone calls or emails. I also liked how upfront he was about the program. I never felt like he was sugar coating or overselling anything about it, or that he was looking to just "fill seats". There was a genuine effort to screen potential students out that were not the correct fit, and find ones that understood the most important thing about this or any bootcamp. You will only get out of it what you put in, and because of that my class was filled with like minded and hard working students, which was just as invaluable as anything else DigitalCrafts offered.          

I admittedly went to a bootcamp for different reasons than most, and it showed. I was a good deal younger than the others in my cohort and felt the distance. Despite this, however, I felt as if I learned a good deal and got what I came for. This bootcamp is good for those who need a push in the right direction. It's a great leaping off point to further your own learning and/or get a job. If you're tremendously independent, you probably don't need a bootcamp in general, but if you need help finding motivation or need a jumping off point from which to learn, DigitalCrafts is flexible and very well suited to meet your needs.

Overall experience and feeling:

Before Joining DigitalCrafts, I had a job in a different field. It's a  big decision to  quit the job and join DigitalCrafts. I really hesitated and worried for a long time. But I started feeling good and confident slowly along with the learning and practicing. 

I joined the DigitalCrafts with a purpose of sharpening my coding skills and preparing myself for my interested direction in the computer science field. My objective is achieved, and I can confidently say that I am at intermediate level with Python programming now. 

I got a job offer before graduation, but declined for a personal reason  thanks to the network of DigitalCrafts.   But because of what I learned, I am having a few interviews lined up. I am happy about my decision now. 

Instructor:  

Azam was our instructor, he is patient and knowledgable and experienced. I learned a lot from him. 

Staff:

Jason, Jake and other staff are really nice and provided  great career support including getting potential employers, writing resume, preparing portfolio.   

Curriculum:

I like the curriculum, Python and Javascript were taught in the camp, and JavaScript practice is heavier.  Because my personal interest is a little different (data science/machine learning), I spent extra time on Python personally. 

I have found the DigitalCrafts bootcamp to be a powerfully positive experience. You will learn quite a lot in short time span. In addition to the teachings, DC offers a lot of job support and you can tell they really care about your success as a software developer. 

DigitalCrafts was a great experience for me overall. I was a true beginner when it came to coding and computer science, I started coding about 2-3 months before the first day of class. Those 2-3 months I felt like I had learned a solid amount through self teaching, but it was absolutely nothing compared to the amount of knowledge I have gained through this four month course. Paul who was the teacher for our cohort did a fantastic job and is very knowledgable in all of the topics covered and more and there wasn't a single problem that I had that he could not solve. That is where I believe the value of the class truly lies. When you are trying to self teach yourself coding (especially if you're a true beginner), then you will inevitably run into many problems and get stuck often. While you could try for hours to push through the problems, sometimes you just won't be able to figure out the problem. Having someone who can clearly explain to you what the problem and solution is really does help a lot and I feel like that was very beneficial to accelerate the learning process. Also, having a structured course outline that covers many of the skills that are in demand in the job market was great too, as I would have been pretty lost trying to learn these topics on my own and may have take well over a year to do it on my own. I think DigitalCrafts is an exceptional school and in my opinion the best investment I have made in my life up to this point and I am feeling great about what the future holds for me with my newly gained skills.

It's 16 weeks of hard work and that's why it's worth every penny.