UI Architecture Academy

Scalable TDD & Testing for UI Apps review:This is an expensive small course that is currently in beta. It is available from the newsletter. This course is a nice introduction to how LogicRoom does test driven development.Mechanics:The course’s mechanics is the same as Udemy: video lessons, code exercises, & assessment (quizzes).Content :The instructor will introduce you to test driven development and this is a good start to learn TDD for beginners. You learn to write tests properly; the most interesting part of the course is that you will be implementing what he calls a “DataAccessLayer” and testing it. This is a nice concept that encourages developers to think about how to architect business responsibilities in their JavaScript applications and leverage a UI framework’s/library’s reactivity.This is a cool slice of what the instructor teaches in his LogicRoom’s UI Architecture Academy. The course content felt short to me, and while this is a tad different, I think it would be nice if the instructor takes the Data Access Layer concept further and introduces it in a much larger, complex application example.UI Architecture Academy review:I found the content in this academy to be worthwhile so far. The course is already completed, but is still being maintained and modernized. Course content is getting revised and has a much better course structure; their community has recently transitioned from Slack to Discord.Mechanics:It is similar to Udemy. Like the short course, you get videos, text documentations, code exercises, and assessments (quizzes). However, modules are locked on the main course content. This is a very good approach as students cannot mark each lesson as completed and automatically receive a certificate; it cannot be abused like on Udemy, which renders certificates useless. You will ultimately be required to submit a final project in the last module within 8 weeks to get the certificate. I strongly encourage you to do the exercises to reinforce the lessons you’ve learned.On Tuesdays, there are sometimes community events. On Thursdays, there are primary group chats that go over whatever lessons and questions students have. Both group chat events are valuable. The instructor & the coaches do their best to answer questions, and moreover they are also focused on teaching students how to introduce this architecture to their coworkers. Whatever questions you may have, it’s best you post on Discord and attend the Thursday group chats.The only problem I may have with this system is that I think they should have students submit their exercises and have instructor/coaches review them. LogicRoom only encourages exercise submission if there are any questions and if there are huge differences from the solutions they provided.Content:First things first, the only negative things I have for the academy is that I wished the videos edited out some of the pauses and that they included subtitles and transcriptions. The module about the abstractions felt too long; I think it could’ve been broken up. Moving on!The academy’s course contents are very valuable. I like the current main course’s content structure and the Extensions module. Three-quarters in, you are smoothly learning LogicRoom’s principles and applying good software design when it comes to writing code that cleanly handles responsibilities. The lessons, code examples, & exercises will have you learning TDD and how your codes should be separated in order to achieve better testability, maintenance, & scalability. If you haven’t learned about Inversion of Control or Dependency Injection, this is the place to learn them too. The main content breaks down the LogicRoom’s architecture very well. A lot of it is based on object-oriented programming. So there are some theories, but they’re backed up by a bunch of code examples and practical exercises.As of right now, the main content uses React and vanilla JavaScript for their examples and exercises; however, the Extensions module provides great value as well. It is where students and the instructor work together to apply LogicRoom’s approach to different libraries and frameworks. You’ll see examples with react redux, Angular, Vue, React Query, and Next.js. I hope this continues to expand, but it appears mostly dependent on student feedback and collaboration.While the marketing is targeted towards senior engineers, I encourage junior developers and even coding bootcamp graduates to go through this program. It will strengthen your foundations as a software engineer and give you a new perspective on how to architect your projects.