Learn JavaScript at These 514 JavaScript Bootcamps

Fullstack Academy provided me with several tools and a feeling of confidence to pivot careers into a new industry. From programming, connecting with others, and leveraging my past experiences, I was able to land several small tech roles after graduation before landing a larger contract. Because I came from a nontraditional background without any connections in tech, each section within the program was a new experience for me. From frontend designs to backend servers, from mock technical interviews and making connections via LinkedIn, I found value in nearly every lesson of the program.

While many of the lessons and topics can be learned online via Youtube or another platform, FSA’s structure facilitated growth, gave me and my cohort a strong baseline, and encouraged continuous development. That being said, it is not perfect. Due to the rapid pace of the curriculum and frequent changes in technology, what is taught in the program can be forgotten or depreciated in a quick manner. We covered full-stack JavaScript, but covering the material and creating several projects is not the same as mastering a programming language. At the end of the day, it is up to you to understand the material, put it into practice, and keep up to date with the current technologies. If you want to become a developer or engineer, Fullstack Academy can provide and help you with the tools, but it is your job to master them. You will have an instructor and a TA, so use them for advice, ask them questions, and get as much information as you can from them! If you thrive in structure, need a community for support, and are willing to learn post-boot camp, this is a great option for you!

With the current state of the industry (2022-2023), it is difficult to gauge if the skills I acquired during Fullstack Academy were refined enough to truly be “job ready” after graduation. During my first few months of interviews, I found myself rather lost, struggling, and consistently failing to pass technical interviews, build the take-home projects (while simultaneously working my old job), and be noticed by recruiters. It was not until I started looking at roles adjacent to Software Engineering and Software Development that I found something that I enjoyed and succeeded in interviews. Because of the skills in JavaScript, React, Express, CSS, and other technologies learned throughout the program, my cohort and I found success and were often moved into the next round of interviews in the fields of QA engineering, SDET, Technical PM, Technical Writing, and more.

Throughout the entire year-long job search, there were several ups and plenty of downs. Despite this, career success with Laura McClernon was an absolute lifesaver. From the curated weekly job position list (which always resulted in high response rates), alumni chats, connection and job hunt walk-throughs, resume and LinkedIn reviews, and encouragement throughout the process, Laura was an absolute treasure. If career success was not part of Fullstack Academy’s program, I would have given up on the job hunt long ago.

Overall, I am grateful and supportive of the team at Fullstack Academy. They provide a great foundation for those looking to develop their skills and change careers. Their program is not for everyone; however, it is perfect for those who thrive in structure, routine, and learning more than what the lecture slides say. The skills—programming and soft skills—introduced throughout the program create a solid foundation for you to develop, create a network, and earn a role in the tech industry. Ultimately, Fullstack Academy provides you with the technical tools and career success resources, but it is up to you to maintain the tools, access the resources, and continue learning after graduation.

I recently completed the 24-week cybersecurity bootcamp at the Institute of Data, and I couldn't be happier with the experience. The program was very engaging and interactive even though it was all done online! What truly set this bootcamp apart for me were my incredible instructors. Monica McIntire and Jenny Baker were an absolute pleasure to work with. Their encouragement and willingness to answer questions, no matter how small, made the learning process so much smoother and more enjoyable. They created a supportive environment where I felt comfortable asking for help and pushing myself to learn more. The assignments were perfectly outlined and easy to follow on our Google Classroom setup. The directions were always laid out in Google Classroom anytime you needed to revert back to them and this made it easy to stay on track and focus on mastering the material. The capstone project was a fantastic way to apply what I had learned throughout the entire bootcamp, and it really solidified my understanding of key cybersecurity concepts. Now that I've completed the program, the job outcomes portion has been so helpful. Kimberly Kokal has helped me so much throughout the entire process by helping me refine my resume and provide guidance on my job search. I feel much more confident and prepared to enter the cybersecurity field. Overall, this bootcamp was worth the investment, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to break into cybersecurity!

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.

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.

   The instructors are good, and they are actually working in the fields that they are teaching. They share a lot of information, give real world examples and put a bit of themselves into each class. After graduation, Fullstack does offer resume and interview assistance. You will learn a lot of really good and useful tools and information.
   I was working a full-time 40+ hour job while doing this online part-time bootcamp and wasn't able to do any school work while at my full-time job. Because of this I found it very difficult to keep up with the course work. They give you a lot of great information but it comes fast and it doesn't stop. I like to compare it to a speeding train and you're holding on but the train doesn't stop, it keeps flying down the track. If I fell behind, it was nearly impossible for me to catch up. I inquired about extra help but was denied and told that the 20 minutes of office hours, every 2 weeks, was enough (it wasn't). I understand they are revamping the process and offering longer office hours, so maybe that will help.  I reached out to the Student Success Manager (SSM) but it seems as though they don't care if you're succeeding, just if you're failing or not. Except for the handful of quizzes in the beginning, I failed every test and yet some how I passed and graduated. It seemed that most of my cohort classmates didn't have a job or had a part-time job or a job where they could do class work when they were at their jobs. If one of those options is your situation, I say go for it, but if you are in my situation, it's going to be really difficult. It was for me anyway.
   I think the ultimate success of this bootcamp is if I can get a job in the field of study. I graduated a couple weeks ago and still job hunting, so I can't really say if the bootcamp was a success or not. Working a part-time job while working a full-time job feels like 2 full-time jobs, so before you sign-up, think about your situation carefully and whether you have the time and energy to keep up with the pace for 6 months.