Codesmith

Hired: Yes (In Los Angeles)

Cohort: 6

Salary: 100k+ and Equity

Graduated: June, 2016

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I was hired by a company that Codesmith brought to hiring day. I make a salary equivalent to a mid-level developer in San Francisco because that's... Read More the kind of quality engineers that Codesmith makes. Prior to this I dropped out of graduate school for Landscape Architecture, and I worked in construction before that.

Review:

Codesmith teaches you the fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and web technologies. You will learn the "whys" of how things work, which will make you a better engineer. Every day you're challenged with an algorithm(which is important because companies will test your problem solving abilities). You learn the current trending technologies that will assist you in getting a job. (I currently work with a front-end framework called React). Then you build a project that proves you are a capable engineer, and people will be like "Ooo" and "Ahhh"(that means they'yre impressed). Then they assist you in finding a job by throwing a huge party(well both an actual dinner party, but also a hirng event, which is pretty sweet). After graduation, you will have weekly meetings that checks your current progress on your hiring status.

Opinion:

It all sounds shiny, but it will take a lot of work to get you from an unemployable world of warcraft player into an employable professional software engineer. However it's a lot of fun, and Codesmith creates the culture and curriculum that gets you to that point. I'm glad I decided to go to Codesmith, now I can be an employed world of warcraft player(I kid, I work pretty hard at my job). On a serious note, Codesmith's curriculum and staff is top notch. I enjoyed my time there and I hope you do too.

Best of luck to anyone who's read this review, and you can do it!

Codesmith provides an excellent foundation in computer science and JavaScript. The program positioned me incredibly well to transition from a career in finance to software development.

I graduated from Codesmith in April 2016 (cohort 5). I had three job... Read More offers in two weeks and started my new career within a month. I wouldn't have been able to make this transition without the program and the support of the Codesmith staff. More importantly, despite using almost no JavaScript at my new job, Codesmith's curriculum taught me how to quickly pick up any topic and I've been able to add value from day 1.

Highly recommended.

I'm a husband, dad, and former Product Manager, making the move into Engineering. I actually started as a full-stack ASP developer (despite my complete lack of CS knowledge!) during the dot-com days, and then moved into Product Management. Over the last... Read More few years, I've realized I missed development, and wanted to move back; but my 15-year-old skillz weren't going to do it.

My last job was as a Product Manager at a start-up, managing multiple technology systems. I found myself doing front- and back-end development about 1/3 of the time, and enjoying it much more than I enjoyed Product Management.

One of the nice things about doing all of that development work was that I knew for sure that I'd have fun at it, and that I could do it every day, all day long. It was just a matter of operationalizing that desire.

I had self-educated in ASP the first time around, and knew that I wanted to attend a bootcamp that would give me more -- and faster -- than I could just learn myself. I had a sound grasp of fundamentals such as datatypes and basic control flows, but didn't know about time complexity or combinatorics or anything like that, so I needed a program that would start me from that point, not from zero. I'd also been involved in hiring dozens of developers in my Product Management career, and I wanted to choose a program that would turn out a developer I'd have hired. Finally, I'd been frustrated coding in multiple languages across the stack during my former development career, so I wanted to learn full-stack Javascript.

Codesmith delivered on all of this. Their program is academically-challenging, but also structured in a way to help you succed. I was exposed to the techologies and techniques I need to know not just to get a job now, but to stay ahead of the industry going forward. As someone who's worked with developers, I can say that their focus on pair programming and on teamwork, as well as overall source control and testing workflow, is real-world accurate in many settings.

It's not just about code, either: Codesmith ensures that you're a good technical communicator, with presentation and whiteboarding practice throughout the program, as well as the pair programming focus. They definitely build the skills you need to succeed in any workplace, and even go above and beyond to challenge you to be conscious of, and remedy, your weaknesses.

The community they build is amazing; I expect I'll be in touch with many of my classmates for years, and we will help each others' careers throughout that time.

Speaking of careers, hiring day was amazing, with some of LA's top companies hiring for mid-level and senior jobs -- not a junior position there! I'm in negotiations now for the job of my dreams, at a salary higher than I could have reasonably expected.

Codesmith is a bootcamp, in the best sense of that word: they take you in, and build you into someone new, and better, who is part of a community. I'm proud to have graduated from Codesmith!

A life-changing experience. Codesmith builds in its students the ability to problem-solve and take on the most challenging engineering problems. They keep an active part in the Los Angeles and San Francisco developer communities, and are fully dedicated... Read More to growing their students and alumni through the course of their software development careers.

If you are looking to expand your influence and gain access to ever-increasing opportunities in tech, then you should join Codesmith.

I am a graduate of Codesmith’s 3rd cohort that ran from Oct 2015 - Jan 2016. I also worked as an engineering fellow after graduation until April 2016. As of May 2016, I’ll be employed with an e-commerce startup in Marina del Rey as a UI Engineer.

Going... Read More to a bootcamp was a huge decision for me and one that I spent a lot of time agonizing over. I knew that I wanted an advanced level program like Hack Reactor, but the catch was that I needed to stay in Los Angeles for financial and personal reasons.

When I attended my first JS The Hard Parts meetup at Codesmith, I was blown away. I had already made up my mind to attend another awesome full-time bootcamp in LA and was prepping for their interview in a couple weeks - Codesmith put a huge wrench in those plans. For one,
Will Sentance, the CTO, is an incredible teacher that makes complicated concepts accessible for people that are new to programming. Secondly, every student and person on staff that I spoke to was so down-to-earth and friendly that I immediately felt comfortable in this new environment.

WHY DID I CHOOSE CODESMITH?
I was accepted into Codesmith and the other bootcamp in LA that I interviewed with. I received a partial scholarship to attend Codesmith, but I had already made up my mind either way.

Here were the deciding factors:
1) Rigorous curriculum and excellent instructors that would put me in the best possible position to get hired after graduation. I liked their emphasis on learning computer science fundamental and algorithms that not all the other programs were offering, and I knew that Will Sentance would be teaching a lot of these fundamental classes. Andy (aka the Code Whisperer) conducted a great admission interview - he challenged me to optimize my code and when I got stuck, he nudged me in the right direction. The interview itself revealed how challenging the coursework would be (a stark contrast to the other interview that I had).

2) Community and support - I felt like Codesmith saw potential in me that I couldn’t even see for myself at times. The staff was incredibly supportive, which revealed what I didn’t realize that I needed in a bootcamp - I wanted to learn in a caring, supportive environment. I could not imagine another bootcamp that could do this as well.

DID CODESMITH MEET MY EXPECTATIONS?
Absolutely. I wanted a program that had a rigorous curriculum and I got it - more than what I could process at times (which was a good thing - though it was frustrating in the moment). The community and support that I received was amazing. I don’t know if I could’ve pushed through all the challenging times without it. When I needed someone to talk to, I could always find someone to empathize with my situation and help me move through it.

WHAT CAN THEY IMPROVE ON?
Communication and Organization - last minute schedule changes were frustrating at times. They did let us know that it was because they were constantly iterating on the program to improve our experience. From a student perspective though, it sometimes led to confusion - i.e. anticipating a lecture, but having it moved to the afternoon.

WHAT EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS?
1) How much they were paying attention to pair programming dynamics - i.e. people steamrolling or students shutting down. Unless you’ve been doing pair programming for more than 3 hours with someone, can you fully understand how important this is. When students consistently had a bad experience with someone during pair programming, they made sure to rectify the situation and help everyone grow and learn in the process. We all came out better communicators and team players because of this.

2) How Codesmith taught us how to learn new topics in general and how to solve any problem, not just the ones we were given. Yes, it’s awesome that we learn Javascript, React and Angular, but as a lot of graduates experienced, a lot of companies were looking for other languages and frameworks. Codesmith prepared us to deal with uncertainty, rapidly pick up new material and have confidence that no matter what challenge we may encounter, we’d be able to push through and solve it.

3) Hiring day was spectacular. I would’ve been perfectly happy with about 10 hiring partners given that our class size was on the smaller side, however, I was blown away when we had 25 companies in attendance: Whisper, Disney, Tool of NA, Black Tux… We all got in-person interviews after hiring day, which ultimately led to the full-time position that I’ll be starting soon.

Overall, it was an amazing experience. I could not have been as successful in my career transition without Codesmith. For a little taste of the culture and community, see my goodbye/thank you video to Codesmith. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy74rtmI64Q

Back in January 2015 I decided to move from NYC to LA. I was a consultant for the world's largest technology consulting firm and really wasn't feeling it. After struggling to learn Web Dev on my own for the longest time, I decided to quit my six-figure... Read More job, move across the country and enroll in Codesmith. I was part of Cohort 3 running from Oct '15 to Jan '16.

Needless to say Codesmith changed my life, but it wasn't easy! Anything worthwhile shouldn't be easy! We started with fundamentals, data structures, algorithms, DOM manipulation...and before I knew it, I was building full stack projects using the latest libraries and frameworks out there.

Although the curriculum is exceptional, the most important piece of Codesmith is the culture and environment. I had 0 friends when I moved to LA, and it was amazing to quickly be so welcomed into a community and surrounded by talented people that I continue to stay in touch with. Even after graduating, I feel like I am going to my second home when I visit.

Just to make sure this isn't a puff piece, Codesmith - like every program does have wrinkles that need ironing. There were parts of the program that were not perfect. We were all clocking in 80-90 hours a week, and having us do a hackathon at 8pm until late into the evening was just draining and caused a bit of grumbling. Also the schedule is 'flexible' and can change without notice, but that is just part of being in a start-up and things changing quickly due to iteration.

If you made it this far in the review, then you made it to the most important part - jobs!! I can say without doubt that if you put in the effort, embrace the struggle, and trust the program you will get a job. I received my first offer after 2 days, and after 2 weeks I accepted another offer for more than I was making in NYC as a consultant.

If you are looking for an immersive program in Southern California, Codesmith is it!

I am a recent graduate and current fellow at Codesmith. Deciding to attend Codesmith was one of the best, if not the best, decisions of my life! I went from knowing minimal jQuery programming to truly being able to build anything I can think of (seriously).... Read More Even though they focus on Node, React, Angular, Databases, JS Fundamentals etc., what they are really teaching you are the tools needed to go and learn any technology in an extremely efficient manner. For example, my group's final production project required Three.js and WebGL, technologies not specifically taught here. Thanks to the fundamentals, tools and ideas we gained in the first 7 weeks we were able to quickly get up to speed with those technologies and create an amazing project before our cohort ended. Also, the culture at Codesmith is second to none. Everyone is focused on helping each other and growing together, part of the reason you can learn so much here in such a short amount of time. The hours are long, the concepts aren't easy and your going to challenge yourself like you never have before. However, if you stick with it you'll be awesomely rewarded with these skills. Getting through to the project period and seeing what you can actually build is an extremely rewarding experience. If you get accepted to Codesmith, I highly recommend attending. You won’t regret it!

There are already a few bootcamps located in Los Angeles. I have attended meetups and online questionnaires at a few of them e.g MakerSquare, General Assembly, and Codesmith. My favorite of all is Codesmith for the following reasons...

BTW, if you don't... Read More want to read this article, you can watch a video summary below... :)

https://youtu.be/hToEL-nNtyM

For those of you who don’t know about Codesmith, it’s a 12 week immersive Software Engineering program teaching Computer Science, Full Stack JavaScript Engineering and mobile development.

They also teach you how to think like an engineer, and give you that mindset so that you can invent and build the projects that you want to.
There are 3 key components that adhere to Codesmith. They are Community, Curriculum, and Passion. Now these aren’t necessarily mantras of Codesmith themselves, rather what I have noticed in attendance of their meetups, and this is one of the reasons that I am fascinated by being there and around that energy. Which in turn, leads me to the first component...

Community:
Talking of energy, It’s probably safe to say that it is highly unfathomable to know what it must have been like being around in the beginning of Apple, or Facebook, or any other major company that started similarly, but the feeling that I get being around Codesmith is what I would imagine that experience to be.

1. The people! Everyone is so nice and welcoming. They make you really feel like you are a part of the family.

2. The Instructors! The CTO Will Sentance and Lead Engineer Alex Zai are probably two of the most brilliant gentlemen that I have had the pleasure to meet. Not only are they entirely genuine and remarkable, but they are revolutionizing the Software Education Industry along with the Tech Industry. Aside from Codesmith, they have also developed some extremely, amazing things. One of those is Icecomm. Icecomm is an WebRTC based, Peer to Peer feature that allows you to add serverless video chat and data transfer to your application in, I believe under 10 lines of JavaScript and 4 lines of Angular. How great is that? Now to go a step further, they are going to open source it, so that in itself speaks to their wonderful character. If I could pick their brains all day I would. haha

3. The Environment! The building is like a spaceship. It’s really cool! When you get off of the elevator you are met by these multicolored, fluorescent lights that resemble something from the future. The whole area is one large circle with several nooks and cranny’s for you to explore. The views are also great. There are balconies with a panoramic view of water and a large portion of Silicon Beach.

Curriculum
This is one of the things that sets Codesmith apart from everyone else in the software education realm. Also what places them at the forefront of technology because they are using what is now on the forefront of technology. The core of their Front-End curriculum is with React.js. **WHAT???**

1. React.js ! If you don’t know what React.js is, React is an open-source JavaScript library for creating user interfaces that aims to address challenges encountered in developing single-page applications. (or simply put, *“The Future of interwebs development”* ;) “

2. React Native! React Native enables you to build world-class application experiences on native platforms using a consistent developer experience based on JavaScript andReact. The focus of React Native is on developer efficiency across all the platforms you care about — learn once, write anywhere. Facebook uses React Native in multiple production apps and will continue investing in React Native.

3. Distributed Systems and Some Machine Learning! Seriously, it couldn’t be better. These are the things that are powering the technology around us all today, including, but not limited to Gmail, iCloud and Google knowing what you want to search before you finish typing. No one is teaching these things in any bootcamp or program currently.

Passion
One of the most important features of Codesmith and everyone there is that they are endlessly passionate about what they are doing. It’s highly evident in everything that they do. They actually want to help everyone bring their dreams to fruition, to build the projects and companies that they envision, and change the world for the better. This fact is something that I cannot stress enough. I only mention this because I have been to some of the meetups at other places like MakerSquare and I cannot say the same things. I really can’t even say anything remotely close, and I don’t want to go into a barrage of Makersquare or anything like that. This was simply my experience and mine alone, but it was quite uncomfortable. When I walked in everyone just kind of had an attitude and they weren’t welcoming. Everything seemed fabricated. You could tell that at the end of the day this place is just a business and they seem to only care about one thing: money. That is not an environment that I welcome, nor should anyone else. With Codesmith it’s different, not just for the aforementioned reasons alone, but also I am beyond enamored with the devotion of everyone involved. It’s a really special place and I suggest that everyone experience it for themselves.

Build With Code / JavaScript the HardParts
You may ask, “how can I experience it without going to the program?” Well, I’ll tell you! Every Thursday from 6:30 - 9:00 pm Codesmith offers a free Meetup called Build With Code. I can’t emphasis enough how great this place is and especially the Meetups. Who doesn’t like free drinks? Who doesn’t like free food? Not only do they offer those things, but you are able to build cool things and learn about programming in JavaScript. We’ve built a video chat app. A YouTube app and currently we are learning about the hard parts of Javascript, which for anyone trying to get into a bootcamp is essential. Last week it was Callbacks & Higher Order Functions.
The way that it works is, in the beginning you go around and introduce yourself, then tell everyone a little about you, what you’ve been building (if anything) and what your interest in JavaScript is. Subsequently the instructor Will goes into a lecture with slideshows and breaks down everything to first principles, which if you are a fan of Elon Musk (I am) means that that is how you get the job done. Will’s teaching methods (Socratic, I believe) are fantastic. He makes everything so clear and concise that the light inside your mind goes off and you finally understand what it is that you have been making so complicated. You see the solution simplified… Especially in dealing with two of the most misunderstood objects (no pun intended) in JavaScript.
After the lecture, you are split up to pair program. I know you may be thinking... "I don’t want to pair program! I won't go just because of that," but It really is great! Not only can you possibly make a new friend, but you also get the chance to see how other people think, and how they arrive at a solution. That is invaluable in itself because it can help you approach a problem differently one day. When you are pair programming the EIR’s (Engineers in Residence) come in and walk around to offer their assistance to anyone if they get stuck and also to answer any other questions you may have. These guys are really great. Super friendly and helpful. Will then wraps up with a summary to help solidify all that you have learned and then you can wander around the facilities, grab some drinks and food, and hang out and talk with everyone there. If you don’t want to do any of that, you don’t have to, but I can’t recommend that you should enough.
I hope that I am able to clear a few things up for anyone, and if not you can message me or get in touch and I will gladly answer any questions about my experience. If I can’t answer those questions Joseph at Codesmith is also a really great guy and he will be glad to help you. Below are some links to where you can find information on the topics I covered here in the postings...

* Codesmith (http://www.codesmith.io)
* Build With Code - Los Angeles (http://www.meetup.com/build-with-code/)
* Icecomm.io (http://icecomm.io/)
* A JavaScript library for building user interfaces | React (http://facebook.github.io/react/)
* React Native | A framework for building native apps using React (https://facebook.github.io/react-native/)

This review was originally posted on Yelp, available here: Anshu S.'s review of Codesmith (http://www.yelp.com/biz/codesmith-los-angeles?hrid=B8jSbwNuncnhsAYt5hAprQ&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct))

If I had... Read More to choose a word to describe my experience at Codesmith it would be: transformative. I first heard about the program by reading the CTO, Will Sentance's answer to a question on Quora: quora.com/Are-there-any-… (http://www.yelp.com/redir?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quora.com%2FAre-there-any-programming-bootcamps-in-Los-Angeles-or-any-plans-to-start-one&s=3b83ab8a0223ba9739451a4afcd60bd1666683b1a1dd7706db7cb973fcf8267c)

A friend of mine from high school was interning with Codesmith for the summer and posted about their weekly "Build with Code" sessions which they host in Codesmith HQ Thursdays. I had no plans that day and decided to go, if nothing else but to support a fellow Falcon. I was treated to a lecture by Will on the fundamentals of web development and walked through a tutorial on incorporating video-chat to a web app using Icecomm. At the start of the lecture, Will asked us a series of questions to gauge our level of experience. The only one I got was "Do you know what a variable is?"

That was the extent of my programming knowledge when I started the 8-week academy at Codesmith in the summer of 2015. I am a political economy major at the University of Southern California and my only experience with programming had been a 2-unit Java course that I hastily withdrew from. By the end of Codesmith, however, I had developed a full-stack application that had been a dream of mine for years: an interactive tool for USC students to plan their curriculum over four years. See: class-map.herokuapp.com (http://www.yelp.com/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fclass-map.herokuapp.com%2F&s=31c74a272d1fa9533e06a72fdf016da90187ab31fde5ad15bbd8209b8cb36f1a) I also built a snake game, an integrated calendar-chat app, and an alarm-clock that posted messages to a Slack channel via web-hooks when you pressed Snooze.

The difference between a college class and Codesmith is simple: at Codesmith you are surrounded by people who are all vested in your success. The Engineers in Residence that were recruited hailed from some of the top engineering schools in the country --UC Berkeley, Duke, UCLA and the University of Pennsylvania -- and were always eager to help and incredibly supportive. Through a combination of lectures, pair-programming challenges, and projects, the program helps you realize your goals as a web developer. The lectures were clear and informative, and the challenges were difficult enough to force growth as a learner. The "Hack Hour" problems at the beginning of each day solidify your understanding of JavaScript fundamentals and teach you creative ways to tackle standard interview questions. This immersive environment is critical for learning something as difficult as web development.
In addition, Codesmith provides access to the industry through a series of guest lectures which are open to the public. I personally saw Tom Occhino, one of the lead React engineers at Facebook, speak and they recently hosted Netflix tech lead Jafar Husain. The team behind Codesmith is committed to helping every cohort achieve their career goals.
If you are still undecided, I would recommend going to one their weekly meetups and meeting the people behind Codesmith who are all extremely talented and approachable. It's a decision you won't regret, I guarantee it.

Codesmith has transformed my life in such a short amount of time. I knew I wanted to be a web programmer and I was going to teach myself JavaScript over this past summer. On my own I probably would have still been trying to learn the fundamentals, not... Read More creating projects to reinforce my knowledge in different frameworks and libraries. Codesmith didn’t teach me to program by giving me the syntax to a function, but they explained the process of a function and how its variable store works. Getting a deeper understanding of how a computer executes a callback function, for example, has gotten me further than solving a single problem on an online tutorial. I have learned how to be/think/act like a full stack engineer.
I didn’t come from a stereotypical tech background, I graduated with a B.A in American Studies a few months ago and now I have a good understanding on how servers, databases, and multi-threading work. It is such a great feeling to be able to understand the process of what your code is doing, but there is so much more I want to learn. Technology is constantly evolving and Codesmith has equipped me with a skill set to keep learning on my own.