Codeworks

I was lucky enough to get into the 2nd cohort that started in November. We're a small group, which I think is a big plus. The knowledge the teaching staff has of Javascript and programming in general is impressive. They're able to give us an overview... Read More of the theory, then reinforce those concepts through practical examples, and in many cases, through exercises that simulate what we might encounter on the job. The most effective method they've used is through live coding examples and exercise solutions, since students can witness the methodology and thought process behind arriving at the final solution. It helped to see elegant, efficient code that demonstrated industry best practices. For the first few weeks of the term, we had daily timed programming exercises first thing each morning, which tested what we had covered the previous day. I thought those were a good way for us to retain and apply learned concepts.

It's definitely an intense and exhausting schedule, but it amazes me how much we managed to cover. It often felt like we didn't have enough time for concepts to sink in, but over time, after working through exercises, things eventually start to click. Otherwise, students took extra time to watch videos or go thru tutorials online to supplement what was given in class lectures. Instructors normally had a sense of when we weren't following the material, so they took the time to explain things further individually, or provide additional lectures to the entire group, and often gave us more time to work on exercises.

I alluded to it before, but one thing to note is that most of the learning materials and tools we were given just consisted of online documentation and tutorials. I believe the intent was to ensure we were comfortable reading through documentation and doing research independently, which is what we would likely be doing in a real-world context on the job anyhow. Another thing to be aware of is that although the course is taught in English, some of the staff aren’t native English speakers, so accents can be rather thick. Some students might potentially have trouble understanding them initially. Nonetheless, they’re all fluent in the language of Javascript, and make an effort to communicate and teach that clearly.

Things were pretty flexible and agile during the course. Since it’s a new program, staff were open to feedback from students, and adjusted content and schedule accordingly. There were also regular meet-ups and tech events that the school often hosted and participated in, which I enjoyed, though they did take time away from our coursework. Regardless, these events provided great networking opportunities within the Barcelona tech community.

Overall, I feel this has been a worthwhile investment of my time and money. I expected to get exposed to all that Javascript has to offer, and improve my JS dev skills. That’s definitely been the case. Highly recommend the program to anyone else wanting to do the same. My advice is to do the pre-course work early, and come prepared for a fun, yet challenging immersive JS experience.