Frontend Simplified Institute

Learning frontend development with Frontend Simplified has been an incredible experience. It was my first real exposure to building a frontend application, and I appreciated how David guided the lessons — starting with the fundamentals and gradually introducing... Read More more challenging concepts. His clear and structured approach made complex topics easier to understand and inspired me to keep pushing forward in my learning journey.

Wonderful program if you're the right fit.
I am close to finishing this program and it's been a very positive experience overall. You learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, and a several additional tools (Next & TypeScript among others). The lessons flow... Read More smoothly and even with zero knowledge you can totally do this and get far, as long as you are willing to put in the time and effort. Some material is easy, some is very difficult to grasp, and although you have 24/7 access to mentors that can assist you, FES makes it very clear that a significant piece of becoming a frontend developer is learning how to research and figure things out on your own. This makes the student/mentor dynamic a bit tricky at times. Be prepared for moments of feeling lost and confused...but I think in a way it's part of the "initiation" process on your journey to become a Frontend professional: learning how to remain calm when facing issues and stuckness, and where to seek answers and solutions. Either way, if you can't figure something out, they ARE there to help you, whether via chat, or via zoom and screensharing.

Each module focuses on a different tool or skill, and integrates a project that you code together with the instructor (David Bragg), so you learn by doing and taking notes, not just watching. These projects can later be used for your portfolio when applying for jobs. You also get to do several internships through the program. FES offers additional live sessions for different topics, and you can watch the recordings in your own time if you can't make it to the live zoom. If you're into connecting with other students, there's also a chat forum and you can be matched with an accountability partner.

Things I liked less (aka constructive criticism):
-David Bragg is a good instructor, but he talks really fast sometimes, which made me slow down videos to 0.75 speed whenever the topic was challenging. It's a solution I guess... but I don't think an instructor should ever talk fast when teaching, whether the material is simple or complicated...it is energetically problematic. I will note that it's not always like that, but it's something that can be improved.

-Clarity around project instructions and rules: When it's time to work on a final project for a module and you're on your own coding - I often faced confusion around what the instructions were vs. what David showed or said in the video, and sometimes a reference site (the complete site you're supposed to replicate) is not 100% identical to what you were told to do or saw in the tutorials. Things like that where specific details are not perfectly aligned can be disorienting especially when you're so green, and if you hyperfocus on small details they way I do you will definitely encounter these situations. It doesn't have to be this way, and I hope they make some tweaks to prevent it.

-Projects that you submit are reviewed and approved, and then the next module is unlocked for you. A nice upgrade could be for a moderator / mentor to not just approve and congratulate you (which is of course awesome), but also have a zoom call with you to go over your code together and talk about it and what can be improved. I think generally FES could improve with giving more 'one-on-one' attention - at least to those who seek it - because this program is not cheap and I think it's a fair expectation to have a teacher spend more time with you and get down to the details, not only when you have a specific question on chat. It is also a matter of how many mentors vs. the number of students, but again, something I'd love to see improved.

** I didn't get to the part where you start practicing for interviews and applying for jobs - they do have modules for that - but I can't comment on those yet ,obviously.

Regardless of these points (because nothing is ever perfect and that's okay)... I can confidently say that FES is a very good program. Just make sure that you really want to code and that it's the right thing for you. They will not let you join if they're not sure it's a good fit - and that's a great mark of integrity. FES also guarantees success at landing a job if you follow their lead and do your part all the way through - and it's in the contract that if you did everything all the way through and still couldn't get a job, they will return your money and then some. I absolutely hope that I won't have to test them on that, but considering my journey so far I am not worried about my chances, whether it happens quickly or not.

I hope this helps, and good luck!

I have really enjoyed FES! I have not yet reached the point of applying for jobs so I cannot speak on that but everything else is incredible! The mentors are super helpful. The videos are easy to follow. I loved that I could do my work at my own pace... Read More but the mentors also checked in if I took a break which kept me going! I also loved that the mentors truly cared about the work and made sure the projects were perfect before approving. They made sure I got the most out of the program and I truly learned so much.

This bootcamp is wonderful for learning everything you'll need to know for software development. Everything can be a bit confusing at first but so can anything when you're learning a new skill, it's important to be persistent and keep up with it and you'll... Read More learn so much from this program!

I have had an great experience learning code from FES. The courses are clear, simple and easy to understand, meeting you wherever you are and taking you to being able to confidently write code in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React. Plus the program mentors... Read More are available 24/7 to answer questions and help you understand concepts and write better code. The course lets you set your own pace so you have to be self motivated and dedicated to making progress and learning the material. There is a lot to learn so you have to be patient and trust the process.

It was easy to follow for a beginner who has no experience in tech. They were very patient with me throughout the whole process. I enjoyed the virtual internship that gave me real world experience and a chance to practice my newly learned skills in real... Read More world projects. Even though its flexible they still want you to check in and take the program seriously so I appreciated the motivation and accountability.

The pros are that you get a foundation of best practices. The information is given in a way that is easily digestible and the videos help you go back and review what you have learned. The advice of taking notes and the optimism really helps. The con (ironically)... Read More is that there is a lot of information being given that someone very new to frontend might get discouraged if not overwhelmed. I think telling anyone that takes the bootcamp outright that no one expects them to retain ALL the information being given is a must and should be repeated.

I've learned so much in this course. It was challenging and I've had to really apply myself. If you're like me and new to frontend development and coding you've got a lot of catching up to do, but it's worth it!

There are mentors available to answer questions... Read More you have along the way and they give you tools to look for your own answers.

I highly recommend this program.

The classes are self paced which helps if something doesn’t quite stick, you can go back and rewatch it. They don’t hand you all the answers though, you have to want to put in the work to understand it. The mentors are there to help 24/7 though so if... Read More you’re working through it and get stuck they are SO helpful. I can’t recommend it enough.

I've been in FES for 2 months now and I have learned quite a bit. They revamped the first module covering HTML and CSS and the new videos are awesome. I hope these get implemented into the rest of the course. Some of the videos are 4-5+ years old, so... Read More there are sections where the narrator will cut into the video and go over the update. While it's good that they are editing these so we don't get completely lost, I think they should recreate some of these walkthroughs. David goes really fast through some parts of the videos and it's hard to understand what he's doing sometimes. Especially during the JavaScript courses - one in particular was going over promises. David had a few good suggestions of YouTube videos to watch that cover promises. But when I'm paying over $10k for tuition, the videos should made to more understandable and I shouldn't have to go to YouTube. The JS promises video is chaotically hard to understand: I went through it multiple times and never got easier. I am still new and just finally passed Module 4.1, so I still need time and practice. Overall I think FES is great, and there is 24 hour support which makes life a lot easier. It's still a new(ish) program so there are some kinks to work out. But what I would really love to see is the entire program looking like the new videos for module 1.