The App Academy NL - CLOSED

Having only done some Swift tutorials online prior to the iOS bootcamp, my knowledge was very limited and honestly I was not sure I would be able to learn how to code in just three months.

Although at times, the course is extremely challenging and I felt... Read More confused at the beginning (especially during week 2 and 3) it all started making a lot of sense shortly after. So as long as you really apply yourself and try to follow the instructions and tasks you are given, you will soon realise that coding is a way of thought and you will start grasping concepts and ways of teaching yourself how to code.

I thought that the teaching staff was great and provided me with all the support I needed to learn Swift and how to teach myself (which is key!). The main tip I could give to someone looking to do the course is to really apply yourself and ask questions, all of them, there are no stupid questions. The teaching staff is there to help and they are very helpful and approachable.

I really recommend the course!

While there are many aspects that could be covered, I will review two aspects that personally I found most important during my bootcamp at The App Academy. That is the language that we were learning and the way we were taught it (and what future prospects... Read More did it set).

Language:
Probably one of the greatest things about The App Academy is that you get to learn how to work with the newest and most promising iOS developing language, Swift. While Objective-C still remains widely used in the world of iOS development and knowing it is still important, The App Academy offers a forward-looking approach and aims at preparing you for the growing present and future trends. Subsequently, the downside of this approach is that you do not get a chance to know Objective-C better. While there where few hours spared to understand the structure of the language, if you want to learn it more in-depth, you are expected to do so on your own as the scope of the course is not capable of including more lessons on Objective-C.

Teaching:
The teachers at The App Academy are young and enthusiastic. One of the most admirable things about the teaching in general is that they are really prepared to teach people with no experience in programming and limited knowledge in IT in general. The teachers are friendly and supportive. While the teaching methods may work differently for different people, generally, I found their theory/practice ratio quite good, focusing more on theory in the first third of the course and working on bigger team projects during the rest of the time. While in terms of acquired knowledge it is not possible to learn enough Swift to become a full-fledged Junior developer in just three months, I think The App Academy gives a good foundation for feeling confident and continue to deepen your knowledge and skills on your own and even find a job as an entry level developer in a company that is looking for more than just a set of skills. This course could be a good investment if you consider that learning how to make mobile apps could enhance and contribute to your other skills and abilities.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed taking classes at The App Academy and I felt a great improvement on my programming knowledge and skills. I would recommend this course for taking your iOS app development experience from zero to the level of beginner iOS developer. Although the classes are perfectly suited for people of any non-technical background, I believe that the ones who can benefit the most are people who already are more comfortable with mathematical logic. After all, programming is about logic, mathematics, and everyone's so well-loved algorithms :) So while it is not something that a person will have to deal with during the classes a lot, in a long run, for those who aspire to take a job in the IT field, Swift, like any other programming language, will require a lot of logical thinking and mathematics-based approach.

As an industrial engineer, I was familiar to programming in some languages when I started working at the bootcamp. But even though this was the case, I wasn't feeling confident since the languages I have worked on didn't contain Objective-C. From the... Read More start, it appeared to me that in order to learn coding in a limited time such as 9 weeks, I needed to work with really good teachers in a supportive environment. Our teachers were highly capable in the means of technical knowledge and also in teaching. They did their best to keep us focused and determined which worked greatly for all of the students. In my opinion, the mental aspects of learning coding are equally important to the technical aspects and I was able to successfully complete this course thanks to the support I got from everyone at The App Academy.

The ultimate goal of the bootcamp was to learn coding and eventually securing a job. I see know that both of these goals are fulfilled since I feel confident in my coding abilities and am starting my internship at an extremely exciting company. Besides these goals, The App Academy provided me the network for really talented coders based in Amsterdam. This provided network is crucial for me to improve as a coder and also a businessman.

In conclusion, I am extremely happy with the time I spent at The App Academy and I would recommend it to everyone pursuing an app development career in Amsterdam.