| | Roberto Pando | I spend so much time trying to battle with all the choices of courses both paid and free and also with all the choices of programming languages, like which one was the "best one". But it got so unproductive one day I just got tired of beating around the bush and decided on one factor. Which one was a stable, user friendly language that I wanted to learn and which one had the framework that was ideal for startups, rapid prototyping and had many success stories behind it, which was rails with all these sites such as twitter, GitHub, netflix and so many more, and although they have move toward other direction, they would not have been what they are if it had not been for this framework imho.
I have tried before to watch tutorial videos, but that never worked for me. I am the type of learner that needs to experiment on my own to actually understand. maybe for some concepts I need a video explanation but to code, no. I need you to give me the concepts and tell me "now with the concepts you just learn, I need you to go build me this (insert app)" and NOT showing me a tutorial where I can follow along to build it. Because then I will be tempted to just look at it and see the solution. The odin project those this very approach of giving you the resources and then asking to build something based on it without giving you the solution, this forced me hardcore to find the solution no matter what. I decided to take it seriously and actually dedicated 8+ hours a day to follow along it and immerse myself in it, I was jobless at the time and was just doing a masters I had lost interest in. It took me 2 and half months to go from the very first part of the odin project curriculum to finishing the rails one which is not even the end. and decided to do my very own projects and dive more deep into the language and the rails framework on my own after that and after a total of 5 months, I started applying for jobs until I finally got one 6 months after I initially started the odin project. I cannot say how amazing this course was for me, like I mention before it was perfect for my learning style and since it does not hold your hand thru the process and forces you to do it, I can honestly say that this is the only course that is for serious people who want to learn, not just a hobby but actually want to change careers, because it takes a lot of will power and dedication to go thru it yourself.
TLDR; (pros and cons)
Pros:
1. FREE
2. Ruby (such a CLEAN language, you will realize how important for your sanity clean syntax is later)
3. You can go on your own pace, if you are desperate have time and are dedicated you can really learn and land a job faster than any other paid program.
4. Since it forces you to come up with the solution on your own, you WILL solidify the language and framework which will make you a good coder (which are scarce and in demand).
5. Awesome community, everyone is very helpful and you will see that you are not alone in any problem, from installing a simple tool, to more complex framework problems. (seriously people will even code review your projects if you ask)
6. Doesn't JUST teach you the programming language and framework but solidifies computer science concepts, again... making you a great programmer.
Cons:
1. Time consuming: since it solidifies complex computer science concepts and is thorough, it takes much more time than your average than the (here is the syntax build this project and go find a job) programs
2. If you are the type of learner that need to get walkthrough everything to learn then this might not be for you.
3. There is no real personal help with getting you a job, you will get advice and how to go about it on your own, but that is it. |
| | Austin Mason | After messing around with Java and messing around building websites I decided I needed a bit more structure to my learning. I discovered The Odin Project in a Reddit post and it seemed to be what I was looking for, a well structured path to learning web dev skills to enable me to create my own apps.
PROS:
- A well structured course of all the core skills you'll need
- A very welcoming community
- Help can always be found in the chat rooms
- The course is updated to keep skills relevant
- Learners can give back by submitting their own ideas to improve the course
- You learn to get set up in your own environment
CONS:
- It's a self learning environment. You have to be motivated to work on your own for long periods. That works for some but not for everyone
- It's not easy to get full feedback on projects because it is entirely run by volunteers
- Trying to pair up with other students can be difficult
Because it is free, it's a great place to start your journey to see if you do want a career in the industry without signing up for an expensive bootcamp. Resources are free even to those who don't want to make an account. I highly recommend it. |
