| | Nicholas Hines | My time at Dev League was definitely one to remember, a whirlwind of constant information, long hours, and the persisting thoughts of WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING HERE?!?! But amongst the never ending chaos that is Dev League lies hope, a light at the end of the tunnel. From the bond that is created between fellow students with the support to keep trudging forward to the insight and guidance of the amazing staff I was always able to shake any doubts that I had along the way.
Now with all the warm and fuzzies out of the way lets talk about the technical side of this bootcamp, a month before the in person classes begun we started with a "Init" program which consisted of group skype calls several days a week with daily check-ins to see what we were working on to ramp us up to the 11 hour days we were meant to become accustomed too. In this first month we covered Javascript fundamentals and what to expect in the upcoming months. This was a nice step and a good introduction into the bootcamp life style but did not reflect how hard we would hitting the ground with the expectation to keep running from the first day on. Before I continue let me say that Dev League does offer a prep course outside of the actual bootcamp which I did not take and still deeply regret not taking. It is not impossible to finish without the prep class but I spent A LOT of my own time playing catch up.
The course itself is a mad dash of learning and completing assignments, some of which you will not be able to complete in the allotted time. Most days start with a warm up, then a lecture, and the rest of the day is spent working on a related assignment. It is difficult to almost impossible to retain everything from the lectures but there is always staff members available to answer any questions you have. Even late at night after everyone has left I was able to message one of our teachers for help and get a response. The teachers really do an amazing job at getting you understand as much as possible in such a short amount of time, this field really is gigantic and ever changing and I commend Dev League to whittling down these subjects to important need to know information and having the patience to teach it to someone like me with almost no previous experience.
Besides learning code they also prepare you for the real world after the bootcamp has ended, there is always talk of best practices what the culture of our career will be like and how to become successful in this field. They really do cover everything you'll need, working on your resume, preparing you for job interviews, what to do when you get a job, even what to do to move forward to a better job. It is also very evident that Dev League keeps strong communication with past students who will often drop by to catch up and drop knowledge which is very comforting.
All in all Dev League in my opinion is great, not only do they do an exceptional job at teaching you what is in their curriculum but they have found the perfect balance of pushing you to the edge while taking the time to make sure you understand the details. I come away from this program with the knowledge and work ethic to feel confident in pursuing this career. I also firmly believe no matter who you are, whether programming is completely new to you or you are looking to further your career, Dev League will prove to be invaluable in your future as a developer. |
