| | Jack McCarthy | Makers was an awesome experience and it helped me get my first software development job! For anyone looking to learn the rudiments of programming, build lots of projects and get the foundations for a career in programming (as well as meets lots of cool people) this is the place for you. The course covers a lot of ground, is very fast paced and very intense. It is also not a typical learning environment where you are handed all the material on a platter. Instead it is very much a self-led learning course where you are taught to search for and understand what you need to know to build your projects and get your code working. You will be frustrated, elated and occasionally driven to despair, but the feeling of getting a program working is magical! Makers does very well in a couple of areas: - Teaching you how to teach yourself and how to solve coding problems (as well as maintaining a positive outlook - crucially important). - Pair programming and Group Projects - Test Driven Development - A diverse range of technologies (in a short space of time) - The makers careers team is fantastic and they have lots of relationships with different companies, through which they offer exclusive junior dev jobs to Makers Graduates (that's how I got my job, while job hunting they were regularly posting new opportunities). - I did the course remotely and I thought it all worked very well. - An extensive alumni network - Great peer community and great coaches Areas of concern/things that may be helpful: - The curriculum needs updating in some areas (but this is a continual process they go through), and it would be good if Makers could introduce a little bit on cloud based technologies, and perhaps a bit more about how the industry works. - Given the nature of the bootcamp (and probably all bootcamps), people are at different levels when they join, some having done a bit more prior learning than others (Also some people learn faster than others). This can sometimes affect how you progress on projects and cause some concern. I do not think this is an issue, as ultimately what is important is learning how to code (debug, TDD, etc...), not necessarily the specifics of how each technology work (you will have plenty of time in your career to pick this up. But, I raise it as it can introduce frustration... - Although most bootcamps are advertised as you don't need to know any / very little coding prior to starting the course. I heartily recommend trying to spend a few months (I am talking part time here not full time learning) before the bootcamp, learning how to program (e.g. Ruby, HTML, CSS, JS), try and build some simple console apps, do codewars, Codecademy, code out of a book, etc... I think this will help you get the most out of the course, as you can move quickly on from learning the syntax, to focusing on the course learning objectives. In my experience those who had spent more time coding before the course, seemed to get more out of it. Some more specific factual details - correct at the time I did the course (Feb to end May 2021 - Remote) The course is split into 3 parts: - The first part is 1 month of pre-work where you cover the basics of Ruby and Git, to ensure you are prepared for the course. This is solo work (although you are introduced to your cohort) - The second part is the 3 month course itself. This was kind of split into two, the first 7 weeks where you focus on learning Ruby and Javascript, completing weekly pair programming tasks and a weekend challenge, you also complete two group projects. The second part is two longer group projects, the first with Ruby On Rails and the second is the final project (you can do anything you want - I did a React.JS and Ruby On Rails web app). - The third part is the post course, and this is where the makers coaches will help you cement your learning, give advice and coaching on job hunting, prepping for interviews and tech tests. Most importantly this is also where the fantastic Makers Careers Team come into the light and they have established relationships with various companies over the years giving exclusive opportunities to Makers grads. During the course I covered/used the following: - Languages: Ruby, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, SQL (Minimal) - Frameworks: Ruby on Rails, Sinatra, various Javascript Libraries, React.js (optional for final project). - Tools: Git, Github, Heroku - Testing Tools: RSPEC, Jasmine, Jest - Programming practices/fundamentals: SOLID Principles, Pair Programming, Agile Working, HTTP, Web Apps, SQL Databases. - Remote working - entire course was done remotely. |
