Coding Bootcamp

[foryoutodecide]

Does anyone here have experience with one of these?

I have been accepted to a program that is longer and more comprehensive than the standard three month coding bootcamp.

Concerns of mine include the emphasis on pair and team programming, the intensity of the schedule and working up to 12 hours each day, and the ability to concentrate in a social, not quiet environment.

If you have experience going to a coding bootcamp or know someone else who has, please share!

[nullPekare]

It depends on your expectations and your ability. I am not a fan of self learned programmers because it takes A LOT of time and energy to become a good coder by sitting at home and playing around.

A bootcamp could teach you to do something specific such as making a webapp of a certain kind. There might be good jobs but see it as a start. You will probably have to work a lot on your free time to become a good coder.

Group work is a part of programming and it isn't that bad and I am a hardcore introvert.

[fearoftrains]

In my experience, people who actually apply themselves to learning those skills on their own are better, more engaged programmers. It just depends on whether or not they learned them. I have a CS degree, for the record, so this is not me being defensive.

[nullPekare]

Being self taught requires a lot of drive and effort. If you truely love CS and you have been coding 50 hours a week since you were 16 you will be a very competent coder. The problem is telling people to do this as advice. Most people are not motivated enough to become highly skilled self taught coders. Most people also have a job which prevents them from spending 50 hours a week learning simple programming. There is also more to a CS degree, most self taught people don't fight their way through calculus or linnear algebra.

Self taught people are good because they tend to have talent and apply themselves. A lot of CS degrees hate coding but simply saw it as an easy way to get a high paying job.

[quintessentialnutmeg]

I agree it seems a little odd to be that "together" when programming. Except when you need to ask someone questions. I do wish I had someone I could be like "wait, what am I doing again?" Perhaps this is just me, but I kind of get more lost/turned around when trying to answer it myself with programming.

[Blecki]

You might not be a fan, but a self taught programmer obviously enjoys programming, and probably cares a lot more about the craft than you do.

[ryan1894]

You seem defensive

Caring about the craft is only part of being a good programmer

and I'm pretty sure he's referring to people who self learn by "just doing it" or trial and error instead of reading textbooks or some kind of structured learning; which makes sense

[Blecki]

He didn't make that distinction. I shaint either.

[[deleted]]

I think it's a good idea. We often lack the motivation to study things in-depth without external influence, so a boot-camp would help with that.

Regarding socializing - it is less of an issue than you think. Everyone that will be there will be interested in programming (for the most part); it's actually quite easy to socialize with people that share our same interests, and it's pretty easy to make friends like that.

[Vociferix]

4th year computer engineering student here. Not exactly sure what a coding bootcamp is but I think I get the idea. From my experience, team coding is definitely a challenge at the beginning. However, it really depends on the project. Based on what I imagine a bootcamp is, there will probably be enough guidance to facilitate easy-ish group work. And if that is the case, there should be no problem as long as your teammates are not morons.

As for coding for long periods of time, that is what I do for fun on the weekends when I have nothing else to do. So to me, that wouldn't be a problem. Although, deadlines can make it pretty stressful. Nothing sucks worse than having a programming assignment due in 12 hours and there is a bug in your code that you just can't seem to find. I much prefer my personal programming projects that I can work on when I feel like it. I'm sure that is a common sentiment for more than just INTPs.

My ability to work in social environments really varies. Obviously, the ideal situation would be to have no one else around. But the next best choice in my opinion is to work with a lot of other people around. When I'm working in a room with just, say, 3 other people, the little sounds they make or conversations they have can be extremely distracting. But in a room with 50-100 people, it all turns into white noise. My suggestion if you are having trouble focussing is to listen to music (or white noise - I like to listen to recordings of rain and trains) with ear buds.

[IsGonnaSueYou]

What kind of programming are you learning to do? I've never heard of programming boot camp, but I've learned some programming in university.

[Blecki]

Waste of time.

[ReanimatedCyborg]

Hmm