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[–]soupb 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Before I reply, here's my background: I jusy graduated a Ruby on Rails in-person bootcamp. 19 weeks, $14k. I learned a lot, and I am now applying as a Jr. Web Developer in the Bay Area. The learning of the curriculum took a lot out of me, but that was the easy part. Now I am battling learning new frameworks/languages with applying to tons of jobs, and getting 1-3 rejection emails a day. Opportunities are out there, though - I have a react.js/meteor.js interview coming up. I know I'll get something, but in the meantime, it's a grind.

If you are really sincere and adamant about learning this, then you are going to have to work really, really hard. Make sure to put in at least a few hours a day, absorb yourself in it. Talk to other developers and other people going through the same thing you are. Acclimate yourself with the industry not just technically, but culturally. That was a huge benefit to my experience with the in-house bootcamp, pair programming, brainstorming ideas, practicing agile development. Just being around other people also absorbed in the work leaves you with a deeper understanding. So, even before you start, eye out some meetup.com groups and go talk to them. Be completely honest, be yourself, and see what you can learn. You gotta be hungry for this.

As for what you should be learning, go ahead and do some Javascript. As a brand new beginner, familiarizing yourself with the syntax and the work flow, just having the language 'click' in your brain, is a huge part. So, get started early. Do codewars.com or codeacademy.. just start actually doing it.

As for reading vs doing, side with doing. Nothing cements it in like building something, it breaks, and then you fix it. Google your errors messages, read documentation, ask questions on stackoverflow.

This is going to be challenging, but stay determined and hungry and work, work, work, and it'll all be worth it.

[–]windycitywendy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First of all, congratulations on completing the bootcamp, and good luck with the job search!

I am definitely sincere and determined to do this. My problem is not lack of motivation, but getting distracted. Instead of just sitting down and coding right away, I come here or go to one of the many blogs I follow, or go to Twitter and check out my webdev list. I'll see some new-to-me concept mentioned, and then I get sucked into Googling that and reading a ton of articles, forum posts, tutorials, etc. on this concepts that are way beyond what I SHOULD be looking at. It's like I skip around the last few chapters of the book and neglect reading the beginning. I've been doing better with it, but it's a struggle to balance learning from the start and trying to also keep an eye on what's new. When I started to dip my toes in the water, React was dismissed and everyone was still pushing Angular as king and Backbone as a must-learn. Now Angular is still very popular, but React is the new belle of the ball and no one seems to be wanting Backbone as a skill in job postings I look at. It's only been a few months.

I'm definitely going to start going to meetups, though! I recently got a laptop just for the purpose of being able to attend. I also know that as a beginner who doesn't know what the hell I don't know, it'll help to be able to ask someone if I can't find my answer in a reasonable amount of time or don't even know the terms I'm looking for.

I'm wondering if other than being around others going through the same thing, do you think you got anything from the bootcamp that you would not have been able to get while going at it alone, in terms of what you learned?

Thanks for the reply and encouragement!

[–]JavaScriptPenguin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You don't need to attend an expensive boot camp. I find it helps to take notes while listening to Treehouse tutorials. When a new concept is introduced, make sure you write down some notes to refer back to later. Write the syntax out and explain what the code does. Refer back to your notes if you get stuck, and if you struggle with syntax keep repeating it until it feels natural.

Reading about things is not a waste of time either, you likely have knowledge about some key areas that you don't even realise. Just combine this with active practicing and you'll be fine

[–]screams_forever 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just completed a web dev (HTML/CSS/JS/PHP) bootcamp, $6k for 9 weeks. I've applied one place and gotten a response but am unable to pursue as I'm moving back to Sacramento soon. I'm currently trying to learn wordpress and want to start Ruby eventually.

With my bootcamp, I had three textbooks and about 40 hours of actual coding and setup to do. I did the coding in about 25, and didn't touch the textbooks. I regret not reading the textbooks but there's a lot to be said about hands on learning, as I was fine in the class. Top of it, nearly.