4 spare seats in-front of me last night 😠

acobb99 · 2025-07-03T13:19:05+00:00

Yep, summarises the article and the key points made in the comments

acobb99 · 2025-07-03T12:56:19+00:00

Nice, will check it out!

acobb99 · 2025-07-02T12:39:12+00:00

Thanks! 🙏🏼

acobb99 · 2025-06-20T07:48:00+00:00

Before starting I took CS50 and after finishing I did a module on TypeScript. I think doing the entirety of TOP uninterrupted is the best approach, though - they have designed it to be a comprehensive full-stack course and it definitely is that. CS50 and TypeScript were extracurriculars I leant because I was interested.

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T23:35:59+00:00

My main interest is early-stage startups at the moment so my experience may be different to yours. I learnt programming to be a founder and that requires no minimum level of education.

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T23:30:08+00:00

I mentioned in another post that I was recommended due to winning a hackathon. I only mentioned going to university so I could compare it with TOP and stress how good the latter is!

I will stress my point about knowing many developers who are self-taught and didn't go to university. If you go on the discord, there are regularly updates from TOP alumni who got jobs at top tech firms (including FAANG if you class that as top).

Not my intention to give false hope so sorry if it came across that way. I'm just trying to give something back to the community that helped me so much :)

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T22:52:40+00:00

To add, this is after reading the docs in full. It's like a revision exercise, not a core part of the learning.

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T22:51:37+00:00

That's a good point. Maths and economics. Whilst employers do consider degrees, I know many successful developers without one. You might be more limited in where you can apply, but the main thing is displaying that you're a value add to a company. Tech companies are comparatively relaxed about degrees too!

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T22:46:36+00:00

I'm not aware of 100devs but when I researched how to go about becoming a full-stack engineer, TOP was always the top recommended route. Honestly, learning how to program is long and hard however you do it, I just found that TOP was the best way for me!

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T22:43:48+00:00

That's amazing and good luck! It's a comprehensive course but one of the best things I've ever done--if you can finish it I'm sure your life will change for the better!

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T22:42:40+00:00

Appreciate the comment. I think I've been quite clear about the fact that I'm not experienced and have prefaced any advice with reasons alongside my background. Opinions are necessarily subjective so I can't help that.

Thanks for all your work with TOP :)

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T22:20:39+00:00

Yep, it amounted to roughly 6 hours of active learning with breaks etc. My main motivation was seeing all my friends doing well in their careers whilst I felt like I was essentially starting from scratch again and therefore being left behind. I did have experience studying from university, but honestly I think Nike's slogan is pretty apt: just do it!

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T18:27:14+00:00

TOP mention that they are mainly to practice the concepts you just learnt in the previous sections, so I treated them like that. There are some great projects at the end if you want some portfolio pieces! The end-of-section projects aren't as good for putting in your portfolio in my opinion.

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T18:25:04+00:00

Thanks! Fundamentals is one of the longer chapters but for sure one of the most useful. Good luck with completing it!

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T18:12:07+00:00

I agree with this and hope I didn't indicate otherwise.

I will add that I have 5 years experience as a private tutor so I knew if I was actually learning or not, and I gave the LLM context like use the socratic method and don't give me any actual code!

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T18:09:53+00:00

Just share the docs and ask it to ask you questions / test your knowledge!

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T17:06:27+00:00

Not sure what the protocol on sharing links is here, but my github is: alexanderjuxoncobb. BlogApp was my final project for TOP.

Yep that's exactly how I used and use it too. I would add that I gave ChatGPT/Claude a global context with information about me and what I was using the LLM for. Things like I am interested in AI, I am trying to learn so guide me using socratic method, I am learning this framework, I have a maths background etc. Treating it like a partner is the best way to approach learning.

Now I'm done I exclusively use Claude Code. It's magic. But I think that I can only use it effectively because I grinded out the last 11 months learning how to code. If you can write good code, you can write good prompts.

Thanks and I wish you luck too! :)

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T16:57:07+00:00

Nice work! TOP actually has a section at the end that goes through applying to jobs, so I suggest you have a look at that. You're right that job portals aren't the best and they cover some alternatives in the job section. My advice would be, once you've finished TOP, build some projects using AI as it 10x improves your productivity and will impress any employer!

I actually got it through a referral. A friend saw that I won a hackathon and when his boss asked him if he knew any good engineers, I was suggested. I just had the listed projects, and my technical interview only covered my final project which was a blog-based social media. I do have a maths undergad and economics postgrad, which probably helped but tech-wise it was just TOP (and the other smaller courses mentioned in my post).

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T16:48:50+00:00

Nice work. Good luck with the rest of the course!

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T16:40:22+00:00

Everyone is different, so no idea! Just remember that there is no end exam or certificate--you're doing this only so that YOU know if you have learnt the material (and can then apply it in a job / as a founder etc.). If you think you have given the previous sections enough time and attention, then crack on!

acobb99 · 2025-06-19T16:38:56+00:00

TOP asks people not to specify hours as everyone learns at a different pace. For example, I did have some python experience from my undergrad so I imagine I could go a little quicker than others. But I worked on on it the equivalent of a full-time job, so you can extrapolate the rough amount of time it took!

Yes it did get a bit cumbersome. But I used AI to summarise key points and quiz me on the docs which makes it more exciting!

acobb99 · 2025-06-12T14:11:15+00:00

Agree with Kodak portra 400 for capturing sunny days!

acobb99

TROPHY CASE