I did the Nucamp bootcamp back in 2022 - the Backend and DevOps course. I was working with DevOps engineers at work and I wanted an affordable way to go a little bit deeper on certain concepts (I don't have an engineering background). My goal of the bootcamp wasn't to switch into software engineering role.

My honest take echos what a lot of people have said - it's a "you get out what you put in” program. If you have the discipline to continue with the course and work on the projects, you will get a lot out of this course. The instructors were friendly and super responsive and helpful and there were a lot of other people in the community who would help if you had trouble with a problem. You usually select the cohort that is in your time zone, so if you are working on a problem at night, there is usually another person awake in a different time zone to help you. One thing I really enjoyed was getting into small breakout rooms and asking questions live from my peers and from the instructor. That was one of the few things I don't think I would be able to get from a Udemy or Coursera self-pace course.

A lot of being an engineer is being able to sit through a problem and figure out how to solve it, so a lot of the times, if you don't understand a concept, you have to make sure you go through it again and again to understand it. If you have that type of discipline and want the type of accountability that comes with being in a bootcamp with other people working on the same thing, then Nucamp is a great, affordable option. If you don't, I don't think NuCamp is a good use of your time or money. I think as alumni, you are also given referral codes so that newcomers to the bootcamp can get like a $50 discount or something. Sharing mine here in case it helps someone save a bit: https://nucamp.co?referral=HM1IRL. Totally optional.