I realize that bootcamps offer certain advantages, including in-person instruction (depending on the instructional delivery method you choose), networking opportunities, the possibility of support with post-graduation job placement, and tuition payment deferral until you’re making a decent salary. When you break it down, all of the skills taught in a bootcamp that you’re paying thousands of dollars for are skills you can teach yourself for free using online resources.

After reviewing several learning curriculums from the top coding bootcamps, I question what a bootcamp truly does for its students besides costing them a hefty sum and giving them the notoriety of saying that they completed a particular big-name bootcamp. With price tags bordering on $15,000 USD and a bad reputation for over-promising on career placement upon graduation, the supposed “perfect solution” of bootcamps is now being questioned.Īs someone who studied software development in university, I’ve always viewed coding bootcamps from a skeptical perspective. However, coding bootcamps are not without their faults.

Coding bootcamps have become popular, as they help developers learn sought-after technologies and become proficient programmers who are ready for hire in less than a year. Short, sweet, and to the point, bootcamps fill the niche for aspiring developers who want a well-rounded education without having to spend vast sums of money or time.

Today, companies require developers faster than they can graduate, and people wanting a career change have made a new form of programming education take hold: coding bootcamps. Both methods involved several years of study, and neither guaranteed a job at the end of the day. Once upon a time, there were only two ways to get a job as a software developer: Get a Computer Science degree at a university or teach yourself to code using how-to books.

Top free coding bootcamps