Intensive programming "bootcamp" in California?
August 16, 2013 3:16 PM   Subscribe

I'm interested in taking a month or possibly two off work and focusing intensely during that time on a very practical course of study related to web development. What are my options in California similar to this program?

I'm not completely averse to a focus on ASP.NET, Ruby on Rails, or Django, but I currently do most of my work in PHP and JavaScript, and wouldn't mind something centered around Drupal, WordPress, Laravel, Symfony 2, or similar.

I currently only have experience with PHP, Python, and JavaScript.

I'm looking for:
  • Peer and expert code review of projects
  • Learning through practical application
  • Experienced instructors
  • Networking opportunities
  • Job placement as an integrated part of the program
  • A physical, shared space for the class (not online)
  • Strong JavaScript component using a framework like Bootstrap or similar
  • Condensed timeframe
  • Strong teaching component: instructors who actually are good communicators and take student failures personally
  • Git as an integrated tool, using many of its features
Is there anything like that in California? If not, what about some other state?
posted by jsturgill to Education (7 answers total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: Now that I think about it, please post international programs as well.
posted by jsturgill at 3:19 PM on August 16, 2013


One option would be Dev Bootcamp. It hits most of your bullet points, but it's focused on Ruby on Rails.

I would strongly suggest, if you're actually going to do something like this, that you *not* focus on a CMS or a JavaScript framework, but rather on the languages they're implemented in and more general programming skills. CMSes and frameworks come and go; time spent on the lower-level skills will make you a better developer and more employable not just next year but several years from now.
posted by asterix at 3:49 PM on August 16, 2013


Actually, scratch that: you want to look at BootCamper, which lets you search for bootcamps by language/focus and location.
posted by asterix at 3:51 PM on August 16, 2013


The intensive boot camp programs I've seen take approximately 12 weeks.
posted by Nomyte at 3:56 PM on August 16, 2013


Response by poster: 12 weeks is fine. If I have to take three months, I'll take three months.
posted by jsturgill at 3:58 PM on August 16, 2013


This is a reasonably comprehensive list of current programming bootcamps: bootcamps.in, and it lets you filter by location. I'm actually in one right now (but not in CA) and the ones I looked at ranged from 9 to 12 weeks.

On preview: whoops, didn't realize that this link had already been posted.

Wait, my link is different. Maybe. But looks very similar.
posted by mskyle at 4:20 PM on August 16, 2013


App Academy is also worth looking it. I've interviewed a couple people from there, and we ended up hiring one of them.

Their model is that you only pay them if you get hired as a developer after the program.

But, if you are looking at other states and would be wiling to go six months I highly recommend gSchool out of Denver. These guys really know their shit, and more importantly the employers in the Denver/Boulder area know this as well.

gSchool does the "head hunter" model where the company that hires you pays for the school.
posted by sideshow at 5:16 PM on August 16, 2013


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