Question about those all-in-one coding bootcamps, thought they were a scam at first

I spent like 6 months telling my buddy his bootcamp was a waste of cash. I mean, I went the self taught route with free resources and a lot of late nights. Then he showed me his final project, a full app that actually tracks inventory for a local shop near me in Austin. I was impressed but still skeptical until he landed a junior dev job in 3 months. That made me question my whole approach. I tried a short course on udemy after that and honestly it was way more structured than just bouncing between tutorials. Has anyone else had a bootcamp actually work out for them or did I just get lucky with my friend?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakotacraig2mo ago

Austin is kinda the bootcamp capital so that tracks.

harper_wright2mo agoMost Upvoted

Have you noticed how the whole "learn to code in 12 weeks" thing is kind of fading now in places like San Francisco but Austin is still full of it? @the_jordan hit on something important too, the mix of transplants and locals creates this weird pressure where everyone feels like they're falling behind. I see it at coffee shops all the time, people hunched over laptops with their bootcamp curriculum up, notebooks full of pseudocode. It's like the city itself has this unspoken rule that you better be working on something or you don't belong.

the_jordan2mo ago

Wait isn't it true that most of those big coding bootcamps started there or moved there specifically because of the tech scene? I remember hearing App Academy and Hack Reactor both have big presences in Austin. It makes sense because you've got all those companies moving in from California plus UT Austin pumping out grads who don't always want the traditional degree route. The whole city just has this energy where everyone is trying to level up their skills fast.