Code Institute

This is a coding bootcamp, not a graphic design course. 

Everythin was excellent. By the end of this course I had the knowlege to build clones of most major websites on the internet today. My final project was a dating website which had practically identical features to Twitter and Facebook. 

The emphasis is mainly on learning to program, which is great because its (in my opinion) the most important aspect of web design. The two star guy is obviously an idiot who doesn't know a thing about software development. 

If you want to learn to paint pretty pictures with crayons and colouring pencils, do an art course. If you want to learn how to program with the big boys, this is the bootcamp for you. 

 

 

Introduction

I'm a student now but my experiences with this course are so bad that I feel an urge to warn people before investing their money in this course. I have to also mention that I asked them to give me money back, because of my bad experiences with stream 1 I'm going to write about below. There is also stream 2 and stream 3 I've no taken yet.

Do you want to know how to make a nice responsive mobile navigation with a button to hide it? Do you want to know how to make a tooltip? Tabs? Popovers? Photo-slider with testimonials on it? 

And the answer for 4500 euros? Add class to Bootstrap. Do you want to know how to make it yourself? Too bad.

I asked the director about it and he told me over the phone "I don't want students to worry about the design, that is why we chose Bootstrap". You know what their sell page says? LEARN HOW TO USE CSS3, FROM BEGINNER BASICS TO ADVANCED TECHNIQUES, BUILDING UPON YOUR HTML5 SKILLS, TO DESIGN AND BUILD BEAUTIFUL RESPONSIVE WEB APPLICATIONS FOR ANY TYPE OF DESKTOP OR MOBILE DEVICE. You won't be taught to design anything, just add a class to Bootstrap. Is it an information worth 4500 euros? Don't you want to know how to design page elements yourself? No? Than this course is for you. 

There are tons of free resources where you can learn Bootstrap for free, I expected this course to have something extra considering the amount of money I paid. I got even less than I get from those free resources. Search for DevTips - Travis Neilson, he was recently hired by Google, he is the best teacher I ever had and I've learned a lot on his channel and for free. Btw. he also teaches Bootstrap.

Project for the stream 1

This is what the assignment says: 

• Use bootstrap or flexbox for main navigation and grid layout.

 Allright, I want to know how to design these page elements so I choose flex-box. I don't want to take any shortcuts in case I'm asked about these in a real job. There was nothing besides flexbox tutorial in the course content, that would help me to create these page elements I've mentioned above. I've searched elsewhere. I expected jQuery lessons to teach me how to create these page elements, but nothing besides pointless exercises on how to change background-color was available. Thanks to my book "Javascript and jQuery by John Ducket",  I've managed to create some tabs and accordion. Also this book is "practical examples" based which helps to remember stuff. This course just teaches you the language, it does not teach you to create anything with it. But so does Codecademy and bunch of other free courses. Is wrong from me to expect a little more for 4500 euros?

• Please use AngularJS as your framework.

After I finished designing the layout of the page which took me much longer than expected (course content was almost no help) I started integrating Angular in my project. The code that Code Institute provided on their pages didn't work. I've got an $injector error. Not sure if they fixed it yet but I've spend couple hours figuring this out. Allright, I could have asked them about it, took me bit more time, it isn't all that bad. What was bad was what happened to my tabs made with jQuery. I asked my tutor about it and he told be jQuery and Angular aren't a good match in some cases and that is not recommended to use both in one project. Yet I was asked to include both in my project. It was extremely frustrating. I got a correct code but it does not work. No warning about that in the course. Code Institute tutor told me. I've send them an open letter mentioning a lack of concept even before I encountered this problem. This just proves it. They just glued lessons on different topics together without worrying about the big picture. How is that even possible for the amount of money they ask for?

Tutors

Online tutors don't have a proper chat equipment. My last session was done over mobile phone microphone. I bought myself one of the best available web cameras to get most out of the course. How come that people paid for it didn't? The lack of common sense I have encountered in this course is mind blowing - let me remind you this is a 4500 euros course. I've had three tutors already. The first one was from India. He was more than qualified to be my tutor, very impressive resume. But the reception was so bad I had to ask for replacement - his accent didn't help. I got an Irish tutor who just started doing web development. He helped me to set up the stream 1 project with gulp and npm (not in the course content) but other than that he struck my as inexperienced and even he had heads up, he wasn't prepared for our session. That was a point when I sent Code Institute an open letter mentioning all the problems I had with this course and I respectfully asked them to either give me my money back or hire me to help them improve the course. So I could actually do something about it not just whine about it. 

Won't give me my money back

Neither happened. Brian O'Grady - Code Institute director told me that it's over 30 days, so they won't give me my money back. Because I completed stream 1 I tried to be fair and asked them for 2/3 of the money I paid.  Instead he forced himself on me by saying he wants to help me. I'm basically extorted to stay. If you have any other questions about the course, please, contact me here: daniel.hoksza@gmail.com . 

Look elsewhere. 

A lot of content that is covered in Stream 1 is available for free in the Viking Code School.

Btw. they canceled a course with part-time classroom students, because the students weren't happy about the course. They gave them money back or let them join the online course. My reasons aren't big enough I guess.

The good?

HTML, CSS, D3 lessons and Angular were decent.

Completed the C.I Full-Stack Diploma in E-Commerce Applications this year and overall when looking back, I can’t say I’m much more than moderately satisfied. 

The course material is decent, but is in dire need of a massive update to keep up with other courses out there. 
The cost of the course has gone up since I enrolled, and I don’t see the justification for it either. 

The mentorship is a bit misleading as you only get someone to basically go over your projects with you 3 times and they aren’t there to mentor you through the course as the name might suggest. 

The course also puts you together with other students regardless of prior coding experience, so a beginner coder is at a massive disadvantage compared to someone who has prior coding experience or a degree in CS. I think they should address this by splitting the course into two different categories to account for this or have more lenient marking for students without that background as an advantage. 

There’s a lively slack community and you can ask for help on there. But for the most part you’re on your own and will find yourself using resources such as W3School, MDN or Youtube tutorials to teach some material to be honest. 

There were several bugs and issues with some of the walkthrough content, especially between PP3 and PP4, and disappointingly PP5 was just the old MS4 recycled into this new course. 

On the plus side, you do get an EQF Level 5 at the end of it all. Though I am not sure I can say I feel like a qualified Software Developer as I hold the certificate in my hand.


 

I have currently been a "student" of this deplorable bootcamp for the past 4 1/2 months. I am also going through the bootcamp through Springboard which makes is absolutley free for me. Paying €8,000 for this course is the equivalent of throwing your money into the fire. 
1. The course is outdated. Several videos are 2-3 years old with a comment box above the videos saying how to "remedy" the issue. Which in my case mostly never works as the "remedy is often outdated aswell"
2. The way the "instructors" teach is horrific, they fly through the videos telling you what to do but not actually offering anything of informative value. They are all just code along videos which doesnt help anyone. It just makes you walkthrough dependant. 
3. From what I have learned while trying to become a software developer is that you must google everytthing which is perfectly fine. But if you spend €8,000 euro on a course they damn well better try and help you to the best of their ability and have as much content on their page as possible. Which they don't, I have spent 90% of my time on other sites I.E Coding with Mosh, YouTube and W3schools learning as the CI's attmept to teach is pathetic.
4. Up until project 4, the course is a solid 3/5, as you can teach basic HTML, CSS, JS, Python to anyone. When it gets to project 4 and you actually have to start coding and relaly learning the course just becomes a joke.
I could write all day but im just drained from this "Bootcamp". Biggest waste of 4 1/2 months. Thank God I didnt pay for it. 

I would not recommend this Full Stack course with the Code Institute to anyone due to my experience with them. I applied and took on the 5 day challenge , Unfortunately I hadto request 2 days extension due to my laptop breaking but that was granted until Monday I was told. Monday morning I submitted the completed challenge with a 100% mark.

First off , I will admit the lessons provided were very good and I learned the basics pretty quickly and it has inspired me to start a proper Honours Degree in Software Development , so thanks for that.

But anyway I was told a few hours after my submission that my application was unsuccessful , so naturally I enquired as I figured a 100% mark was more than sufficient. I received an email the following day to inform me that the reason behind my application being denied was due to my extension request? Along with sections 2 & 3 of the coding challenge workbook being failed submissions. Unfortunately the coding application provided by the Code Institute for their 5 Day Coding Challenge is subpar to real world coding as the application did not recognize certain parts of the workbook in sections 2 & 3. I got very frustrated with this code constantly failing that I referred to a professional who confirmed my lines of code were in fact correct , so I submitted the correct code (marked as failed on their system) so I could view the "Solution" offered ,the solution and my "incorrect submissions" were the exact same lines of code. I also highlighted this issue in my application in the event that the Code Institute was not aware of this issue but it was marked as a reason for my denied application. ( Maybe they weren't too happy that I pointed this out )

Bottom line , I would not recommend this course based off of my experience with them and I personally wouldn't pay the near €7k price tag.

The course started with the 5 day coding challenge it was made in the way, to make me think that once I pass it, will mean, that I am pretty skilled in this area “of thinking”. It consisted of tasks in HTML and CSS. For somebody who has never touched coding, and does not know that HTM and CSS are very simple tools to learn in coding it is easy to fall in this TRAP to think that you will be good at it. Why not create 5 day coding challenge in JavaScrip or Python, much more complex languages???? 

It started of well as with HTML and CSS, but the JavaScript and Python modules were intensely complicated, with badly laid out theory, with end module challenges often with elements not corresponding to the course material making the challenges even more confusing. Majority of the time I was left to research the subjects in other resources on my own to understand what I was being taught. 

The tutor support are not allowed to give you straight answers (I have been taught that many times) plus you have to wait for their support 30/40min to 1.5 hrs. There is a limit of how often in a week you can ask for the support. So, if you have used them twice in a week you are unlikely to be helped third time in the same week or may wait more than 3hours.  The flow of conversation is very slow as tutors (many recent graduates) are talking chatting to other students at the same time. I had to wait for my answers in conversations between 20min to 1.5hrs. 9 out of 10 times tutor’s shift ended during the conversation and I was told to wait for another tutor for help. 

Mentor support your have is between 30-60 min three time during your project. 1 when you talk about your idea. 2 when you are in the middle but expectation is that you should have at this stage completed 70% of your work. 3 before the submission and when project is completed. This is not a help really as ideally you need at least 1-3hr every week to discuss many aspects and problems as this is a completely new field for you. The mentor would often send me to research my queries anyway. This is simply some tick box exercise for the provider of the course to make it look compliant and encouraging. 

They say that you can use 24hr support in Slack, used by students asking questions that are drown in a despair slowly learning that they have had wasted their money. There are many bugs in the tutorial content and for that reason, the end challenges do not work but you are not able to know whether that is your error in the challenge or something else. No to mention spelling mistakes. Tutorials refer to Cloud9 but you have to use completely different GitPod … this list can go on, it is very depressing.  

If you struggle with the content there is nobody to help you. Student support just make calls to you to tick box as they do not actually listen to your struggles. They count their time on the phone making sure it is not extended and you end up with no substantial support to what you are asking for. 

For every late submission you pay extra fee, for every resubmission you pay extra fee. With the above support it could be an endless and costly experience. 

This course is for people with prior knowledge of coding in all offered coding languages. For a beginner is an absolute nightmare as you don’t know what you are doing therefore a lot of support is needed. You will be left completely abandoned with your issues the only real savior can be a developer friend if he/she has a lot of time to give you some attention. CI put a lot of careful attention into getting you into the course 5day VERY EASY coding challenge, with many email reminders, marketing and getting your money. I can give them 5* for the three areas. You will be better off studying on your own. Do not pay for this course unless you have a lot of previous coding experience or you are a beginner but a complete genius! Otherwise, you will pay thousands to learn how to google or use Stack Overflow.  I have chucked this course in the middle of it’s run, learning from free and better explained resources  and have never been happier since.  
 

This was my second time signing up for a Code Institute Hackathon in as many months, as I'd enjoyed the Pride-themed one back in June so much and found it had sharpened my coding and teamwork skills considerably. Once again, I got to work alongside fellow students of various experience levels and backgrounds in sprint-based collaborative bursts as we grappled with an unfamiliar topic/technology (game development on this occasion). And once more my biggest takeaway was that, while the learning content that makes up CI's Full Stack Diploma course is great, there really is no substitute for being brought out of your comfort zone and given a strict deadline to work against...

Over the course of five adrenaline-fuelled days, we pooled our skills and each played a part in building a pretty cool '80s-inspired arcade shoot 'em up. And although our project didn't end up winning, the competition aspect was eclipsed by the overall experience factor in terms of learning to coordinate group workflow and implement best practices around version control (etc.) - with the added bonus of gaining new connections and having lots of fun thrown in for good measure.

There's no doubt about it, remote bootcamp learning can be a solitary path at times, even allowing for the fact that we as CI students have access to several pillars of support (Slack, mentors, tutoring etc.). So to have these hackathons available as an extra-curricular outlet every couple of months goes a long way towards redressing this balance in my view. They've given me such a shot in the arm, in fact, that I've made reference to my hackathon experiences to date in a couple of recent job interviews!

TL;DR: If you're reading this and wondering if you should sign up for the next CI Hackathon, I can wholeheartedly recommend it as a great way of levelling up your dev skills and having something tangible and worthwhile to talk about with prospective employers ;-)

There are 4 practical projects that you can show up in your github and a lot of practising exercises on each of the 4 big modules. The course curriculum is really good and well structured it is including the latest real contents currently used in companies, I've seen many of the contents used in the start up tech company, where I used to work. 
The student portal used to have frequent errors, at least in the time I did the course, although is easy to use, (moving among lessons inside one module is easy) but very annoying when trying to move among modules to one specific lesson, I missed a more accessible/less-clicks/page reloads way to get to any point of any module.
Deadlines are VERY rigid for finishing the projects, if you are currently a full-time employee (normal 8h/day) is practically impossible to really learn everything from the course, you can finish the course and follow it yes, but you will finish with the feeling of not really learning, because you are constantly rushing to get to deadlines, moving to the next lesson without being able to go deeper as long you need in any specific topic.You will end up with a vague general understanding of each field, definitely not enough for the price of the course.I would recommend this course only if you are  not full-time employed and if you have money.
ProsThe course curriculum, and the students community in Slack
ConsWay too expensive for the kind of "support" you actually receive.Most of the time you end up asking among the other students community rather than getting actual support from mentors, as they are only there for general guidance in your projects, not to help you solve code problems.Your access to the portal and study contents is removed once you finish the course, which to me makes no sense at all, and forces you to take extra separate notes, using more time for notes that could be used to actually practice.
The interviews/job finding preparation is a joke, you can get the same advice and support anywhere free in internet as they don't communicate with you directly.The last module of the course corresponding to the last project, is way too long in content/complexity compared with the rest of the other 3 modules, which is normal but you still have the same time to complete it than the previous, which adds additional pressure.

The course is online and can be achieved in a year, the modules and material are easy to follow, the support teams are super pro active and provide really good information that helps you move forward. The videos are available for the full year, the assignments range from easy to challenging but achievable. The 4 projects assessed throughout your learning are up to standard. What you learn and put the time in is generally paid for.
Plus you get a mentor and the constant support of the tutors and slack community for any technical questions.

I gave them disclosures I was vulnerable yet they still gave me information encouraging me to take out loans to do their course with a completely unrealistic 'return upon investment' advice, including how I would earn roughly £31k as a junior developer. Even in London, without a proper degree and/or years of experience, you're not getting £31k from doing a course like Code Institute. 

I thought quite well of them and was genuinely considering trying to financially position myself to complete the course but given the months of being hounded by their marketing department and asking questions, when I made it clear I knew I was being manipulated in bad faith they, funnily enough, just stopped responding. I did remove myself from the mailing list but they made no effort to correct my interpretation of their actions when I made it explicitly clear I didn't think they had my best interests at heart and, as such, found it difficult to believe I'd be efficiently taught any skills I would be required to have upon taking a job after completion.