Codesmith

Without being hyperbolic, Codesmith genuinely changed my life. I came into the program with a background in teaching math, already knowing that I loved problem-solving and buildling things. I wasn't sure, however, whether the hype about Codesmith was real, or whether I'd really be able to learn enough in 3 months to position myself for a real career in software engineering.

If you are relatively prepared with Javascript fundamentals and have a genuine passion for programming and engineering, Codesmith is a phenomenal program. The curriculum is almost entirely problem and project-based, meaning that you'll learn by doing, rather than by watching others. This means many many hours spent on your own or with a partner poring over documentation, writing things from scratch, and debugging code. It's important to note that the program is very self-driven. You definitely have access to mentors and instructors, and they've designed a great curriculum that ensures that you hit all of the important points/skills you need if you stay on track, but ultimately it is up to the student to figure almost everything out, with the help of his or her peers. I loved this environment and found that it really let me thrive and push myself to the best of my abilities. I built a production project here that I am genuinely proud of, and that has gotten recognition by engineers at companies like Netflix and Amazon.

The hiring support at Codesmith is really invaluable. It doesn't come until the last couple of weeks of the program, so I found myself worrying quite a bit during the first couple of months. They really give you targeted and specific guidance and feedback on resume writing, presenting yourself online, reaching out to companies, interviewing, and closing an offer. Obviously, you will have to be the one to follow through on all of their advice, but if you are persistent and have done your preparation, you'll be positioned to land a pretty great job. I received two awesome offers from companies this week, and the staff at Codesmith gave me advice for negotiating and signing on with the company I was most excited about.

The community at Codesmith is incredibly supportive. People are fun, positive, driven, and unafraid of failing. If you are driven by problem-solving and self-motivated to succeed, I think it's an ideal environment in which to level up and make a huge impact on your life.

Graduated from Cohort 2 in NYC this week. The last 13 weeks have been an amazing ride. 

My background was in finance with some programming work. I quit a fairly well paying position in December to pursue further developing my programming skills, being able to make applications and tools in your freetime is an amazing skill.

All of the accepted residents have varying degrees of prior programming experience, in my cohort this ranged from a few months to over 10 years. One day before the program started, I messaged the Codesmith team and asked them if I should defer entrance, I did not feel ready. They told me many accepted residents often feel that way from the pre-course work and that I should stick it out for the first week to feel out my readiness. I'm glad I did, three days from graduation I accepted an offer from my dream job that I've wanted for the last 4 years. 

Programming background depending, the curriculum is likely going to be challenging. The first 6 weeks (junior phase), you go through 2 day units that cover differently topics across the stack. Ideation week for your senior production project lasts 1 week, you then spend another 4 weeks (senior phase) working on a open source production project before spending the final 2 weeks preparing for post program. All together, I spent around 10-14 hours each day at the program from Monday-Saturday and also put in a few hours on Sunday. 

Our production project was focused on improving the local development experience of a Kubernetes cluster. I had two amazing partners working on the project with me and we launched the project (see Watchpod on Github) to very positive feedback from members of the Kubernetes developer community.  

Lastly, I want to dedicate a paragraph to the Codesmith team. One of the main reasons why I joined Codesmith over competing programs is because of the community. From Thursday night drinks to nerf wars, Codesmith does an amazing job fostering a caring and colloquial community. The staff puts in 110% to ensure the resident experience is as positive as possible. For the long hours they put into both emotional and intellectual support across the entire program, they deserve a tremendous applause. Kudos to the entire team, with special shoutouts to Victoria for always caring about the resident experience, Eric for the wonderful job search support, Brandon for convincing me to take part in this wonderful program, and lastly Will for building something amazing over the last 2 years. You guys have built something special, keep up the wonderful work. I'm excited to see the future of Codesmith with each cohort improving upon the last! 

 

I was working as a home automation systems programmer for 10 years and I could see that the market was changing, customers were leaning more and more on internet connected devices and I realized my career needed a course correction. I started to teach myself web development, I was going down the typical self-learning path and it was very frustrating. I'd get to spend maybe an hour or two per day going through tutorials and I would often end up stuck down a rabbit hole researching something tangentially related to what I was trying to learn. I had been spending some evenings attending the meetups that were put on by local bootcamps just to try to steer my self study. One evening I attended Codesmith's weekly JavaScript the Hard Parts meetup and I was very impressed both by the fact that Will the CEO was actually giving the lesson and that the atmosphere around the meetup was so friendly and invigorating. After a few months of careful research and deliberation I decided to attend Codesmith. I can say that my decision has paid off so far, I learned so much during the 12 weeks, most importantly I learned how to pick up a new technology quickly and how to work through blocks in development. Additionally I am now part of an awesome community of Codemith staff, students and alumni who are most intelligent, positive group I've ever met. All in all Codesmith was the right move for me.

I'm fresh out of the November-February program. I've never before learned so much in so little time. I came in with only a smidgen of JavaScript knowledge, having completed the Codecademy JS course and gone to Codesmith's weekly LA meetup (JS: the Hard Parts) a few times. My background is completely non-technical, and I had no prior coding experience. Codesmith took me from there to creating a developer library that uses a Webpack loader to bundle files as Web Workers that can be used in a pool structure in 12 weeks! I don't think I would've even understood that sentence before starting.

Here are some of the things that set Codesmith apart:

• It's really demanding. At a minimum you'll be onsite 62 hours/week, and you should expect to be there a lot more.
• Learning is accomplished by doing. There are lectures, but they are not the focus. The first four weeks are spent on JS units, and thereafter you work in teams on projects.
• Technical communication skills are paramount. There is only one solo project, which lasts 2 days, in the whole curriculum. Everything else is pair programming or group projects.
• The production project, which lasts 4 weeks, is the main focus. For a project to be approved, it has to require deep knowledge of an area of JS that will impress seasoned developers.
• The staff is very supportive, and they do a lot of work from the admission process through the project phase to ensure that every cohort maintains a positive culture.

Codesmith is a big investment of time and money, but it's worth it. Having completed the program, I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone with a passion for JS and a desire to take their skills to a whole new level. If you're in LA or NYC and thinking about doing a fast-track coding school, check out Codesmith's weekly JavaScript: the Hard Parts meetup.

Codesmith's immersive full-stack JavaScript program helped expand and sharpen my software engineering skills. The collaborative culture and focus on improving one's communication and problem-solving skills made a huge difference in my growth and learning experience. I enjoyed the fun yet challenging environment created not only by the Codesmith team but also the program residents. I spent over 70+ hours every week coding, learning new concepts, reviewing people's code, solving challenging problems, and exchanging knowledge with others.    I particularly enjoyed the second half of the program when I worked with team of 2 other amazing software engineers. We built a collaborative, real-time text-editor that implements full end-to-end encryption and gives users privacy and the peace of mind that no third party is collecting or selling their data. This portion of the program taught me so much about team work, the value of pair-programming and testing, and the importance of having good communication skills. I had a rewarding and joyful experience during my time at Codesmith.

I’ve made multiple attempts into getting into Software Engineering in my life, and credit my weekly attendance of Codesmith’s JavaScript – The Hard Parts workshops as the reason this attempt is succeeding. Will spares no effort to hammer in the importance of technical communication, step-by-step interpretation of the code, and understanding what's going on "under the hood” in Javascript. It helped me develop the fundamentals that were invaluable in passing the interviews for the programs I was looking into, including Hack Reactor and Codesmith itself.

No less importantly, Hard Parts brought me into contact with others taking their first steps toward becoming software engineers. I learned a lot working with them, but more than that, I was inspired by them. Seeing so many of my peers working so passionately towards the same goal as me helped me remained focused on my aspiration. Learning about their backgrounds and listening to their experiences provided perspective and reassurance. And when I was waiting in the reception area for my final chance at getting into the Codesmith program, their encouragement kept me from running for the door and rescheduling my interview another six months down the line.

I look forward to entering this program in two weeks and continuing my journey with this incredible team.

I began looking into software immersion programs in the winter of 2016. In searching for pair program partner to study with for technical interviews, I came across a person on Reddit, who was at the time a Codesmith student, who offered to help me study. Only at the end of our studies did he ask what program I was shooting for. I told him Hack Reactor, since it had a solid rep, and I was already living in the Bay Area. He pushed me to look into Codesmith, telling me he too had looked into HR. He moved all the way from Florida to LA to attend.

I applied to both, and got into both. I chose Codesmith, because my Reddit buddy praised the school so highly, and believed in the program so strongly. Since graduating, I firmly share his beliefs, and know I made the correct choice. There are three major factors that make Codesmith such a standout; an especially capable and talented student body, an emphasis on technical communication, and the strong sense of community the program fosters.

The student body at Codesmith is carefully selected . The standards for admission are tough. The technical interview was harder than HR by a long shot - it took me a couple of tries to get in. This was frustrating at the time, but this system results in a cohort with stronger technical abilities, so the material and the rate at which they teach it can be upped. There’s a cultural interview too. It’s not enough just to be really smart. Empathetic, team-focused, communicative, and social personalities are sought from applicants. The curriculum revolves around pair programming and project teams, so people who fill this criteria are strong fits for the program. This combination of technical abilities and conducive personalities results in learning environment where you can maximize your growth.

The most powerful skill set I was able to develop at Codesmith wasn’t learning JavaScript really well (though I did that, too), but technical communication. I can’t stress how important this ability is. When you’re interviewing for mid and senior level developer positions, being well-spoken and concise is sooo important. After all, asides from a coding challenge or two, the only way these interviewers can judge you is by the words you share with them. Being able to answer questions in an elegant, precise, and confident way is the best way to shine. But the perks of a strong technical communication ability don’t end there. After you’re hired, you’ll have to communicate with your team, both technical and non-technical members, in an efficient and approachable way. This’ll make you an especially valuable asset to your team.

The most enjoyable part of the program is the community and culture the Codesmith team has created. Graduates consistently maintain relations with Codesmith. Whether it’s coming back to for mock interviews of current students, host an open forum that details their job search story and their current roles, or just dropping by to hang out, alumni are a big part of the culture and are always looking to give back. Thursday nights are special night each week where students, staff, alumni, and friends put aside their work a little earlier than usual, and have a few drinks with each other. Very often the karaoke machine gets busted out. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve watched half a dozen engineers singing along to some N’Sync. There are beach days, bonfires, family-style dinners, kickball. And all of this fun happens alongside some of the most intense and rapid-paced learning you’ll ever have.

I really can’t say enough good things about Codesmith. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it has been a bit of a life-changing experience. I’ve gained a large group of friends I’ve bonded very strongly to, an amazing job I feel proud of, and a new perspective on communication, problem solving, and life in general.

Codesmith was the only place for me - coming from about 3 years experience as an AngularJS developer, I was looking for a way to quickly get my skills up to the next level.  Codesmith did that not only by teaching the newest technologies (React, Node), but by making sure students also truly understand the fundamentals and principles underlying all those great technologies.  The pair programming style of learning was extremely appealing and rewarding for me and has taken my technical communication and ability to program with other to a whole new level. 

Codesmith's immersive program truly is a cut above the rest.  There are a few things that I considered when making my decision to attend:

Material - not only is the course material relavent to the current job industry, it's extremely well structured.  All of the units that the Codesmith residents work through are laid out in a logical manner that builds upon your experiences in previous units.  By the time you know it, all the pieces connect and you come out with a wealth of knowledge that's highly sought after.

Instructors - as it turns out, the couse material, although important, is only a small factor in why Codesmith works. The team members here are amazing, explaining highly technical concepts and code walkthroughs with perfect technical detail and clarity - and it's not just code that they teach you. Codesmith specializes in honing your problem solving capabilities. This is a skill that trumps all others. During your software engineering journey, you're bound to run into countless scenarios where you just don't know the answer, or perhaps have no knowledge of the technology you're working with. How do you overcome those blocks? How do you tackle not knowing something? These are what the instructors are truly teaching you.  As you work through the material, the team is there to help you work any blocks or challenges that you may face, all while never revealing answers so you come to solutions on your own might - adding another notch to your belt of coding skills with each challenge you've solved. Eventually, you'll have enough notches to work through scenarios you thought previously impossible, regardless of the technology you're working in.

Culture - this last one seals the deal and puts Codesmith in a class of it's own. Codesmith is not just a coding school, it's a community. A tightly knit one at that. An environment of learning and self improvement with no judgement has been established here. This is the type of place where anyone and everyone is a resource to you, a place where you can flag any random person down in the hallway and they will drop what they're doing to help you. The community here is unlike any other you'll experience, you'll be surrounded by good natured, extremely friendly and highly intelligent people - it's honestly a bit addicting.

All in all I'm so glad I attended! It was truly a transformative process and I feel well prepared for what lay ahead.

If you are considering any kind of software engineering education, you must at the very least check out Codesmith’s free `JavaScript the hard parts`. Over the course of a few months attending these weekly sessions I became convinced that Codesmith was the right choice for me. I enrolled in July, graduated in October and by November had an excellent offer from a great company in the Bay Area.

Codesmith instills great confidence and ambition in its residents, which is reflected by the quality of the open source projects produced.

For me, this was achieved by focussing on technical communication - a core part of the Codesmith experience. Only by having a solid understanding of foundational concepts and what’s going on ‘under the hood’ is it possible to effectively communicate complex problems in an articulate manner. This is an invaluable skill for interviews.

Building on this foundational understanding, the second half of the program helped develop my skills as an autonomous problem solver. In requiring residents to engage positively with the open source community, it helped address the inevitable imposter syndrome head on, and validate ourselves as software engineers.

It is a combination of deep understanding, excellence in technical communication, ambition of projects undertaken, and the culture and enthusiasm created by the Codesmith team that has led to the success of so many graduates, myself included, as professional software engineers.

I'm a graduate of Codesmith who has been working as a software engineer now for about 4 months. I'm a naturally skeptical person, so I went into the program with a healthy dose of caution, trying to dampen my expecations on the promise of the program. I was so happy to discover that I have nothing but good things to say about the program. I was very surprised that Codesmith not only met my expectations, but exceeded them. The community is what makes it -- it's simultaneosly friendly, encouraging, and very supportive. The leadership and instructors set a wonderful tone for the whole program -- they're approachable, fun, friendly, and super knowledgable. It's such an amazing experience to be surrounded by driven, intellectually curious people non-stop for 12 weeks -- the dynamic is always so supportive, even during later weeks when everyone is burnt out, tired, and stressed to hit the next deadline. Sounds cheesy, but this place changed my life. I came out of the program with a whole new set of friends, and a job/career that I love. I couldn't recommend Codesmith more highly to someone who is cut out for it. 

I think it's useful to provide some context with any review - I have an engineering (not computer science/engineering) BS from UCLA with a non-engineering career prior to my career change. That said, the majority of the people in my cohort came from entirely non-technical backgrounds.

I went into Codesmith with some self-study Javascript experience - as much as I can cram without losing direction/getting overwhelmed with the amount of breadth that comes with Javascript. Definitely enough for a junior web developer role, but I wanted to work on the more interesting and fun problems that come with a mid/sr level role. 

Going through the program has prepared me for such a role for the following reasons:

1. A ton of hours pair programming - not only does this teach you to be a better technical communicator, but it also gives you a better in-depth understanding of core concepts and troubleshooting approaches. Not to mention - it also makes you better at reading other people's code (something that you'll need to do in your career)

2. Projects - the point of this program isn't to showcase how you've completed a 3-month immersive program to somehow justify that you are now qualified to be a software engineer. The point is to show that you’re able to perform and contribute as an engineer in a meaningful way. A reputable program should encourage you to come up with ambitious projects that directly impact other developers and contribute to the open source community (i.e. not CRUD apps). This signals to employers that you’re capable of tackling problems that real developers face.

3. Learning how to learn - part of learning to become a proficient software engineer is to be confronted with difficult and challenging engineering problems where the struggle is the norm rather than the exception. Codesmith goes out of its way to make sure that they're not just spoon-feeding you the answers for good reason. Make no mistake - it will be hard work before, during, and especially after the program.

 

The outcomes? Most people in my cohort (who, again, came from non-technical backgrounds) are gainfully employed with the salary expectations that were presented to them. The great and unexpected side-effect of this program is that I made friends and connections with awesome people who I would not have otherwise have met or bonded with. Work hard but don't forget to take the time to make those connections!