Codesmith

I had just graduated from college with a B.S. in computer science when I stumbled upon Codesmith. Looking to get some web development experience, I decided to take the course and am very happy I did so.

As many people will tell you, there is a gap between industry expectations and what you learn through computer science classes and projects. This is a gap that can be largely filled by experience, and Codesmith does just that. At Codesmith, you receive a balance of computer science fundamentals and practical skills. Among other things, you will become intimately familiar with data structures, basic algorithms (sorting and path-finding) and Big O analysis. You will use what you learn in development so that you have practical skills to accompany the theory.

The web-development curriculum provides excellent exposure to full stack web development. At Codesmith you will learn many things the hard way first, for example, learning to use Node to set up servers without any frameworks before learning to use Express or Hapi. This will give you a deeper understanding of both what’s going on underneath the hood, and in the bigger picture of your application.

One of my favorite things about Codesmith is that they value holistic growth, meaning you won’t just be taught to be a developer who can create websites with ready-made tools. You will be encouraged to become an engineer, who can architect systems beyond websites, and to modify or create your own tools as you see fit. You won’t just be an engineer with team experience. You will be encouraged to lead through empathy, and follow industry workflow with version control and testing. Additionally, Codesmith holds “tutorials” where you will have moderated discussions on tech. One of my favorite discussions was on Client side vs Server side rendering. You will be encouraged to form a strong understanding of whatever technologies you’ve been exposed to so that you can communicate your thoughts coherently to laymen, as well as anyone else in the industry.

It does take commitment and hard work on your part, but if you want to be a full-stack developer and like what you have heard so far, I recommend checking out Codesmith to find out more.

I am a recent graduate of Codesmith, and it was an incredibly rewarding experience. I came to Codesmith looking to make a career change, and the experience was way more than I expected.  

Codesmith teaches you to be a full-stack developer, and you are challenged constantly throughout the process.  You build a deeper understanding of data structures, algorithms and fundamental javascript concepts with daily hack hours. There are lectures daily on key technology topics as well as application-specific concepts. Most importantly you will also learn Angular, React, Node, Express as well as database applications like MongoDB, PostrgreSQL. The days are broken up in a way that you are always going and the time really flies. As you learn new technologies, you are challenged to build both group and solo projects of your choice utilizing those technologies.  The projects are both challenging and incredibly rewarding as you solve real problems encountered while building and deploying applications. 

Beyond the coding - there is an incredible community at Codesmith. Guest speakers from major companies like Facebook, Netflix, NFL.com and NPM just to name a few were great additions. Most importantly, the friends you make, and relationships you build are amazing. The engineers/instructors are genuinely invested in your development as an engineer and are always willing to go the extra mile to help you. If you want to learn something - they will help you get there!!

I completed the 8-week Summer academy at Codesmith this past summer and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  At the time I had just finished my MBA at USC Marshall and was looking to continue learning and challenging myself in the available months I had before I began my new role.  I was familiar with Codesmith from their weekly Javascript - The Hard Parts sessions, meetup.com/build-with-co…, and it was immediately apparent this was a well-designed program with serious promise.

It was an intellectually challenging experience. My previous programming experience was limited, so the initial learning curve was steep.  The full 12-week program is designed around a 30% - 40% working familiarity with Javascript starting day 1, so I had some ground to make up, but I did.  Within a few weeks I was working on teams building full-stack applications, browsers games, and a hilarious web scraper that kept you alert of everything Donald Trump was tweeting.  The progress I made in a matter of a few weeks was pretty remarkable.

Learning by building is the approach at Codesmith, and it's effective.  The first weeks of the program cover computer science fundamentals like algorithms, data structures, APIs, and databases, but they are taught via coding challenges and mini projects that merge theory with real world application.  Some topics come more easily than others, and some days require an inhumane volume of coffee to finally debug an application, but the rate of concentrated learning is unlike anything I've ever experienced before.  The remainder of the program is dedicated to working in teams on group projects.  The Codesmith engineers kick off each day with hack hours as well which help you continually hone your coding chops.

The building is spacious and crackling with a palpable feeling of enthusiasm and hard work. Everyone is there to help, and you can feel it. I highly recommend the Codesmith program.

Currently,  there are only a few bootcamps located in Los Angeles. I have attended  meetups and online questionnaires at a few of them e.g MakerSquare,  General Assembly, and Codesmith. My favorite of all is Codesmith for the following reasons...

BTW, if you don't want to read this article, you can watch a video summary below...  :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hToEL-nNtyM
 

For those of you who don’t know about Codesmith, it’s a 12 week immersive Software Engineering program teaching Computer Science, Full Stack JavaScript Engineering and mobile development.

They   also teach you how to think like an engineer, and give you that  mindset  so that you can invent and build the projects that you want to.

There are 3 key components that adhere to Codesmith. They are Community, Curriculum, and Passion.   Now these aren’t necessarily mantras of Codesmith themselves, rather   what I have noticed in attendance of their meetups, and this is one of   the reasons that I am fascinated by being there and around that energy.   Which in turn, leads me to the first component...
 
Community:
Talking of energy, It’s   probably safe to say that it is highly unfathomable to know what it   must have been like being around in the beginning of Apple, or  Facebook,  or any other major company that started similarly, but the  feeling that  I get being around Codesmith is what I would imagine that  experience to  be. 
 

1. The people! Everyone is so nice and welcoming. They make you really feel like you are a part of the family. 
2. The Instructors! The CTO Will Sentance and Lead Engineer Alex Zai are probably two of   the most brilliant gentlemen that I have had the pleasure to meet. Not   only are they entirely genuine and remarkable, but they are   revolutionizing the Software Education Industry along with the Tech   Industry. Aside from Codesmith, they have also developed some  extremely,  amazing things. One of those is Icecomm. Icecomm is an  WebRTC based,  Peer to Peer feature that allows you to add serverless  video chat and  data transfer to your application in, I believe under 10  lines of  JavaScript and 4 lines of Angular. How great is that? Now to  go a step  further, they are going to open source it, so that in itself  speaks to  their wonderful character. If I could pick their brains all  day I would.  haha
3. The Environment! The building is like a spaceship. It’s really cool! When you get off  of  the elevator you are met by these multicolored, fluorescent lights  that  resemble something from the future. The whole area is one large  circle  with several nooks and cranny’s for you to explore. The views  are also  great. There are balconies with a panoramic view of water and a  large  portion of Silicon Beach. 

Curriculum

This   is one of the things that sets Codesmith apart from everyone else in   the software education realm. Also what places them at the forefront of   technology because they are using what is now on the forefront of   technology. The core of their Front-End curriculum is with React.js. WHAT???
 

1. React.js ! If you don’t know what React.js is, React is an open-source JavaScript   library for creating user interfaces that aims to address challenges   encountered in developing single-page applications. (or simply put, “The Future of interwebs development” ;) “
2. React Native! React Native enables you to build world-class application experiences   on native platforms using a consistent developer experience based on   JavaScript andReact. The focus of React Native is on developer   efficiency across all the platforms you care about — learn once, write   anywhere. Facebook uses React Native in multiple production apps and   will continue investing in React Native.
3. Distributed Systems and Some Machine Learning! Seriously,   it couldn’t be better. These are the things that are powering the   technology around us all today, including, but not limited to Gmail,   iCloud and Google knowing what you want to search before you finish   typing. No one is teaching these things in any bootcamp or program   currently. 

Here is a photo of the curriculum for a more in depth view:
 

 

Passion

One   of the most important features of Codesmith and everyone there is that   they are endlessly passionate about what they are doing. It’s highly   evident in everything that they do. They actually want to help everyone   bring their dreams to fruition, to build the projects and companies  that  they envision, and change the world for the better. This fact is   something that I cannot stress enough. I only mention this because I   have been to some of the meetups at other places like MakerSquare and I   cannot say the same things. I really can’t even say anything remotely   close, and I don’t want to go into a barrage of Makersquare or anything   like that. This was simply my experience and mine alone, but it was   quite uncomfortable. When I walked in everyone just kind of had an   attitude and they weren’t welcoming. Everything seemed fabricated. You   could tell that at the end of the day this place is just a business and   they seem to only care about one thing: money. That is not an   environment that I welcome, nor should anyone else. With Codesmith it’s   different, not just for the aforementioned reasons alone, but also I  am  beyond enamored with the devotion of everyone involved.  It’s a  really  special place and I suggest that everyone experience it for  themselves. 


Build With Code

You   may ask, “how can I experience it without going to the program?” Well,   I’ll tell you! Every Thursday from 6:30 - 9:00 pm Codesmith offers a   free Meetup called Build With Code. I can’t emphasis enough how great   this place is and especially the Meetups. Who doesn’t like free drinks?   Who doesn’t like free food? Not only do they offer those things, but  you  are able to build cool things and learn about programming in   JavaScript. We’ve built a video chat app. A YouTube app and currently  we  are learning about the hard parts of Javascript, which for anyone   trying to get into a bootcamp is essential. Last week it was Callbacks   & Higher Order Functions. 

The   way that it works is, in the beginning you go around and introduce   yourself, then tell everyone a little about you, what you’ve been   building (if anything) and what your interest in JavaScript is.   Subsequently the instructor Will goes into a lecture with slideshows  and  breaks down everything to first principles, which if you are a fan  of  Elon Musk (I am) means that that is how you get the job done.   Will’s  teaching methods (Socratic, I believe) are fantastic. He makes   everything so clear and concise that the light inside your mind goes  off  and you finally understand what it is that you have been making so   complicated. You see the solution simplified… Especially in dealing  with  two of the most misunderstood objects (no pun intended) in  JavaScript. 
After  the lecture, you  are split up to pair program. I know you may be  thinking... "I don’t  want to pair program! I won't go just because of  that," but It really  is great! Not only can you possibly make a new  friend, but you also get  the chance to see how other people think, and  how they arrive at a  solution. That is invaluable in itself because it  can help you approach  a problem differently one day. When you are pair  programming the EIR’s  (Engineers in Residence) come in and walk around  to offer their  assistance to anyone if they get stuck and also to answer  any other  questions you may have. These guys are really great. Super  friendly and  helpful. Will then wraps up with a summary to help solidify  all that  you have learned and then you can wander around the  facilities, grab  some drinks and food, and hang out and talk with  everyone there. If you  don’t want to do any of that, you don’t have to,  but I can’t recommend  that you should enough. 

I   hope that I am able to clear a few things up for anyone, and if not  you  can message me or get in touch and I will gladly answer any  questions  about my experience. If I can’t answer those questions Joseph  at  Codesmith is also a really great guy and he will be glad to help  you.  Below are some links to where you can find information on the  topics I  covered here in the postings...
 

• Codesmith
• Build With Code - Los Angeles
• Icecomm.io
• A JavaScript library for building user interfaces | React
• React Native | A framework for building native apps using React

It's tough for me to write this because it almost sounds contrived, but I love Codesmith most because, it's become my home.

I am currently enrolled in Codesmith's 12-week immersive program.  We have just finished week 4 and I am excited to get started on the project portion in just 2 more short weeks.  I can't say enough good things about this place.  The community is the kind where we spend Sunday together even though it's not part of the program.  The people are amazing, passionate and incredibly smart.  I haven't felt this happy, excited and welcomed in years.  

So far we have learned: HTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery, React, Node, Angular and MongoDB.  We also learned a bunch of ancillary things like Express, Mongoose, Bootstrap, Ajax, etc., but those aren't really concepts so much as tools you learn how to use when you need them.

It's tough to recognize the progress you're making while immersed in the program because you're comparing where you are today to where you were yesterday.  Fortunately, every now and then you get a reminder of just how far you've come.  The most recent moment for me was just after presenting my first full-stack project when a student in the junior cohort asked me to help him with understanding hash functions.

Before entering codesmith I was barely understanding closures and callbacks and I didn't even know what a hash function was or what it could be used for.  Now I'm deploying a full stack application to Heroku and using a hash function in conjunction with a database to implement my own authentication!  It's an amazing feeling!

In short, I love this place. I'm learning a ton and If you're serious about becoming a full-stack engineer, apply today!

A deeper dive on the experience here:

Things I love about the program:

Community

The community here is amazing.  Everybody is super friendly, hard-working and always willing to help you understand a concept.  

Instructors

The instructors here are top notch.  Will Sentance, the CTO teaches a bunch of the tough concept lectures.  I don't know if it's his british accent or friendly demeanor, but I find him incredibly easy to learn from.  Even with my ADD, he keeps my attention and his explanations are really really clear.

The pace I'm learning

When you start the course there is a large disparity in the knowledge between students with a computer science background and those without.  Coming from economics and business, I was really far behind!  After the first few weeks, however, the disparity is much smaller and you start learning things like React and Angular - topics that nobody has seen yet.  Although I don't expect to understand computer science theory as well as some of my fellow students, I'm just as good as them at building apps!

Thursday night happy hours

This is an incredibly hard program.  Everybody here is really driven to succeed.  People stay late every night to finish their projects or study up on concepts they're struggling with, but on Thursday nights we party... It's awesome.

Things I get frustrated with:

Workload is very heavy

I understand why the workload is so heavy.  We're going from 20% to a full-stack engineer in twelve weeks.  There really isn't an easy way to do this.

Hours are really long

We work 12 hours a day, minimum.  My typical day starts at 8:55 AM and ends around 10 PM.  Again, I understand this is necessary, but I do miss free time.

Things I have a love-hate relationship with:

Pair Programming

If you haven't pair programmed yet, you should.  Find a friend who is about the same level of programming as you and pair!  There is more to it than this, but essentially you don't touch the keyboard ("navigator") and they take directions from you ("driver").  After twenty minutes, switch roles.  This is likely going to be an incredibly frustrating experience for both parties.  However, it is absolutely the best way to accelerate your learning.  I love learning quickly, but in the moment I get frustrated because I just want the answer!

The Socratic method of teaching

The Socratic method of teaching essentially boils down to this: the instructor does not give answers they just ask you questions to guide you to the right answer.  This is super effective because it forces you to make the connection yourself.  Pretty much all law schools teach this way as well as Harvard, Darden, and Tuck Business Schools.

Codesmith is one of the best decisions I ever made.  Not only does their unique approach to teaching engineering truly set them apart, but the folks I met along the way have become some of my most important friendships. Learning to code is tough, and the environment they foster and the standard of excellence they promote is second to none, allowing their students to grow and learn in ways most of my classmates doubted were even possible. Many of my classmates were changing careers, didn’t have a background in tech, and most had never seen any code before beginning their application process.  While they set themselves apart by expecting students to work hard to understand the concepts, they also are incredible at tailoring the experience to make sure every student is able to succeed. Everyone struggled with one concept or another at some point, and yet, all of them came away from the program with serious, industry-ready skills that set them apart– even from folks with computer science degrees.  Being a professional engineer means constantly facing new tech, concepts and challenges– one of Codesmith’s greatest strengths is that they teach their students “how to learn” in a way you simply don’t see elsewhere. I came away from the program not only with a really solid foundation, but also with the confidence that I’d be able to tackle anything new in my career. I learned how to break down problems and incorporate new tech and skills on my own  As a student that went through the program and graduated in the midst of the 2023 tech lay-offs that happened world-wide, I was scared to say the least when it came time to hunt for a job. In the end, I found one within six weeks after completing the program. Not only had they prepared me, more than perhaps I even realized, but they also provide incredible post-graduate support that helped me every step of the way.  I wholeheartedly would recommend this program to anyone, it sounds corny to say so, but it really changed my life. 

I didn’t love every aspect of my Codesmith experience but I will say if you are to do a bootcamp, Codesmith is your best bet.

Starting with the positives: The support and community is top-notch. Everyone from instructors to TAs to alumni to support staff go above and beyond to make you feel welcome and battle imposter syndrome. It’s cheesy and borderline cult-like but as much as people rag on it, everyone feels safe, supported, and seen. The emphasis on projects is where you get your money’s worth and is the cornerstone of your resume and interviews. You’ll learn the basics of git and have plenty of options for answers to behavioral questions during interviews. The hiring portion at the end of the program I don’t think is as amazing as everyone puts it out to be, but they really do mean lifelong career support. Plenty of alums still use their postgrad career services. There are also some opportunities to connect with alumni during the program which proved valuable on the job hunt. 

There’s a lot that I wish were different about my experience. First, the weekly assessments I don’t think were a good measure of what I learned throughout the units. I was able to pass them just by copying a lot of the code from the units and changing them slightly. Just because I’m able to recognize a pattern doesn’t mean I have a deep understanding of the concepts. I felt like I skated by not really knowing the material. The TAs are previous alumni who just finished the program and it was obvious some of them didn’t know the material well enough to teach it and answer questions about it. (I did have some exceptional TAs though that I think deserve the senior engineering roles they landed after TAing.) There’s also no structure for the capstone project that you do. We were left to our own devices, tasked with building a solution to a technology none of us knew nothing about, and no one told us about good coding practices or did code review with us. I’m still proud of my group’s progress on the project and it gave me a lot to talk about during interviews, but I really feel Codesmith is missing out on a great opportunity here to teach us how best to code instead of just scrapping for an MVP.

Overall, I’m glad I did Codesmith because it helped me find a SWE job in a pretty brutal market between the career and alumni support but just know what you’re getting into if you go for it. Codesmith isn’t a golden ticket to a well-paying job. You’ll have to work hard to get through the program and you’ll need to supplement that with your own studying. If you’re not afraid of working hard and staying determined, Codesmith will be a good choice for you. 

I initially started looking into a career change after not being happy with my previous career trajectory and consulting with a friend that was in the industry.  After doing some initial research into another program, I noticed that Codesmith had superior analytics in regards to job placement and salary.  It's very important to do your due diligence because you are spending big money so you want to make sure that those funds aren't being wasted. 

Once I knew that CodeSmith would be my target, I started using their free JS learning resources (at the time called edx) and attending their free workshops.  This gave me an introduction to some of the lead instructors, some of the teaching fellows and the format of the lectures.  I also decided to enroll in both of the prep courses (since the cost was subsidized from the Immersive Tuition) and from there started to prepare for the interviews to get into the immersive itself.  I ended the CS Prep course in mid-july and pretty much studied from then till I got accepted into the course in October of that year.  There were two formal interviews, the first was a character interview where you spoke with someone over the phone to confirm your cultural fit, after you pass that you then need to pass a technical interview, which was done over zoom and was pretty much a coding interview. (One thing here is that this felt very similar to the actual job interview process).  It took me three tries to pass the technical interview but when I did I had a call with the lead instructor who told me I had passed.

Once I reserved my place in the cohort (maybe 2 weeks before it started) I was given some pre-course work which was setting up my environment with ide, connecting to github and working on pre-course work to prepare me for some of the upcoming work. (again the whole prep process was very similar to what it would be in a professional environment).

At this point the course started, i believe there were 4 weeks of lectures/smaller partner projects, 4 weeks of group projects, 4 weeks of capstone project and 2 weeks of job searching preparation.  I'd say my biggest takeaways from the learning/project side, is that Codesmith didn't necessarily pump all the information into me to make me a capable senior reaCT engineer, instead they more gave me a taste of technologies, and during the project phase, it was up to us to know how to research/read documentation to make things work (again very realistic to a professional setting).  Drilling into us how to research and problem solve was one of the biggest benefits to the program.  I've heard in other programs, people are just coding along and copying the instructor but with Codesmith we were literally building things from the ground up and figuring out how to do that.  When I got my first job I quickly realized that the process of building and problem solving felt very similar to the project phases at Codesmith.  And if you need extra help or are falling behind, the staff is there to help and assist.  During the lecture phases there were weekly assessments and if you struggled during those, you would get 1 on 1 sessions with staff.  I think I had a 1 on 1 session for every assessment I took.

The last 2 weeks of the program were also invaluable.  During this portion Codesmith helped us build our Resumes and Social media presence as well as going through interview prep with each other and also Alumni.  It was very similar to what I experienced during the job hunt.  and the Career assistance is for life!

In conclusion, I would like to say that the journey through Codesmith and the job hunt were not painfree.  I think I was interviewing and studying for a good 6 months before landing a job and even though there were some embarrassing interviews, I learned from each one and continued to learn and prepare for the next one.  It's very Cliche but you get from Codesmith what you put in.  The harder you work there the easier the transition will be into the workforce.  I stayed at my first job for 1.5 years and recently got referred and hired to another company.  I wouldn't say my life is stress free nor would i say software is easy, but I am in a much better place then before thanks to Codesmith.

Codesmith changed my life.  Before Codesmith, I was working a dead end customer service job.  I came into the program having studied for about 2 months to get into it, and then after the 3 month program, I was able to land a SWE position in less than a month, more than tripling my total compensation from before.  In talking to some current students and even some of my cohortmates, it's tempting to think that you know better than Codesmith... but from my perspective, it's like why would I pay $20k to do this thing and not give my 100% and see it through to its finish?  My advice would be to keep an open mind, give it your all, and then give it some more.  Codesmith was one of the hardest things I ever did, and the subsequent job search even harder, yet it was all worth it in the end to get to have a career that I always dreamed of.  

I attended Codesmith mid-last year, despite everything I heard and read about the market. All in all, between studying for and attending the program, and Job hunting I managed to land a job in just over a year. The entire process has been quite literally life-changing, I make nearly 4x what I made prior.

Is it easy?
No. The bar of entry is high, the program requires your entire undivided attention, and the job hunt is more difficult than both of those combined.

Is the market bad?
Yes, the majority of my cohort mates are still on the hunt, and 

Is it impossible?
Absolutely not! I have no degree, and was still able to land a role and a salary that had you asked me 1 year ago I would have never thought possible.

Overall, yes the market is bad, and yes nothing is guaranteed, but Codesmith is far and away the best BootCamp on the market, and the skills that they teach absolutely prepare you to successfully switch careers.

Before Codesmith, I was working on switching out of the medical field through self-learning but I quickly realized that a reliable bootcamp is a much better option. Having done research for months, I decided to go with Codesmith and the decision has been the best one I've ever made. The education I received at Codesmith in the short 3 months I was there made me a stronger dev than I could've become in 3 years of self-learning. I truly owe all of my professional success to the program and would recommend it to anyone I know as the education they provide is second to none. The community of people I met was truly amazing and has helped me still to this day in my coding journey. That support network of other engineers is by itself worth the price of admission. Even with the fast pacing, no one was left behind in learning as well all boosted each other, and the staff truly cares that everyone is learning and growing by providing whatever support is needed. Along with that, the way that the curriculum is taught was outstanding and truly gave me such an in-depth understanding of JavaScript and other frameworks were I feel that I have a better understanding of the technology than most of my coworkers. This is the best bootcamp by far that is out there!