Coding Bootcamp Praha

Hi everyone, I am Francis and I graduated this year from the Coding Bootcamp Praha. I would consider myself an advanced beginner before the programme, by which I mean that I took several on-line classes and attended an HTML/CSS intro workshop.

The reasons why I chose Coding Bootcamp Praha was based on:

- It's truly full-stack (unlike many programmes that focus much more on the front end or I found them too simplified / not providing the entire picture).

- It teaches PHP, which is the language of the web, and which provides a great pool of job opportunities (unlike a sexy but minor Ruby). Since the majority of web apps is built using php, this gives much more chance to juniors who at the beginning of their career are more of code-adjusters as opposed to code-writers (I was told this by a friend of mine who is a programmer and I would like to pass it on to others as I profited from it myself.)

- I found the staff very helpful and they tried their best to answer all the questions I had.

- The bootcamp helps to find accommodation. I did not want to stay in a shared flat (the bootcamp accommodation) so they helped me to find a studio nearby.

- It is based in Prague and I always wanted to spend some time there. Now it has actually become my home for some time!

GOALS

My goal was to get a junior web dev job. Or, bit more modestly I was hoping to learn as much as I could so that I can keep on learning and getting a job in the field was like a distant dream.

Originally, I thought I could never get a job in Prague but a completely new world of opportunities opened up for me while I was there. I am now working as a php developer for a mid-size agency here in Prague and I love every minute of it. But if you expect that once you graduate from the bootcamp that you are an expert in everything, then consider other career options. I keep working super hard each day but because I truly like to keep learning, it does not feel like "a job" - definitely not in the sense of the word as when I worked in a law firm in the past. The bootcamp is the stepping stone but at the end of the day it's all about you - you have to want it & do everything you can to make it happen!

INSTRUCTORS

The most helpful people ever. I appreciated how each of them were there always for us, each thinking in their own unique way, which has provided me with various perspectives and approaches to tackling new challenges. They often stayed hours after the classes, figuring out our projects. It was the students who in the end called it a day as several of the instructors looked like they would keep coding with us all night :-)

FELLOW STUDENTS

The programme is open to what they call motivated beginners, which was fantastic for me and I made the best progress I believe I could. However, that also meant that few other students realized that programming is too difficult for them / they cannot be bothered to study so much (I literally studied all evenings and weekends for 12 weeks and I also did several weeks of pre-bootcamp preparation). Thus, unfortunately there were three students (friends who knew other before) who failed the exams and blamed everything on the instructors / staff / even other students (!), tried to harass people outside of the class, and you can also see them posting crazy-style totally madeup multiple reviews here. They verbally attacked several of us who posted our certificates on Linkedin. So that would be the only negative experience for me but I guess that programming simply is not for everyone. On the bright side, I made several good friends whom we keep in touch and share both career tips as well drinks together.

GRADING

There is a number of exams, projects and challenges. The exams and projects are graded but if you fail you can also submit the challenge instead and / or re-take the exam. The exams are stemming out of the materials and I did not have issues passing these (but that doesnt mean I got 100% :-) ). Some other students found the exams tough but I do not think there was anyone who did not pass a re-take as long as they studied hard enough. Here I would like to make a warning - being in Prague is great but it is also very tricky for many of us who come from countries where beer is not so cheap. Think about it - its just 12 weeks, slow down and simply do not party during that time. You will have all your life afterwards for that...

To sum up - I came with a wish and I left with a job. Take some online classes beforehand to figure out whether you really feel passionate about programming and if you do then I hope you will have as great time at Coding Bootcamp Praha as I did.

A little background and context on this review: I attended CBP, or DATA4YOU, in their April 2017 term. I left about 6 weeks into the course. Before I left, 2 other students had left, and as of writing this, 1 other student has left and during the last bit of class, there were roughly 3-4 students on a regular basis attending class from a class that originally had 16 (from what my classmates tell me). Why? well, we'll get into the bad, and the ugly soon, however, as the title suggests, let's first start with the good.

- Location: Prague is a fantastic city. The city is experiencing a boom in the tech industry because of the low costs of living and low costs of labor (I'll get back to the cost of labor later).

- Students: The people coming here, for the most part, are fascinating and nice people. I've made numerous friends who stayed in the course. I am still a part of their class chat groups, and even when they made a new chat after I was left, I was still added. I believe both the students that left and the students that have remained have a bright future ahead of them.

- Price: The price is incredibly affordable, the majority of the students all picked this course because of the price-point and location. There is a saying though that goes, "you get what you pay for". This course is a perfect example of that.

- Instructors: Of the 4 instructors. One is truly an expert that knows what he is talking about and even takes into consideration feedback from the students and acts upon it. Another is truly a gem and a nice human being, however, he clearly looks like he does not want to be there, is constantly talking down about the students, and has a watch-me-code approach to his teaching. The other two know how to code, and they can work in their fields. Let's leave it at that as I have absolutely nothing against them.

- Low Barrier Of Entry: They said the maximum class size is 15, there were 16 students. One I know for a fact applied after the deadline was still accepted. His coding experience: zero. However, before being accepted, I asked if what the level of knowledge the students would be at, and the founder said that they are looking for people who already have some coding experience since it is an intensive course. So if you have ZERO coding experience, according to them, you shouldn't be getting in, yet, in the course, there were not one, not two, but multiple people who had zero experience with code. Then there were people who have been taking courses on their own for over a year. You can't possibly have a balanced teaching method with people positioned so dramatically different. If you know zero code, then it's not a bad idea to consider here but you can find more established places within a similar price range.

I think the "Low Barrier Of Entry", is a good transition for getting into the bad.

- Daily Structure: The suggested overview of a typical day in class provided on their website is not even 1% close to the actual typical day. The majority of the days consisted of theory and lectures with some small exercises, essentially what you can get from Youtube and Freecodecamp. During the 6 weeks, I was there, there were about 4/5-morning stand-ups, during these morning stand-ups we suggested more coding. One instructor took this into consideration. He gave us a small project: connect the file to a database. This was something we had done previously with another instructor, yet it took roughly 2 hours for the entire class to pull it off (myself included). It was a small piece of code that took literally 5 minutes. However, 99% of the course had no idea what he was asking as, during the other instructor's class, all we did is watch him code. It was the day some people finally felt liberated that they had actually learned something. A learn by doing method is the best approach to teaching, and this style is unfortunately not what you will receive here.

- Housing: On the website, it states that there is housing they will provide you or help you with the search. Firstly, the housing is only for 3 students, so good luck. The housing is also in an apartment run by the parents of the founders. So you are paying the founders for a small room, in a small apartment. Now, if you were not one of the 3 to get housing, the way the founders will "help" you find housing is suggesting Airbnb and other similar websites. A couple minutes spent on these you'll see that housing near theBootcampp will run you roughly $1000USD a month. Some found cheaper, some found more expensive places. The general tone around housing seemed to be, "I was running out of time so I just took whatever I could". The general sentiment from one of the founders seemed to be, "Let's not get dramatic, it all worked out didn't it?"

- Cost Of Labor + Job Assistance: The average salary of a junior web dev in Czech is ~ 25,000- ~ 35,000CZK. That's ~ $1000 USD - ~ $1500USD per month. As the coding school is new, it still doesn't have enough notoriety within the community in Prague. There are a few worthwhile companies to work for in the area, and three of the top coders in the class (which btw was the most advanced batch they've ever had) applied to one of those companies and just recently got rejected. The type of Job Assistance they provided was bringing a nice man from a startup that lists jobs to tell us to put our resume on his website. 

- The Branding: Is it "Coding Bootcamp Praha", is it "Data 4 You", the lack of UI/UX understanding on the website itself should be enough to deter people. 

Now, onto the ugly.

- The Founders: {redacted due to GDPR claims} This really explains why the structure of the course feels completely out of touch of how to turn people into real coders.

- {redacted due to GDPR claims} Originally the plan was to create a coding Bootcamp for young kids, and it was to be called Data 4 Youth, then I imagine they realized the money wasn't enough there and they changed it to Data 4 You. Overall, all my interactions with {redacted due to GDPR claims} felt very ingenuine and awkward. A sentiment shared amongst many students was that {redacted due to GDPR claims} was extremely passive aggressive and condescending. If you would like specifics you are more than welcome to contact me on LinkedIn. 

- The Way They Treat Students: During standups, when we said we wanted to code more, the founder's response would be, "It doesn't work that way". When we presented our ideas for capstone projects, the founder said things like, "This would never work in the Czech market", and "Why would you do something other people already have?". When one student told the founder, "I know exactly who I want to work with", the founder responded with, "You don't get to work with people you enjoy drinking with". One instructor very aggressively verbally fought with another student in the class. Another instructor sent me messages about how one student has horrible coding skills. The tests received no feedback, nor did the weekly challenges. This lack of attention significantly reduced the classes overall morale and participation. I began to not take any of the assignments seriously since none of the instructors did either.

--------------

I would not recommend this bootcamp to anyone who is above basic zero knowledge. Pay the extra amount, go to another bootcamp. If money is the real issue. Watch youtube or find free courses online. Honestly.

This was probably my biggest lesson and takeaway here: follow your gut instinct. I didn't have a good feeling about this place from the get-go, the branding, the website, the weird interview. But I went because I wanted to be a developer and I loved the price. 

If you are insistent that you want to go, you will meet lovely classmates, and enjoy a beautiful city. However, be prepared to be underwhelmed. If you are not an EU resident or long-term visa holder. Also, take into consideration that you will have to leave the EU right after your course. How to solve this issue: look into what the Czech government requires from your specific country to grant you a long-term visa. Get all of your paperwork ready, and bring it with you. Data 4 You will not tell you this and will not help you out with this. Right now, one student is scrambling to get their papers into check otherwise he will have to leave for three months, then come back and try to apply for jobs. Anywhere you want to work in the EU more likely than not they want an in person interview. Get your papers in check otherwise, you're going to get a headache.

Final word, I don't think Data 4 You/Coding Bootcamp Praha, will last. I can break down and tear apart all of the positive reviews, both here, and on other sources and tell you exactly why it that specific person gave them a positive review (or show you how that review is fake) as I spoke to almost all of the alumni myself. But I won't, and I just hope this review is enough to save someone time, money, and stress. If you want to be a programmer, PAY for a well-established place, OR self-learn for free. Don't pay two people who aren't even programmers and expect them to provide a proper course and structure.

As always, I wish the instructors all the best, I wish the students a bright future (they are honestly a talented bunch), and I wish the founders, some luck.

Participating in the Coding Bootcamp Prague early 2017 was one of the best decisions of my life. It’s like pushing the fast forward button in learning to code. In twelve weeks I managed to master all the necessary skills to code and launch my own web applications and those of others. The curriculum, the study atmosphere, the course structure and the professional staff all contribute to making this bootcamp one of the best coding schools on the planet. The program is incredibly intensive, but for those who struggle there are sufficient opportunities  to receive additional personal support and catch up. I would recommend the Coding Bootcamp Prague to anyone who is looking for an professional, effective and unforgettable experience that will kickstart a new career in software development.

I recently attended Coding Bootcamp Praha, and despite some unexpected challenges that arose during my first attempt, I am pleased to say that my overall experience was exceptional. Unfortunately, after two weeks in the program, I was struck with a serious illness that required me to quit the bootcamp. It was a difficult decision to make, as I was really enjoying my time at the bootcamp. However, my health had to take precedence. I was disheartened, thinking that I would have to abandon my coding dreams altogether.However, when I reached out to the team to explain my situation, I was met with nothing but understanding. They assured me that I would be welcomed back once I was ready to resume my studies. After recovering from my illness, I decided to rejoin in the next batch. The curriculum was well-structured and comprehensive, providing me with the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive in the coding industry. The bootcamp also fostered a strong sense of community and collaboration. I was able to connect with fellow students who were supportive and encouraging, and we often worked together on projects and problem-solving exercises. Overall, I cannot express enough appreciation for the support and understanding I received from the entire team. Thanks to their compassion and dedication, I was able to complete the program successfully and embark on a fulfilling career in coding.If you are considering attending a coding bootcamp, I wholeheartedly recommend Coding Bootcamp Praha. You can trust that they will be there for you every step of the way.

I must say that my experience with Coding Bootcamp Praha was fantastic. From the moment I enrolled, I felt like I was part of a supportive community. The mentors were knowledgeable, patient, and always willing to go the extra mile to help us understand complex concepts. Whenever I got stuck on a particularly challenging problem, I could count on them to provide clear and concise explanations that helped me overcome my difficulties.But what really impressed me was the career support they provided. As someone who was transitioning into a career in tech, I was initially nervous about my job prospects. However, they were there every step of the way to help me prepare for the job search. Through mock interview, resume reviews, and by chatting one-to-one, they helped me hone my interviewing skills and present myself in the best possible light to potential employers. Thanks to their guidance, I felt confident and prepared when I went into job interviews, and I ultimately landed a job within six weeks after the bootcamp.Overall, I would highly recommend Coding Bootcamp Praha to anyone looking to start a career in tech. The mentors are great, the community is supportive, and the career support is really helpful. If you are willing to put in the work, they will give you all the tools you need to succeed. 

I enjoyed my bootcamp experience and it was a fantastic one. The syllabus was well-structured and covered a wide range of topics that gave me a solid foundation in coding. I particularly appreciated the focus on Javascript and PHP, as they are both incredibly versatile languages that are widely used in the industry.

The instructors provided excellent guidance and support throughout the program. I enjoyed the interaction with them and found them to be knowledgeable, approachable, and passionate about teaching. One thing that stood out to me was their willingness to go above and beyond to help us understand complex concepts. For example, during one of the sessions, we were learning about OOP, and I was struggling to wrap my head around it. The instructor noticed my confusion and offered to stay after class to go over it with me one-on-one. He patiently walked me through the steps, and I finally understood how OOP worked (or at least the basic idea of it :) ). I was really grateful for this.

Overall, I would highly recommend this coding bootcamp to anyone looking to jumpstart their coding career. 

PROS:
+ The course offers a comprehensive introduction to web design and general programming concepts.
+ The instructors were patient, personable, and experienced in the field.
+ The office is located in the center of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
+ Classes can also be attended online.


ALSO NOTE:
- It's a full-time commitment for 12 weeks.
- The fast-paced environment requires a self-starter mentality, strong communication skills, and a positive attitude.
- The bootcamp gives you resources and guidance to learn the skills, build your CV, and find a job, but you have to put in the effort to get the results.


I attended the batch of Fall 2021, and I landed my first job in the field two weeks after Demo Day. Best career decision I ever made

Due to family reasons, I took the full programme online, thus my experience might differ a little from those who studied in person. I certainly might have missed out on getting to know my classmates better but I’m more of an introverted person anyways, thus studying online would have been my preferred choice even if I did not have small kids at home and did not live 600 km away from Prague :) Here’s what I have found out about studying online:
NEUTRAL:-gaining new knowledge is the same, you hear the same instructions, get access to the same materials etc-you cooperate with both online and in-person students and you are encouraged to do so-the mentors can help you equally no matter where you are
PROS:-having more / bigger monitors at your disposal -studying online means you save time on commuting, so you have more time to study-suits everyone who prefers spending more time alone rather than in a group of people-easier to organise your day if you have family / other responsibilities
CONS:-but you also have many more distractions (your close ones, household chores, TV etc)-it’s not always easy to feel motivated -asking questions means more proactivity from you-you have to get fast at things like sharing screen, muting, unmuting etc, or else you waste a lot of time
Regarding the programme itself, I have learnt much more than I expected. My goal was not to apply for a job right away because I prefer to spend a couple more months both studying & having a little more flexibility for my family. From that perspective, my experience is not very usual as most of the other students were interviewing for jobs as soon as possible. So, that’s it and if you wish to study web development online, I can fully recommend the programme.

Throughout my life I realised that everything comes down the people who I meet and interact with, whether it's been in my past jobs, while travelling, or in my social circle. You can have the best project or job but if you don't enjoy the people you work with, you still struggle. And this is my intro to what I enjoyed most about my experience with Coding Bootcamp Praha - the people! Everyone from the team was not only nice but also really helpful. It was well organised, you could see that it's been running for a while and even little details were thought through. But even more importantly - at least for me- the mentors were experienced at working with juniors and endlessly patient at explaining, and re-explaining. It's not that I did not pay attention, its just that often I simply had hard time grasping a new topic and I found it very reassuring that I could always ask again and again without feeling dumb :) my big thanks to the team, hope to see you again sometime!

I was looking for a course where I could jump start my carrier in Web Development. 
The curriculum and the teaching method (lectures led by an instructor) were the two things that made me choose this course. 
The pre-bootcamp studies that are suggested were very helpful to easily adapt to the course, understand the content and get the most out of teaching hours. The pace and the content were delivered in a very professional way with a lot of support from all the staff. The additional material and guidance by the instructors was the best someone could ask. No matter the issue there was always an instructor or mentor that could help you.
What is more, the hackathons were placed perfectly in the course timeline and allowed me to combine all the knowledge of the previous days into one project, work with my fellow students and produce a product that before the course would seem impossible!
Also, the   curriculum includes the best technologies that are currently in demand and as they are current and relevant, they have helped me during the job finding process.
Finally, I would suggest to prepare yourself for a very intense 12-week course that requires your full attention and every hour is packed with information and knowledge that you are going to use in your future job. 

The final project was the best experience I ever had as I had to work with like-minding people to produce a product that would showcase all ours skills and hard work and could be used in our portfolio .

Perspective is everything, so I'll start with some info about myself. I have had a bit of an "IT thinking", experience working with structured data going in and some with technical documentation, but no knowledge of any programming languages aside from high school IT classes 15+ years ago. From this starting situation, I found the studies to be well structured and presented at a manageable pace, if at the price of doing the exercises even after teaching hours (which is BTW expected). However, especially with the latter your mileage might admittedly vary, based on your previous experience.
The content of the course itself should prepare you well enough to be able to apply to junior positions related to HTML/CSS, PHP or JavaScript. Both me and the classmates I've been in contact with did find their jobs eventually, some of us after months, some of us pretty much right after the bootcamp came to an end, depending on the progress we made during the course, but also confidence and luck. Of course, in that job, you'll still see a ton of specific things the course doesn't explicitly teach, based on where you end up, but you should know enough basics to be able to handle it.

Regarding the lectors, they are knowledgeable, helpful and friendly.

Never attending any other bootcamp to have a reference, it's rather hard to objectively justify any rating I would give, but still, I'm substracting one star in Job Support, since while the course technically does provide a Job guarantee (and as I've said, we have found a job, anyway), the conditions to be eligible are pretty harsh.

Overall, I'd recommend the course if you want to steer your career in this direction. Especially so, if you, like me, have poor discipline to learn at your own.

I had a very good time studying at Coding Bootcamp Praha. The instructors were knowledgeable and helpful. The course was well-organized, everything had a clear structure and logic to it. I'm glad I took part in it also, it really helped me fast-track my progress. Would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn web development 👍

 The course helped me to move from false beginner to someone who can actually make it in the field. I started studying programming about ten times in the past few years. Every time I either attended some short workshop or mostly I studies through the online websites. I learnt always a bit, I had fun.. but then it got hard and I didn’t know how to progress further. After going through the same cycle for the last time I decided that I need more guidance and structure for my learning if I actually want to make it In the field.  The fact that I had mentors helping me each day, that I had organised classes and I knew what I should learn was one of the most important things for me about studying with the bootcamp. It also helped me understand how to approach my studies, what is crucial and what maybe less so. I also learnt many tweaks that can make you much more efficient and what are some of the good practices (and what not :-) ). I think it would take me several more years to get to the level I have now, simply because I would have to figure out everything myself somehow.  What I also appreciated was that I could learn with all the other students. I studied partially in class and partially online and it was great knowing that there’s always someone I can study with. As being stuck on your own is even less fun! We shared jokes, we struggled together, we pushed together, and Im super grateful I could meet all of my classmates. 

The bootcamp was one of the best decisions I made. Sometimes studying alone at home just isn't enough, thats why I decided to take the plunge and attend a bootcamp. Life at the bootcamp can be overwhelming at times, but there is so much support from the mentors, and also the other classmates. I started the bootcamp afraid that I wasn't good enough, and by the time I graduated I felt confident in myself. I got a job almost immediately after graduating, and the Coding Bootcamp Praha laid the foundations for the developer I am today. 

 I sort of knew I enjoy coding already before joining Coding Bootcamp Praha but I only realised how much I enjoy it during the programme. Before joining the programme, I was quite confused about what my next step should be. I have masters in business and economics and have worked for few years as a business analyst. It was nice, I learnt a lot of things but after some time I realised I don’t see myself doing this forever. I checked a number of job offers, attended a great number of interviews at very different companies but the only thing that really stand out was the tech world. The problem was that my coding experience was limited to beginner level knowledge of R that I learn at university for the statistics courses. I started exploring, I learnt online, I attended several workshops and ultimately I found out about the bootcamp. Im very happy I had the opportunity to attend it, it accelerated my progress soooo much. Things that I might have figured out on my own in a year took a week there! And it was awesome learning from the experienced and friendly mentors. Many thanks everyone & see you at some point again! 

The course content was great, and I definitely learnt a lot of new things. The bootcamp team is great and they are always willing to help. The job hunting support is excellent, both the group workshops and also the individual sessions where I could ask totally anything and always got a great advice. Due to the covid-19 situation I had to study partially in person and partially remotely, which actually suited me very well, as I could also fit in my personal life in a more flexible way, and sometimes it was just helpful to save time on commuting. What I’d suggest to anyone is the following 1) make sure you take notes during the entire programme; 2) comment your code all the time; 3) think carefully about your final project, so that it helps you reach your goals. So simply dedicate yourself fully to this new great adventure, organise your time well & have fun!

 After working a number of years in sales, I felt I would like to go back to studies and learn something new. I was searching for a while various options and tried dozens of various courses on Udemy and Coursera. I gave a shot to anything from psychology and digital marketing to artificial intelligence  :-) this was bit of a phase for me and I might have wasted some time on courses I gained very little from but I realised one thing. That no matter what innovative area I want to go for, it would be really helpful for me to know some programming. So I went deeper and tried learning JavaScript, Python, PHP, Ruby on several platforms but kind of always got stucked at the same level. Basically I learnt basic syntax, few rules, and when I followed the exact steps I was able to replicate some simple exercises. But I was nowhere near to actually do something myself. So I started looking for more intense options of studying and eventually decided to go for a coding bootcamp. For me it was a really nice experience, being back to “study mode”, having the luxury of doing nothing else but focusing on studying programming for three months was just great. I met some awesome people too and the time just flew by quickly (too quickly :) ). I found the programme well-structured, very hands-on and for me it was fairly easy to follow. Im happy to recommend to anyone who wants to learn coding.