Coding Dojo

I decided to attend a coding bootcamp to upgrade my technical skills to improve my chances of getting a job in Silicon Valley. It worked! A Startup brought me on as a Tech-Co-Founder (where I built 95% of their MVP) and I am a contractor software engineer at PayPal.

The Coding Dojo has a very good online curriculum supported by algorithm sessions, demos, and belt tests.  I found it challenging but doable, and educational. The fact that they teaches you three full stacks was great and gave me a broad foundation in which to build upon.

I recommend the Coding Dojo as a part of a large personal program to anyone looking to learn how to code and break into the software industry.  ~Rick

Review co-written by MessageMind.com

It was quite a journey! I was a software developer already when I decided to take the Dojo, I have many years of experience mostly with Microsoft technologies and Windows Desktop applications.

But here in the US and especially in Silicon Valley, I wasn't able to get a job in software with my current resume.

So I listened to my friend's advise and started to search for a good coding bootcamp, where are many coding bootcamp in Silicon Valley so it was hard to select one, so I checked the technologies they covered, the training method, the daily basis, and of course, the commute, they have open house once a month, so I went there and saw the environment, talked to the instructors and students as well; taking all these in equation I decided to choose Coding Dojo San Jose (which is the Silicon Valley branch) and getting the Onsite program.

We had 2 weeks for web fundamental, a month for Full Stack Python, then we could choose between available technologies, I chose Full Stack Java which was a month again, and then for the last Stack I chose MEAN, after one month of MEAN.

At the end of each step, we had an exam, which was creating a fully functioning website, backend, and frontend, in a short amount of time, whoever creates all the functionally gets Balck Belt, minimum requirements have done gets Red Belt or Fails!

After passing 3rd stack we graduated, and then the most important part of the job searching process started, for two weeks we had group sessions with Job Development Pros, learning about creating or changing our resume, setup or improve our Linkedin account and learn about other job search websites, and also completing our personal projects.

So here is my advice, if you think you gonna come to Dojo or any bootcamp to so magically turn into a software developer, it is not going to happen! It is like the bodybuilding process, you have to work out, study, work out, study, and work out, and again study; Dojo shows you the way, gives you exactly the information you need to know, and give you the references to study and learn more, and deepen your knowledge.

Do this, and you will land a job for sure.

I was an experienced windows desktop C++ software developer before I came to Coding Dojo in Seattle. I want to extend my career and become a full stack developer. Through 100 days intensive and very hard training, I got Dojo's certificate and Web fundamentals, Python, Java and MEAN 4 stacks' belts. Most of the students in my same batch (with or without CS background) also won their certificates and belts. I really think it's a great achievement. Experienced instructors, nice curriculum and materials, hard worked cohorts, like to help each other's atmosphere, not a single one can be omitted.

Hope Coding Dojo get better and better.

The Coding Dojo was a great way to kick off my career. They have some of the instructors I have in all of my schooling. They treat you like an adult student and not like children. The program as a whole teaches how to dip your toes in a great amount of different thing. But gives you enough information to be able to complete a full project on your own. I came from a background that had a slight amount of coding experience but not in my day to day life. This camp did a fantastic job on starting from the very bottom to teach me everything I needed to know as a new developer. 

There is a lot to say about Coding Dojo, especially since I wasn't sure how legit a 'boot camp' would turn out and what 'employers' might think of it. But honestly, from beginning to end, Coding Dojo was probably the best educational decision I've ever made. 

Why the Dojo? 

- Price and Curriculum. 

It is almost the cheapest school and with some scholarships, I was able to attend for about $10,999 compared to the full price of $13,000. If i didn't like it or couldn't understand the material within a set time I was able to get a refund so this was nice to have as a backup.

The fact that it taught 3 full stacks where others just focused on one allowed me to be a well-versed developer and someone to prove to employers that Im not a one trick pony. It tells them im able to find a stack, learn it, and create a full stack web application within a month. Even if the school was priced about more, this was still my biggest appeal. 

How are the teachers and faculty? 

I went to the Burbank location and so I started with Nick F.

- I had Nick for web fundamentals and started the first stack with him for Python. The one thing that really shines with Nick is how he goes out of his way to help someone. There were times where I would see him mentor students one on one away from the class in order to provide them with full attention. There were times when I would wait and somewhat 'watch' him to see if he would crack but another thing about him was that he had a lot of patience was talking to someone. It didn't matter the skill level of the individual he would still help out whenever needed. Also very kind and mellow.

- I had Eduardo for my second stack for Ruby on Rails and he was very well versed with it. He wrote the Rails curriculum for CD as well as taught courses with Microsoft. His personalty was more playful and funny and made the class enjoyable with jokes (it actually helped with the stress of the class) Ruby on Rails actually became my favorite language thanks to him. 

- Kevin. I never had him as an instructor but he would always be walking around after lectures and morning algorithms to help with questions and what not. Also funny.

- Patrick. Didn't have him as an instructor too but he had an awesome energy that made him easy to have a conversation with. Very knowledgeable and very funny. I would sometimes watch him instructing students and he had a lot of compassion. You can tell he really loved to educate and is one of the few out in the world who REALLY wants to do their job. Would have been awesome to have him for a stack. 

- Daniel. He's the community manager and although he attended to a lot of corporate matters, he would come outside the office and talk to people to see how they're doing. He was someone you could go to if you needed help with something not code related at times + he made it a safe place. A very awesome guy that is very easy talk to about almost anything. It felt very natural and he is there to help you when you need it! He was also a student at the dojo so he understands where we come from and the struggles we face as a cohort. 

What is a typical day like?

So the day starts around 8-8:30 and we start algorithms at 9. We usually work in groups to solve the day's algorithm and they can range from easy to standard software engineering algos. We go over the standard sorts and sets as well as going over data structures like BSTs and Linked Lists. Before the session ends we go over some solutions and we discuss any questions from there.

We take about a 10-minute break and start the days lecture with going over assignments that we might not have understood and then a small demo that is recorded to youtube and shared with the class. We are then free to do our assignments that go over core subjects till lunch. Around 3 we start another lecture that will go over the end goal assignment of the day and then we are free to keep coding until we are done for the day. 

- How are the exams?

Very hard. You must complete and code a full stack web application that involves an app that connects to a database +  performs basic CRUD operations with lots of curve balls and tricks hidden in the exam. You must then successfully deploy it via AWS (which is good to know when looking for a job) and send the IP when done. The time limit is about 4 hours. Most people do not pass the first time but you can take it up to three times. 

 - Is there food?

There are some snacks in the kitchen that gets ordered every week as well as water and coffee. If you're lucky enough you can salvage some pizza after an open house. But there is PLENTY of food choices within the radius of the dojo. SO many choices. ( I really like chronic tacos a block away but some disagree, lol) But the best place to go is Gyu Kaku for lunch. You'll thank me later...

- What are the job statistics at the dojo? 

What people need to understand is that finding a job, in general, is very difficult, especially in a growing industry like tech. The dojo doesn't give you and hand out jobs left and right, it is up to you to practice how to talk to people during an interview as well as studying for the role. 

- Did you find a job?

After 2 months of phone interviews, and 1 in-person interview, I am pleased to say that yes, I am currently a Jr full stack dev :) 

- Will I find a job? 

Depends on the person. People need a lot of practice with talking to people, presenting themselves, knowing about the role, and knowing the language. If you want to be a Software Engineer, know your algos, know your data structures, know your language left and right. Practice Every day. Make killer projects. 

-How does the Dojo help me then?

The Burbank location has a career advisor and honestly, she is so awesome, sweet and knowledgeable. After you graduate for 2 weeks you meet with your cohort and discuss resume building, portfolio building, LinkedIn and social strategy and salary negotiation. There was so much that I didn't know that I'm glad Mikelynn helped me with. We have met multiple times to discuss phone interview strategies as well as negotiation of salary for my current position. She will be there to help you even after you finish the dojo so its another perk I'm glad this place has. 

- Did you make any friends?

a LOT. Mainly with my cohort but the thing is that my cohort was very strong. We all got along and we were always going out to eat, happy hour, and working with each other on assignments. I actually have really close bonds with them that I made in just 16 weeks and it feels like I knew them forever. One of my closest friends in my cohort actually works 1 block away from me and we catch lunch a few times a week. Very crazy how life works lol 

- So what are your complaints then?

As cheesy as it sounds, I wish it was longer. I had so much fun as well as learned so much to help me start my career. I had so many memories, good laughs, and strong friendships that I really do miss when we first started. I do miss the happy hours we go to on Fridays and just discuss life in general. I would attend the dojo all over again if I could. 

- Did you feel the dojo was a safe place? 

Of course. Our CM was very compassionate when running the dojo here. He made us feel very welcomed and that we could come to him for anything if we needed it. 

Coding Dojo opens up many doors for anyone trying to get started in the software devlopment world.  Their curriculum gives students the framework and foundation to go out and get a good job in the tech industry and really hit the ground running in tech.  

Their approach to learning and instructing is well-balanced and by the end of the 14 week program, you will really feel confident with your skills.  Every day starts with algorithms on a white board which gets you used to being comfortable in an interview setting.  Additionally, the curriculum covers 3 full stacks which forces students to pick up languages very quickly adapt to different OOP oriented languages.  These skills are immediately transferable after graduation because of the fast-paced industry itself and the never-ending cycle of 'in-demand' languages that you'll have to always be learning.  

Overall, Coding Dojo gives you the environment and curriculum needed to really progress quickly with programming.  It's up to you as the student to put the work in day in and day out and to never stop learning new coding techniques and languages.  

My experience at Coding Dojo has been stellar and everything I was hoping for in a coding bootcamp. The combination of  engaged Teachers, and TA's, plus the excellent material and teaching style has given me the solid foundation of tools and confidence that I was looking for and that I will take forward to tackle any challenge I meet down the road.  Add to that a super informed and helpful career services advisor who reached out on day one and made it known that I was not in this alone - and I knew that I had made the right choice by going with Coding Dojo!  

As a successful student at Coding Dojo here are a few strategies that I have helped me excel in a sometimes tough and isolated on-line learning environment. 

1. I actively reach out and ask questions (a lot) and take nothing for granted: The teaching staff at coding dojo is super responsive and always there to help when I didn't understand something or was feeling behind in the course work. I noticed that a lot of other students would say they were behind but then not ask for help or clarification. It is up to us to be responsible for our learning experience and the more I hold myself accountable, the more I get things done. In an online learning environment, ultimately there is no one holding your hand and you have to have an amount of self-starter attitude to succeed. That being said, Coding Dojo does a great job of creating a learning community through the messaging platform Mattermost and through live lectures and code reviews via Zoom video conferencing. With those tools, even though you are many miles apart form fellow student and teachers, you have the opportunity to connect and learn from each other.  

2.  Helping other students: One of the best way for me to learn is to actively engage and help out my fellow students. Any time I had the chance to help someone that was behind I jumped to try and assist. There is a great amount of material covered in a bootcamp and sometimes it can feel overwhelming trying to retain all that material.  One great way to keep and solidify that foundation that you are building is to help someone else. You learn what you really know and what you need to work more on when you are trying to explain it to someone else. On top of that, you just helped someone else, made a stronger connection and built your own confidence up a notch.  Win win win!

3. Code reviews are not optional in my mind:  Each class offered an optional code review each week (sometimes more) and I found this to be one of the most valuable learning platforms. Again, most students in the program only seemed to do the required work, but my mindset was that I was going to get the most out of Coding Dojo and take advantage of every opportunity to learn. During code review I had the chance to get comfortable and confident coding in front of my peers. I was able to ask in depth questions, and explore more advanced topics at points because I was one of only a handful of students to regularly show up and actively share what I was working on.

4. Optional algorithm studies: I made a habit and commitment to take on optional material in algorithm studies. The problem solving skills I developed/gained taught me recognize what was being asked of me and how to break a problem into small steps to achieve that bigger goal. I think anyone looking to excel in a coding boot camp should incorporate regular algorithms into their daily practice. I'm thankful that Coding Dojo had great TA's to help inspire this practice in me.

Can anyone learn to code? I honestly think so. But I also know the reality is that you have to want to learn. Anyone that decides and chooses that they want to can succeed. By setting ourselves up for success, allotting the time needed, and holding ourselves accountable I firmly believe anyone can thrive. Coding Dojo has provided an excellent platform and community for me to get to where I wanted to be in a relatively short time and I would highly recommend it to anyone that is looking for a chance to level themselves up!  

Yes, yes, I know what you're thinking. But it's true. I used to be digital marketer, and I got a job offer yesterday as a Junior Developer two and a half weeks after graduating from the program. Here's the thing though: I worked my butt off for it.

They told me that this would be the hardest thing I've possibly ever done in my life—and that's true. They said it would be 60-80 hours a week of effort. My mileage was closer to 50. The bottom line is that it's going to be hard and it's going to be a lot of work. However, can you do it? I believe so. Is it worth it? Most definitely.

I do extremely well in an academic environment. If you don't do well in a classroom setting, you might want to reconsider. But I will tell you this: you will get exactly what you put into this program. If you put in the time and do all the assignments and work on projects and apply for jobs, I don't see why you can't make the career switch that you're hoping to make. 

I'm really glad I made the decision to join and graduate. I have discovered a career that I actually like. And the pay increase (the job I got offered pays 40% more than my job before the dojo) is a nice benefit too—and this is just the beginning.

I’d like to share my experience after enrolling, attending and graduating form Coding Dojo Dallas (Full-time).

A little about my background, I’m an engineer, I worked as a web developer for a about 4 years (Classic ASP),

Then I moved to other fields and after decided to go back to web development. In order to do that,

I wanted to learn new web technologies. It was hard hard to find a place where you could learn

most of what you need in just one place and at the same time. So, finally I found Coding Dojo Dallas.

I decided to enrolled with them because in their program they offer to teach you 3 full stacks (Python, Ruby and MEAN).

What to expect: Coding Dojo is an immersive full-time coding bootcamp where you are going to be learning all the fundamentals for web development, from the Front-End to the Back-End and databases. First, you’ll spend 2 weeks learning the basics (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JQuery, Git and Terminal), then you’ll jump to Python Django with MySQL for about 4 weeks. Basically you start learning the fundamentals of Python, then OOP, then MySQL, then Django, and finally you put everything together to start building full web apps using everything you’ve learned so far together and then you are expected to take an exam to test your skills and be able to move forward. Next you repeat the process but for Ruby on Rails with Postgres and also they increased the level of difficulty by introducing a few new concepts like authentication and authorization, among others for about 4 weeks and finally the same again but for MEAN (Mongo, Express, Angular, Nodejs).

How is going to be a normal day: A normal day starts at 9am (oficially, but if you are really interested you should be there between 7 and 8), then you start working in algorithm for about 1 hour in small groups on whiteboards, after that usually is a morning lecture of about 1-2 hour and then you start working on small assignments to cover different aspects during the rest of the day. There is a second lecture in the afternoon and the you go back to work on your assignments. Your instructor is going to be there always, so I you have questions at anytime you can ask for help if needed. The day ends at 5pm. Now, depending on how fast you learn, or what are your current skills in development, you might move faster than others, it varies from person to person. Most of the people that joined my cohort, they didn’t have previous coding experience, so the spent a lot of time in the Dojo, some of the arrived early in the morning, about 7am and left the dojo in the night and even working on weekends, that’s because there there are so many things to learn and it takes time to understand everything and to be able to finish assignments on time.

I had the fortune to learn from a highly skilled teacher, Matt, during my time at the dojo, and the lectures are very important because that’s where you can actually ask question while building small projects or features so you can apply that knowledge into your own assignments. So regarding instructors, they are GREAT and very well prepared, at least in my experience.

Career services: Once you are done, you will spend 1 week in career services, during this week, you will learn the basics you need to apply for jobs, things like your resume, social networks, job search sites, interviews and thing that maybe you already know but is not a bad thing to refresh. It’s important to mention that their job is not to find a job to everyone, but to give support if needed, they also try to set up presentations with employers where you can show off your projects to them (this happened a couple of times during my time there, they have room to improve in this area buiding relations with more potencial employers) and have the chance to be employed. They also will publish jobs from time to time so everyone can apply if interested. It took me 2 months to get a job, I applied to about 70 positions, I had 3 interviewes and 1 offer. Job hunting is a very hard an exhausting thing to do, it might take longer, so be prepared because very few people are able to find a job right after finishing the bootcamp. What best worked for me was networking.

Bottom line: If you are a new to web development, I highly recommend this as an option but I warn you is going to be tough and hard, so be preapred. If you are an experienced developer, it will depend on what are you looking for, in my case it worked well because it was a refresher for me and also learned a lot of new things on basic levels. In Coding Dojo you will learn the fundamentals, is up to you how far you get. You will get what you put in this!, it's no magical, it takes a lot of effort and time, so base on this, the results are not the same for everyone.

Hope this helps!!!, and good luck!...

This place is very unorganized, and unprofessional. The internet was super slow, and many days was completely down. The platform was under construction while using it, so it ended up having two seperate Python courses which confused people and ended up splitting the class. Many of the lecture videos are done with earbud microphones which makes the audio on some them terrible and hard to hear even at max volume. Their career section was a bunch of links to youtube videos, and every now and then they send you email on a job lead in like Detroit. The class room was miserably hot. I did the course during the summer, and I don’t know if the air condition was broken, but I would just sit there and sweat while coding. A bunch of people tried to bring in fans, but it just pushed hot air around. They also have a bunch of old mismatched monitors for people to plug their laptops in to work, which are alright. However they never had enough adapters for everyone, so every day multiple people would get screwed and not be able to use a monitor.

Onto the curriculum. Looking back on it trying to do 3 full stacks in 3 months is absolutely bananas. I think it is just too much to try to fit into 3 months. They push this idea of working 70-100 hours weeks which you have to do if you want to keep up. Pretty much everyone falls behind the schedule. People fell behind so much in my Python stack that the teacher has us skip the database section. Another thing about working such long weeks is that I think comprehension really starts to take a hit. Working with complex topics really takes a mental toll, and I definitely think quality of time spent on these topics outweighs quantity. At a certain point people were just throwing projects together to keep up instead of learn. Half way through I switched to the online version which was much nicer because it saved me a ton of money, almost  2 hours a day in commuting time, and I found I was less stressed to rush through projects. All in all I don’t think Coding Dojo was worth the time or money investment at all. I still absolutely love coding and think it is a great field for people to be in. If you want to learn there are a ton of free online sources that you can earn a ton from for way cheaper. Also there are really really smart people that make Udemy courses that you can get for $10 dollar. I think i learned way more from Free Code Camp, and Udemy then Coding Dojo. If you are still looking for the structure of a boot camp I would check out Epicodus or Code Fellows. I have heard really good things about these programs from people at meet ups, and some of my friends. Also looking online their curriculum seems much better. Anyways this just my two cents, and I hope its helps you make a choice that is best for you.

I highly recommend you choose a different coding boot-camp. I attended the onsite and had a horrible experience. They cram 2 classrooms into one small room with the instructors trying to talk over each other. There is only 1 hour of lecture where they literally just go through an assignment piece by piece. The instructors are almost all just graduates of the coding boot-camp that cant get a job elsewhere. 

The one positive was the learning platform(at first) the web fundamentals and python section was absolutely wonderful. I was able to get 97% and then 98% on my first two exams where most fail. The MEAN stack was horrendous though. When I contacted them about it they said "sorry it's not finished yet we are still working on it" SO why are you taking my money for it then?

Oh and don't get me started on the communication times. I would email and not get a response for 3-8 days. consistently. Please don't waste your money here. There are plenty of better alternatives.

This is true for Coding Dojo more than anything else I've been a part of. The model of becoming an entry level developer in 14 weeks is highly ambitious but definitely attainable if you're 1) willing to put in the work, 2) have solid personal goals and 3) keep yourself accountable. Now the idea isn't after 14 weeks you'll know enough to get any job you want. But you should have enough experience under your belt in order to SELL YOURSELF to a future employer that you have the tenacity, aptitude for quick learning, and high work ethic on top of your hands on experience in a variety of different domains.

Do I believe everyone can be a software developer? Sure.
Do I believe everyone should be a software developer? Not at all. 

Too many people are attracted by the allure of a high paying job after 3 months of work. They aren't doing it because they like coding or because they like building things, they are doing it for the fast money. I'd say if that is you, be weary of your decisions as you may find yourself without the extra drive needed to get yourself past the finish line (finish line being landing a job not graduating Coding Dojo). If I were to take a guess the majority of the one-stars on here are a result of that kind of thinking.

If you're looking for something easy or guaranteed, I'd say save your money and stick with whatever you're doing right now.

However, if you're looking for a time efficient way of giving yourself access to new opportunities in the tech industry, Coding Dojo is a great structure to facilitate your own personal growth trajectory.

Tips for any potential bootcamp attendees:
1) Learn your algorithms. Seriously. You will hear this again and again so you know it's the real deal. Since graduating, I've observed the #1 reason people aren't ready to start the job hunt process right away is lack of confidence with algorithms (and thus performance on technical interviews). The hour of algorithms every morning is a good base point, but not enough to get yourself to where you should be by the end. I recommend an extra 1-2 hours on top every day to dedicate to algorithms.

2) Start preparing your post-graduation job materials now. There's no need to wait until Career Week to start building your resume/portfolio/cover letters/LinkedIn/etc. This leads to having an overwhelming amount of work to do and only adds to the stress of looking for a job. Start cleaning up your LinkedIn and growing your network today, reworking your resume tomorrow, designing your portfolio next week and once graduation rolls around (which it will before you know it) you'll already have all the things prepared. Now all you have to do is polish it up and send it out. This gets you ahead of almost everyone else and sets you up for that much more success.

3) Create strong relationships and don't be afraid to use your network. Tell everyone what you're doing and let them know your plans for when you're done 3 months down the line. You don't know whose friend's dogsitter will have a brother that's looking for a new junior dev at their company.

4) Use other resources when you get stuck on something and even when you're not stuck. If the curriculum isn't clicking with you on a certain topic or you're not understanding the teacher's way of wording a concept, find answers in other places! When I encountered Object Oriented Design for the first time, I couldn't wrap my mind around it.. so I watched YouTube videos, a lot of them. And after the 15th one it clicked just because of a specific phrasing I heard for the first time. Coding Dojo's philosophy isn't about making you the best developer, but it is about making you self sufficient. How will you react when the inevitable happens and you don't know how to do something? This is the true test for any good developer and what employers really want to see (for a non-senior position at least).

Coding Dojo is no small investment. If you're already a strong Developer and want to learn a new stack, network, or strengthen your portfolio, the Dojo might be a good fit! If not, I'd encourage you to continue looking for a program better suited for you! 

The program is rigorous and fast-paced. You should be a disciplined self-teacher as you'll need to study a few hours each night. The instructors will typically let you struggle through the remaining material in groups before explaining the most difficult topics. At just under $1K per week, you might expect periodic feedback from your instructor. Well, you'd be wrong. Staff offer to review code; but, rarely make themselves available.  Coding Dojo pays plenty of lip service to the idea of molding students into self-sufficient developers. With the exception of one or two staff and student leaders, I wouldn't characterize the culture as accessible or committed to student success. Beyond open house sales pitches and a weekly all-hands meeting, you'll be largely responsible for seeking assistance and sustaining morale. On top of the heavy coursework, you'll need to build your portfolio and initiate conversations with career services. That is if you plan to find a job after graduation.

With that said, if you're lucky enough to get an engaged instructor, you will likely grow during this program. I had an awesome instructor for my first stack. Thanks to the great mix of personalities in Dojo cohorts, lecture tended to be entertaining! My second instructor was a knowledgeable programmer who seemed uncomfortable teaching. She seemed better suited for a cubicle farm with little to no social interaction. For this review, I've changed the instructor's name to Becky. To say Becky was a poor communicator would be generous. She rarely covered a concept from start to finish. Even more disappointing was lecture Q&A.  Her answers to student queries showed little consideration for her students' knowledge gap; rather she highlighted her gift for crafting snarky quips.  With a lecture schedule as unpredictable as the instructor's mood, she'd routinely hold 20-25 minimal working sessions to help students. 

I didn't know how fortunate I was to have quality teachers in school. I've only studied under dedicated teachers, professors, and mentors, naively leading me to characterize all educators as "student-focused." I was afforded not-so-small services like office hours, personalized feedback, I even benefitted from one-on-one sessions to clarify concepts. If a student consistently demonstrates their commitment, I'd argue instructors have an ethical duty to champion them across the finish line. 

Who knew these would be considered luxuries at Coding Dojo? At $11-13K, the Dojo's as expensive as a 4-year private university.  Coding Dojo advertises their accessible instructional style. With classes between 10 and 20, you might be inclined to believe their interests lie with you, the student. If you're already a capable Developer and want to learn a new stack, network, or strengthen your portfolio, you should continue exploring this program! If not, I'd encourage you to look beyond this option to find a path better suited for you.

I drove to the DC branch all the way from Colorado. I did this because that branch had the best tuition pricing as well as the easiest options for housing while i was in the area. I have never coded before aside from some basic playing around with website stuff like facebook. At first it was a bit scary for me because i was out of my element but luckily the group i ended up in was great and became pretty tightknit quickly. For me this was essential because I am extremely bad at learning on my own and motivating myself to actually do my work. I was that guy who never did his homework in school. Regardless of that fact, with the help of my group and the different instructors and assistants they had on site (Marco Molina in particular) I was able to successfully learn and accomplish my assignments and I started understanding things I never could have on my own. The on-site experience was key for me. The tasks were demanding but you have 24/7 access to the building and they provide plenty for you to snack on and lots of space for you to take a break if you need to. I even had a nap or two during my time there.

By the end of it all, I definitely came ahead knowing a lot more than I expected I would and am happy to have made the friends that I did. I think the key was the size of our classes. They weren't too big and it wasnt overwhelming to try to get to know my cohort. I can safely say I became friends with everyone in my cohort and that would not have been possible if it were any larger. We had about 10-12 members.

I haven't tried any other bootcamp so I will not speak on others but as far as this one is concerned, I would recommend it to anyone looking to get into the field. Just don't expect to do it without working for it!

I entered Coding Dojo with no prior coding experience having not written any lines of code aside from their prebootcamp work they had me do to prepare for the 12 week bootcamp. After starting the bootcamp, I was surrounded by other people who were serious about learning, with several people who were much faster learners than me. It was intimidating at first, especially because the curriculum was difficult for me at the time. However, this was a good thing because it was beneficial to my growth as it pushed me harder than I would have pushed without that type of environment. It stayed difficult, the whole time, which was actually the part I benefitted from most because it accelerated my learning curve drastically. The assignments were all challenging as I was going but each assignment was built to make me engage in "problem solving" mode of thinking, which was the mode I was in practically every day. Their unique way of structuring requirements and functionalities of the apps we create made me learn to build upon fundamental programming skills and concepts, and adding on to these skills to be more effective at problem solving. Also, thoughout the bootcamp we all had the opportunity to learn by teaching as all the students help eachother along with the help of the instructors. 

I learned to be a self-sufficient developer because I had to build skills of searching through documentation with the guidance of the course platform and instructors, and learning new skills in a very quick pace. This skill of learning new skills in technology at a fast rate was the biggest skill I developed here aside from the actual coding knowledge itself. Learning HOW to learn programming was essential to my development. 

We went through a 2 week web fundamentals course (HTML/CSS/Javascript and Jquery library to make interactive web pages, then three months of three complete languages, from basic fundamentals to building out functional apps that can be used by people with databases included. These languages were Python, Full stack javascript, Java. Having people with the same goals, learning objectives, and passion for a career growth and change opportunity paired with the structured curriculum designed to build upon fundamental skills towards the trajectory of a self-sufficient career ready developer made this experience worth investment.

I also realized that being in the immersive environment actually reprogrammed my mind in a way where my brain is better able to learn new things well. After the bootcamp, now if I want to learn something else, i know how to approach learning a new language and how to structure my learning outside of the bootcamp, which is great because that is the fundamental skill gets great jobs and careers. There have been other graduates from this bootcamp during our Alumni tech talks where they say they learned certain langauges at coding dojo and then got hired for jobs where other languages were required to know, and still were able to perform at the job because of their ability translate what they learned to learning a new technology. The fact is many websites have been built using many different languages combined, and great web developers and engineers have the ability to come in and learn those new lanuages quickly and understand how the fundamental programming and web development process apply to whatever they are doing.

The career services is also a great feature of the bootcamp because there is a whole week of learning to attract the career opportunities at a high level, along with interview practice, recruitment information, resume and portfolio support, and many assignments from the bootcamp that can be shown off a projects to employers.

Lastly, the bootcamp offers online continued bootcamp services through their online platform that has many more languages and courses offered to go through after graduating. Additional languages and stacks like c#, swift, PHP, ruby, React javascript, algorithm modules, and Amazon web services made this investment last even after the bootcamp was over. 

I would definately recommend to anyone who is willing to change their career to the computer programming, web development, software engineering route and also to maximize their ability to learn to enroll in this bootcamp. Lots of opportunities have opened in my life in terms of a career and being able to earn money doing somthing that has flexible and plentiful room for growth. I just read recently that computer programming jobs make up 70% of all Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math jobs in the USA. I'm glad I haver this value in the marketplace now and I feel more secure and optomistic about my future. 

Coding Dojo was one of the best one of the best decisions I have ever made in life. I graduated a great college and paid a huge sum of money for a degree I never wound up needing. I moved to the DC area and began my career in the restaurant industry. I was a restaurant manager in the DMV area for 4+ years, but was never truly happy with my job. In my spare time I started to teach myself how to code through online resourses like code-academy, edX and Udemy(All great places to start). I started to enjoy coding and learning how to code more than I did my own job. Online resourses were great but were very slow paced and I wanted more. I new it was time for a change, I started looking into different coding bootcamps in my area. Coding Dojo was by far the best. I attened an open house, met some instructors and got all the info I needed to make the leap. I left my job and commited to the Dojo full time.

Coding Dojo's curriculum was top notch, You learn all the latest and most relavent technologies (HTML, CSS, JS, Front-end frameworks, JAVA, PYTHON, MEAN stacks, MYSQL...the list goes on.) The instructors are great and very knowlagable and the facility is very clean and well maintained. If you put in the effort you WILL be rewared, this is not a 9-5 school, they call it a bootcamp for a reason. I was doing about 12 hours a day mon-friday and put in some more time on the weekends (and loved every minute). The course platform is always being updated and improved, you leave the DOJO with a very extensive github profile having built a ton of projects. (Looks great for potentail employers). You also meet a ton of very cool people! After the Dojo, there is a career week where you fix up your technical resume, linkedIn, have mock interviews and a number of other great things to help you land your first job in tech! 

The price is about 14k, but its pretty easy to get some scholarships that the school offers and I wound up paying about 10k. If you really look at it, thats about a semester at college. But this one semester(instead of 4 years at collge) could kickstart your whole career if you put in the work.....And for me it did, I landed my first job as a junior Dev about a month after graduating. It was a serious step up form my old career and I couldnt be happier. I definitely recommend studying some html, css and basic js on free platforms online before starting a bootcamp as it gave me a solid foundation and head start. Could you learn all of these technologies on your own online?...Sure, but it would take years and years to cover the same amount of ground the Dojo covers in 14 weeks. This was one of the best decisions I have every made! 

The course is great. I've already reccomended it to all of my friends who are interested in tech. I actually feel pretty fortunate that I was able to go to a good bootcamp before they're too hard to get into. 

They call it a boot camp for a reason. It's not easy but you'll come out with very useful tech skills which will qualify you to work a wide range of tech jobs, especially software developer positions. 

I ended up getting a job as a contractor with a tech firm. Great experience overal! 

I recently attended the onsite bootcamp at the Seattle campus of Coding Dojo and had a great experience. I felt strongly prepared for the job hunting process and was able to land a full time software engineering job about six weeks after graduating. As others have said a lot of your experience will depend on what you put in to it and this isn't for everyone but in my experience the bootcamp was the perfect thing to launch my new career.

I just graduated from Coding Dojo Dallas in September where I learned three full stacks. While there I learned ruby on rails, python with Django and flask, and MEAN. It is definitely a difficult process, requiring long days and a whole lot of effort. I usually put in about 90+ hours per week to study, complete assignments, and study some more. Typically, days begin with an hour of algorithm work on the whiteboard, followed by a morning lecture. After morning lecture students work independently or together on assignments until the afternoon when there is another lecture. The instructors in Dallas are excellent, their lectures are always helpful (and recorded!), plus they are great at providing one-on-one help when you need it. While it takes a lot of work and effort to go to Coding Dojo it is definitely worth it.

I recently graduated from the Coding Dojo bootcamp at their DC location.  I signed up for the bootcamp because I was looking to transition to a career in tech, though not necessarily as a developer.  However, I wanted to gain coding skills because I know it will be helpful for me with whatever I end up doing in the field.

I really enjoyed my time at Coding Dojo.  The instructors were all extremely knowledgeable and supportive, and all of my cohort mates were helpful as well.  The curriculum is challenging and intense, but if you put in the time, it is possible to get through it.  I really liked the balance between algorithms, lectures, group work and individual coding time.  

One thing that makes Coding Dojo unique, in addition to the fact that you learn 3 languages, is that the instructors will support you at whatever level you are with coding.  Though you are encouraged to keep up with the fast pace of the curriculum, you are not penalized if you fall behind or struggle.  There are many resources to help you catch up though the instructors really do a great job making sure that everyone leaves with the ability and confidence to be a self-sufficient developer.

The only challenge I faced with the program is that one of the languages we learned (Java) was new to their curriculum when I joined, so the materials for that language had some gaps, which made it harder to learn Java.  But, they are continuously refining and improving the content, so that probably won't be much of an issue for future classes.

All in all, my time at Coding Dojo was a great experience.  Now I am working at a digital innovation agency leading product strategy and account management for clients seeking to grow their businesses using digital technologies.  I actually received two job offers even before completing the bootcamp.  My bootcamp experience helped me take my career in a new direction and I learned a great skill and made great new friends in the process.