DigitalCrafts

I can't possibly praise DigitalCrafts enough for my experience there! I recently graduated from the Full Stack Immersive program and already landed a job at a great company making more than I ever dreamed of! My instructor Rob was absolutely phenomenal, the facilities were amazing and all the people I met and worked with were stellar. I felt adequately supported by everyone throughout the program and learned incredibly in-demand skills that ultimately getting employed by one of my top companies. Thank you DigitalCrafts, this experience seriously changed my life! 

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Final thoughts on Digital Crafts

So Digital Crafts has two programs. A full-time course called the Immersive program and a part-time course called the Flex program. I attended the flex program which is Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30pm - 9:30pm and Saturdays from 10am - 2pm.

The onboarding process included some pre-work to familiarize people with the basics of using a terminal. It really is a “from the ground up” program. Digital Crafts looks to turn people with zero computer science experience into developers writing full-stack applications in React/Redux, Node/Express and deploying them to AWS, Heroku, and Netlify in 26 weeks. That’s a tall order if I ever heard one.

The course progressed as follows:

 

• The first few weeks starts out with html/css, bootstrap, and vanilla JS.

• Then we started learning how to build servers in Node/Express and making calls to them from the client-side using Axios and rendering out the data to the UI.

• Then you spend a couple weeks on databases like MongoDB and Postgres. We explored libraries like Mongoose, Sequelize, and pg-promise.

• Halfway through the course you’re learning how to prevent getting trapped in callback hell using Async/Await functions and are able to build a full-stack application.

• We then started drilling ES6 syntax pretty hard and learning how to do OOP in JS in preparation for React.

• The second to last part of the course involved learning React and Redux. I remember doing about 5 or 6 assignments bouncing from using React only and then using React w/Redux to better understand how Redux was helping manage application state. We had to also build a game using React and Redux ( which I’ll cover in another article ) to finish the chapter.

• The last subject we studied was learning how to deploy. We learned how to spin up EC2 and RDS instances as well as deploying to Netlify and Heroku.

• The final assignment was the Capstone project which we presented on Demo day.

I personally work with some alumni who are now lead developers on their teams where I work and are actually partially responsible for my motivation in enrolling in the first place. They don’t even use JS, they use Golang. Digital Crafts teaches you how to learn. It teaches you how to approach and solve problems in ways that can be translated across a plethora of different programming languages.

I think this is the real value of Digital Crafts. It doesn’t just teach you full-stack Javascript. It teaches you how computers are programmed through javascript. You are given all the resources imaginable to become a succesful programmer but at the end of the day, how well you absorb the curriculum ultimately comes down to the effort you put in.

If your ultimate goal in enrolling is to get a job as a developer, it’s worth mentioning that they are definitely doing something right with their career services program because alumni are recognized in the Slack channel when they secure new positions and that seems to be happening multiple times every week.

The class was also a lot of fun and overall an experience I’m super glad I had. I saw a lot of people from different backgrounds grow and develope as programmers. It was also pretty amazing to see how far everyone came in such a short amount of time. Digital Crafts definitely has something special going on over there.

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Let me start by saying that I did not know much about programming when I started and I'm still growing my skills, but the instructors in this program really helped me to establish a solid foundation to build upon. I am a teacher by trade and making a transition into more of a project management role. The course has given me a better insight into how not only to think like a programmer, but to look for solutions that may not have been obvious at first glance. 

The ability to create functional software has become a valuable tool in my belt and I am glad I went through DigitalCrafts to gain the knowledge. If you are on the fence, get off and start the application. In addition to the programming skills that are taught, you are exposed to different views on programming technologies, how to research for solutions, and how to build the soft skills that are also necessary for success in the world of code. 

I recommend this program to anyone looking to make a change while balancing your career and family life. 

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Being a stay-home mom and away from my career for a few years, I needed a change, but I was scared of a change at the same time. It took some time for me to finally decided to join DigitalCrafts. I am very happy that I did.   

I had Veronica as my instructor and Katy as my TA. They are both amazing. Veronica is positive, motivative, flexible, smart and helpful. She looks at a student's face and makes sure we understand. 
Katy helped me problem solve the situation when I had a hard time. 

The course is fast and intense. I recommend to finish pre-work before the class start and finish your assignment. The course will be more complicated after Node.js, and it will be harder to go back and study again.

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Its hard and fast paced, but at the end you realized you've learned a lot and what you don't know or didn't learn, you know how to learn it.  Great career services.  Our instructor, Rob, was the best.  He brought software development to life and made it exciting. They have aids that assist during and after class. Stay focused because it's easy to get behind.  Oh, make sure you do the pre-work before class starts and have a Mac.  

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As an individual that has previous professional experience and no familiarity with coding, I decided to further develop my technical skills by attending a coding bootcamp. The process to decide on which bootcamp was tough as I called different programs in both Austin and Houston, and based on my situation and what I was looking for, I chose DigitalCrafts. 

Having Veronica as the lead instructor and Katy as the TA made all the difference over this course. They eased me into learning how to code as I had no previous experience. Veronica created great supplemental slideshows to reinforce the concepts that she taught. The combination of lecture, supplemental reference material, and personalized help from both Veronica and Katy, this gave me the support I needed to become a confident developer.  Also, they kept the class engaged and make the curriculum entertaining, which can be hard with a technical subject like programing.

To be successful:

• If you have an opportunity to practice and do the prep work before the course begins, immerse yourself and practice daily as this will allow you to grasp the fundamentals and excel
• Don't get intimidated and stay on top of your coursework. This is a bootcamp and it does move quickly, so work hard daily as you may not have time to revisit any previous projects or exercises
• Do projects that you enjoy, so it keeps you engaged
• Near the end, if your goal is to find a job, make sure you start applying for jobs around the time career-week begins. Do not be deterred by imposter syndrome hold you back! You truly do know alot and just need to be more aware of the skills that you have attained.
• Some days be tougher than others and you may feel like coding is not for you, but just push through and stay focused. You will overcome those humps and at the end you will realize how much you have learned.

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The technical instruction and overall experience at DigitalCrafts exceeded all expectations I had of a coding bootcamp and has changed my life in ways I never thought it could. I really can't say enough good things or write a review that will do it justice. If you're looking for a coding bootcamp, you'll want to consider these six areas when making your decision.

• Technologies covered: React, Redux, Express, Node.js, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Python, JavaScript, AWS, jQuery, Bootstrap, Materialize, RESTful API, Linux, GitHub, HTML, CSS, Apache Server, Ubuntu, and more. It’s common for beginners to look for a specific language because they’ve heard from friends or colleagues that it’s an important language to learn. The approach of DigitalCrafts, and most any coding bootcamp will be to teach you technologies that give you a strong programming foundation which allows you to easily learn additional technologies in the future or on your own. The DigitalCrafts curriculum hits the “full stack” and you will be well equipped to pick up other programming languages as your career progresses. I recommend not pairing your bootcamp search down by a specific programming language because of what may be popular today. If you learn and master the above curriculum, you will be well equipped to pick up whatever new technologies you’d like.
• Class size / available assistance: Classes are limited to about two dozen people which is about the size of a high school class room. There is an instructor and two “DIRs” who are former students being paid to help you out in one on one situations. Between the three of them they were able to cover most everything the class could need at any given time. I got all the one-on-one support I could possibly use. Learning this type of material requires that you practice and “figure it out” at least partially on your own and so I don’t know that even if I had my own personal tutor that I could have utilized them to learn more efficiently. Bottom line, any time I needed help, someone was there to help me.
• Instructor quality: If you go on the DigitalCrafts careers page and look at the salaries they offer to their instructors, you’ll know that they only hire the best and are willing to pay top dollar for top talent. Our instructors have years if not decades of experience and have worked for some of the best technology companies in Atlanta. My particular instructor founded the course curriculum and is a 5-star Udemy instructor. The instructor for the other cohort is a former manager at a well respected technology consulting firm in Atlanta. DigitalCrafts also allowed us to have input when interviewing a future instructor as he gave a sample lecture to us one day. Their instructors are interviewed by the CEO directly and students are given opportunities to renew them multiple times throughout the course.
• Tech community experience: Quite simply, I don’t know how a bootcamp could produce a better community experience than DigitalCrafts. The class is taught in Atlanta Tech Village, a startup hub designed specifically for tech based companies located in the heart of Buckhead. As a student of the cohort, you become a full member of ATV and are completely immersed in the Atlanta tech startup community. I can’t imagine a better networking and tech culture environment exists in Atlanta. DigitalCrafts also brings in past students and current developers to give advice and speak about their experience in the working world and their past job search.
• Job search: Most non-technical employees of DigitalCrafts are current or former recruiters whose current job is to get you employed. There is a thorough process to get you ready to enter the job market as a new developer. They offer you support and guidance in all your “career assets” including but not limited to: resumes, LinkeIn, GitHub, online portfolio, mock interviews, technical challenges, networking, cover letters, meetups, etc. As a student, you will have access to their employer network and job board and industry knowledge on where to look for opportunities and how to get hired.
• Cost / Financing: The cost of the bootcamp is competitive with others in the market. There are multiple financing options available through a third party. You are able to enroll in the class with no money down and can even borrow some spending money. The monthly payment requirements are kept to a minimum until you graduate. There are multiple different options which you can customize to your own needs. If you find a bootcamp in Atlanta that is less expensive, and are thinking of selecting it just for that reason, I highly recommend you make sure you consider the financial return of receiving a high quality education and experience. A couple hundred or thousand dollars difference on a bootcamp is completely irrelevant when you think about the big picture of your career and long term success. Pick the bootcamp that is right for you based on other factors and make your finances work the best you can.

Attending DigitalCrafts was one of the best experiences of my life and one of the smartest decisions I’ve made for my career and overall happiness. If you’d like to talk further, please get in touch with me directly.

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I am not the greatest at writing reviews, but I just had to because of my experience with my instructor, Veronica. You cannot ask for a better instructor than her. She is kind, patient, motivating, smart, and above all else, a great person to be around. If you are looking for a structured approach to learning, you should definitely look into joining her class. She normally has lessons in the morning and assignments after lunch. The slides she provides are extremely helpful, but only if you pay attention in class, so make sure you do! 

Here is some advice from a recent graduate:

Always strive to do your best. It is the best way to progress in the class. It is pretty fast and the better you understand the topics, the better it will be for you when projects come rolling around. 
 

Don't be upset if you don't get topics right away. There were times, especially when we were learning node, that I felt lost. It will come to you eventually; Veronica has a way with her lesson plans that will trigger that lightbulb of yours.

Give time for yourself to relax! 

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As a former math teacher, Digital Crafts supported me a lot to make a big change on my career as a Full Stack Developer. With very little background, I was not sure how far I could go in software development area when I first started the immersive program. In the first a couple weeks, it made me feel anxious when I see challenges in coding. However, I always felt very lucky to have a great instructor, Azam. His instruction was changing all complex parts into small easy structures which made the concepts easier to understand. I was not hesitating to ask questions over and over to him since he was very open to help anytime, even after course hours via the slack. Another great thing was to have very supportive, dedicated and knowledgable DIRs who gave their all time for our questions. On the other hand, these positive opportunities were not enough by themselves. If you are really passionate about software development and pursuing your career in this area; commuting to the course, listening the instructors and doing the assignments are not enough at all with little background. I was spending my nights and weekends to do extra learning and extra projects to understand better, most importantly to practice, practice, practice. The most important takeaway was to learn how to google things to fix the problem, it is becoming your helper overtime as you progress in weeks. I have started job applications two weeks prior to graduation. Since the skills we have learned in the course were from cutting-edge technologies, I could not find enough number of opportunities in Houston. Houston area companies are usually looking for .NET, C++, C#, Java and etc. If you are open to relocate, you can decrease the time you spend for job hunting. After graduation, I made lots of search to learn strategies regarding how to apply jobs. After I explored the things about it, I believed that there may be another bootcamp only for job searching part :) . I am glad that I have landed a job as a Full Stack Developer in Houston 3 weeks after graduation and glad to experience such great times with Digital Crafts.

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If you want to deeply understand how Web development works, you've come to the right place. The program teaches you the fundamentals of the web development from scratch -- from the theoretical aspects of object-oriented programming, to the actual skill of how to write an HTTP request. The instructors are great -- always willing to answer questions, provide their knowledge and experienced perspectives while building web applications. The first ten weeks help you get a feel to build quality full-stack web application. I remember my first week at the program, how much difficulty I had to write and solve some simple array questions, then last week(16th), how cool web applications I had created. Our DIR's were all amazing - they were always eager to help someone through an issue. This course is not easy and will take a lot of dedication, but will pay off if you work hard. I would definitely recommend DigitalCrafts for both beginners and CS graduates and suggest them to do as much of the pre-work as possible so that once you're in class, you can spend more time trying to understand the more complex topics rather than struggling with the basics. Read less

I completed my 16 week program Jan 2019.

Prior to attending a bootcamp I was working as a Microsoft T-SQL reports developer.  However, on the side, I always enjoyed learning other coding skills, dabbling with small snippets of code with hopes of using them at work.  I finally decided I wanted to build on those skills and finally decided to enroll into a web developer bootcamp hoping that it will get me closer to pursuing a career as a web developer.

There are a few things that helped me in my decision to steer my career toward a different path.  I knew I wanted to code.  I knew I wanted to do web development instead of desktop.  I knew I wanted to see what the Javascript stack would be like.  I've always dabbled in C# (basics) but I figured Javascript stack may give me a different perspective on how things could be done and at the same time it seems to be the languange I really need to know to be a web developer.  I knew I also learned better in a class setting.  I also knew I needed to have a really good instructor whom to learn from but that was difficult to know until I actually went to class and he/she would be a hit or miss.  Last but not least, I felt that if anything, I will have spent my time learning and come out knowing more than I did and was up to how much effort I put into it before, during, and after my cohort.

Above are my personal reasons but as far as choosing DigitalCrafts specifically, I just didn't know enough about all the technologies that are mentioned on their curriculum.  Node.js, MongoDb, PostgreSql, Express.js, etc.. all sounded foreign but sounded good.  After digging deeper into what those were in general and their uses, I finally decided I wanted to learn these technologies.  And last, I just really liked the reviews from previous students.

The 16 week course I would describe as the history of the web condensed into a few weeks and how things were done in the 90's up to today.  As far as web technology, I went in knowing a little of HTML, no CSS, some Javascript, programming basics, some idea of front-end communication with backend databases.

I know now that what I knew prior to the 16 weeks was really not a whole lot as far as web technology is concerned.  I have learned so much more since then.  Eventhough I completed the course, I am still very much a junior web developer.  However, I had really good help from my teacher and TAs throughout.  I also have good direction going forward.  I was lucky and very greatful I got a great teacher to learn from.  Thank you again Azam!  Also thank you to our awesome TAs Stephen and James!

Other than that, I am still looking for employment = ) but have better skills to move forward!

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A year ago I was driving for Uber and selling things on eBay to support my growing family. My plan was to become a software engineer but the obstacles were enormous. I had no college credits, no coding experience, and no time to waste.   Choosing a coding boot camp was a big decision. I finally went with DigitalCrafts as they offered a cutting-edge curriculum and had great reviews. My first day in class I looked around the room. It was full of smart, committed people who were eager to learn. The energy of the students and staff was palpable. I knew I had made the right choice.
   The next four months were intense. The pace was fast and a couple times I felt overwhelmed, but each weekend I found myself impatient for Monday. I spent happy hours coding, collaborating on projects and playing ping pong. I had many conversations with the entrepreneurs and developers who shared Atlanta Tech Village. Weeks after graduation, one of the entrepreneurs hired me to build a React web app. This allowed me to hone my skills as I continued applying for a permanent position.    Three months later, my job search is complete. This morning I accepted a Software Engineer position at an amazing company. Thanks to DigitalCrafts, my future and the future of my family is looking up.   I am grateful to the many friends I made on this adventure: my teacher, Jonathan Martin, the founders and staff at DigitalCrafts, my fellow classmates, the students from earlier and later cohorts, and every senior engineer who kindly shared their tips and experience. Read less

I attended DigitalCrafts' Sept 2018 - Jan 2019 Full-stack Immersive cohort in Atlanta, and it was the best career decision I could have made. After 20+ years in the telecom vendor industry, I was hungry for a career change. I dabbled for a couple of years with numerous online resources (edX, Coursera, Udemy, FreeCodeCamp, etc) but finally recognized I needed to attend a bootcamp with a strong, full-stack curriculum if I was going to feel confident enough to change jobs.

After researching several Atlanta-area in-person camps, as well as a few online options, I settled on DigitalCrafts because:

• the cost was reasonable compared to other in-person options,
• the Atlanta Tech Village (ATV) location was amazing and right in the heart of one of Atlanta's booming tech districts,
• the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful,
• the reviews from former students, as well as what I could see in their LinkedIn and GitHub accounts, were amazing, and
• the full-stack curriculum was heavily focused on JavaScript, and included very current topics such as React and AWS

All of these reasons proved to be true, and I never regretted my decision to attend. Being 47 years old, I was nervous that I would not fit in with the other students, most of whom were in their 20s and early 30s, but that was never an issue. There is a real sense of community, both inside the classroom, and throughout the ATV facility which is also home to many tech start-up companies. At the free lunch ATV provides on Fridays, you can sit with your fellow students, or grab a seat with a stranger and listen to them practice their elevator pitch for their startup (and maybe even get a job offer).

The reviews here are full of compliments about the instructors, and I whole-heartedly agree, so I won't repeat how amazing they are. DigitalCrafts does an excellent job finding experienced and knowledgeable people who know how to teach to serve as their instructors. Each cohort has a lead instructor and one or two teaching assistants and they all go above and beyond, frequently staying well after class and providing regular office hours to offer any extra help as needed. You not only learn how to be a full stack developer (with HTML, CSS, JS, and React on the front end, and Node, Express, PostgreSQL on the backend), but you also learn the important skill of deploying what you build on AWS cloud servers, which comes in handy when you want to quickly show an interviewer what you have created.

Lastly, the career services at DC exceeded my expectations. They stop short of guaranteeing you a job, but they do everything possible to put you in a position to succeed in your job search. There are frequent sessions where the importance of resumes, portfolios, GitHub, and LinkedIn are discussed, and the DC career services team works with you to build and improve each of them. Interviewing advice is offered regularly and you get to do a mock interview to practice your interview skills. We took a class trip to the office of a local web dev shop to see firsthand how their developers work in an agile team environment, and there were several guest speakers who came in later in the cohort to talk about job search and career advice for new developers. This all paid off for me (and several other classmates) as I had a successful interview, which led to a job offer during the final week of my cohort.

I am now enjoying the one week break from the end of my cohort to my first day at work as I start my new career as a software developer. I will be forever grateful to DigitalCrafts for helping to make that possible.

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I am a former teacher and was looking to attend a coding bootcamp. I did some research of the available classes in Houston and found that DigitalCrafts had high ratings and success stories. I now know why they have such high ratings! I had Veronica as a teacher and it was an absolute blast. I didn't realize software development could be so fun!

This class is most definitely challenging, but it's rewarding. If you are thinking about signing up, do it. You won't be disappointed. Take the pre-work very seriously and be ready to work hard and overcome many challenges!

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Earlier this year I decided to quit my job and attend the Full Stack Immersive Program at DigitalCrafts. I had no prior coding experience, so I was definitely nervous about understanding the material and keeping up with the pace. 

The four months were definitely a roller coaster ride. There were days that I would quickly grasp concepts and then there were days where I struggled to put code on the screen. And as easy as it was to second guess my decision on those days that I struggled, I saw my struggles as a sign that I was learning and challenging myself. I wouldn't be gaining anything if everything was easy. Learning fundamentals is stressed throughout the course instead of introducing the easier shortcuts right away. The curriculum is robust, so you get exposure to different areas of full stack development. The projects are awesome because they allow you to go through sprint-like scenarios that you may encounter in a job setting. The projects also allow you to own the project from beginning to end. You are coming up with the project idea, then you design and develop your project, and then you are able to deploy it for the world to see! The project weeks were easily the most exciting parts of this course!

I truly enjoyed my time at DigitalCrafts. There is a reason why they are rated so highly. The staff was always supportive and there to help in any way they could. Our instructor, Jonathan, was so passionate about helping our class not only learn to code, but to code well. He emphasized the better and more conventional ways to do things and he encouraged us to avoid improper use of code. Jonathan had over a decade of experience but he was able to break down concepts and clearly explain them so that those of us with no coding background could understand. I feel well-prepared for my career change and I could not be happier with my experience! I definitely recommend this program to anyone looking to make the leap into web development!

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I could not have been happier with my experience at DigitalCrafts. Prior to attending this bootcamp, I was working as a Paralegal and trying to learn to code on the side. I knew that in order to make the career change, I wanted something full-time and in person to really ramp up my learning. That limited my search to bootcamps in Atlanta. In that regard, everything I had heard really pushed me towards DigitalCrafts. I based my decision on reviews, personal testimonials from DC alumni in my network, and overall just a good deal of online research. As many people will tell you - you really do get out of this what you put into it. If you have the time and the money to devote to this, and you are ready to put your all into it - then I highly recommend attending DigitalCraft's Full-Time Immersive program. 

Some specific details of what in particular I really appreciated about the course are below:

1. Group Projects - this was huge and something that I feel really gave me a lot to talk about in interviews. We had 4 big projects throughout the 16 week program. In each one, you have to come up with something unique for your group to work on, plan out the work flow, and then actually execute everything in about 1 week. You start learning to solve problems that may not have been directly discussed in lecture, communicate effectively in a group, and constantly adjust your product to fit what you have the time and capability to accomplish.

2. The Instructor - My instructor was a very good speaker, and someone that excelled in breaking technical concepts down into something people with very little experience or background knowledge can understand. There is a huge difference in learning by randomly googling, versus learning from someone that really focuses on best practices and figuring out the most efficient, logical, and readable way to accomplish something. I can not say enough great things about Jonathan.

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My approach to learning coding was originally to learn content through online platforms like Coursera and Udemy while practicing on freeCodeCamp.  I spent about half a year at it, and learned quite a bit, but I hit a point where I knew that to keep myself motivated I would need to find a classroom setting where I would have a structured environment to learn.

My background is that I have always been strong in math.  I took an AP Computer Science course over 15 years ago and did well in that, but pursued Psychology in college and taught elementary school for six years before deciding to pursue coding again.

I gained a lot out of DigitalCrafts.  The curriculum is fast-paced and even the material that I thought I had already learned was presented in a new light.  I learned to think critically about not just how to program, but how to program well - what design patterns were elegant and what patterns should be avoided due to inefficiency or likelihood to cause bugs.  The curriculum was geared towards developing a strong foundation of skills and then challenging students to figure out the more advanced tooling in teams.

The team projects were both difficult and enlightening.  Working in groups, we learned both how to use tools to manage project collaboration, something you just don't learn on your own, and explored techniques and technologies that were not directly taught in class.  In a field where new technologies are being developed all the time, developers must adapt and be ready to learn and implement them to stay relevant in the field.

We built full-stack applications with multiple features, having to set up database tables, backend routes, and front-end dynamic interfaces for each feature.  This incremental development across the stack reinforced the skills learned in class.  In addition, we built what we wanted to build, so we repeated implementations of technologies on intrinsically motivating projects, while learning new things required for each additional feature.  I cannot think of a better way to learn.

The instructor was personable, dynamic, and interesting.  The class environment was supportive and positive.  The staff was full of friendly, helpful people.

I highly recommend this program.

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Before the actual review of the bootcamp itself, let's establish some setting: DigitalCrafts is located on the 4th floor of the Atlanta Tech Village, a beautiful building, collaborative space, and tech hub in downtown Buckhead. It has lots of windows with great views of the city and a big flatscreen in front of the elevators on the first floor that tells you, every five minutes, in glorious high-definition capital letters, to HUSTLE. You will meet some VERY interesting people here if you're open and willing to do that. Now let's get to my educational experience in the full-stack immersive program: because of DigitalCrafts, I am now fully prepared to work as a software engineer. Every single day in Johnathan's classroom was a worthy challenge and a very cool experience, and the level of required focus brought on a personal cognitive shift. I don't just know how to code now, I'm a more open and direct communicator and a more rigorous thinker. I feel totally prepared for the real and virtual world of software engineering, and perhaps more importantly, I'm having real conversations with the people who can make that happen.

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