DigitalCrafts

I dropped my last job as an electrical engineer to learn full-stack web development at DigitalCrafts.  I can say that it was absolutely worth every penny.  I had Veronica as my instructor and she made coding super fun and enjoyable.  The environment is extremely conducive to learning and you will learn a LOT in 4 months.  At times it can be very stressful, so it really helps when you have an instructor that goes out of their way to help students succeed. 

DigitalCrafts cares very much about imbuing their students with the tools to make it in the world of software.  If you're at all serious about getting into web development, DigitalCrafts is a no-brainer, especially for those in the Houston area.  Overall I would rate 5/5, would recommend to a friend.  Work hard and take their curriculum seriously and you will come out with a solid foundation for launching a fruitful career in web development.

When I decided to make a change of career to Software Developer I was a little afraid I was gonna be really lost because I had no coding experience, but after doing a little research I found Digital Crafts, which had really great reviews and everyone said the program was amazing, so I decided to do it. Today I'm so happy I found it and I'm so happy with my decision to do it because it really is one of the best experiences in my life.

The amount of things you learn in four months is crazy (good crazy). It takes a lot of commitment, work and dedication to learn everything but everyone is so helpful and always willing to help you with everything. The instructors are amazing, the program is amazing, all the digitalCrafts team are amazing and friendly, so for everyone who is thinking about going for a change and are not so sure to just go for it because you have no experience or very little experience, my advice to you is to just go for it and go with digitalCrafts, you will not regret it and personally, i'm really impressed about where I am now, and where I was four months ago.

PS: The pre-work is really helpful to not be lost the first days if you're really new to coding; and if you're not its a good practice, so do it. :) 

Before attending DigitalCrafts, I was learning and coding in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and not sure what step I should take to start being able to develop professional websites for startups and corporations. I found that DigitalCrafts had great reviews and decided to join and don't regret it in the slightest! Although DigitalCrafts starts off with basic fundamentals and is very beginner-friendly, most students seemed like they were at an equal skill level once we started backend technologies. For our final projects, many startups and agencies within the office building came in to pitch ideas and let us work directly with them to gain experence working with businesses/clients.

Veronica was an amazing instructor and was always able to teach complicated topics in a simple, understandable way, and the TAs were always there to help students with whatever problems we would face during our projects and homework. Veronica always made sure all of us were understanding what we were studying and made it fun. One of the TAs(James) even came to the school on a Saturday to help me and two others on issues we were facing on our projects and stayed till 8:30pm coding with us and making sure we understood the concepts we were struggling with.

I would definitely recommend DigitalCrafts for both begineers and CS majors and suggest to future students to do as much of the prework 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.

I'll start with the good stuff: 

This course is the best investment of both my time and my money that I've made in my career. If you've been teaching yourself code through tutorials and books, but are having a tough time pulling all those elements together to build projects from scratch, DigitalCrafts will get you there. You just have to be willing to put in the work.

The technologies taught here are extremely relevant in today's development landscape, and there are many high-paying roles where you can solve interesting problems with the skills you'll learn in this course. I think you also get a good survey of the differences between back-end and front-end development, so you can make an educated decision about which to specialize in. Or, you can be indecisive like me and try to be both ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The instructors were another big positive here. Lachlan and Adam are both extremely knowledgeable, and have each carved out great tech careers. Folks that are lucky enough to find a technical mentor have a huge leg-up in teaching themselves to code. Not everyone has access to a mentor, so having these two industry experts to ask questions to and learn from for 6 months was a huge part of the value of this course.

I'd also say the folks leading DigitalCrafts are very open to feedback. We saw quite a few changes made on the fly based on feedback from students, and I've already heard some great ways they're improving future cohort's courses based on our experience. 

Finally, the structure of a classroom environment and a cohort of peers all learning and struggling with the material alongside you really helps. When you try to teach yourself watching YouTube tutorials and you don't understand something, there's not much you can do other than find another one or keep re-watching until you understand it. When you are in a classroom and you don't get something, it's likely there are other classmates that don't get it either. The instructors are pretty good about checking for understanding, and can find another way to explain the topic until everyone's on the same page.

The less-than-great: 

We started things off with a Programming Fundamentals section, which is an excellent place to start. However, it was taught in Python, which we never used after that intro. DigitalCrafts heard our feedback loud and clear on that, and I have heard they're just going to teach this section in JavaScript (the primary language used throughout the course) for future cohorts.

I'd offer the same critique as the Python section for the jQuery sections. Though it's still useful, jQuery is pretty dated, and we replace it with React later in the course. I think teaching the DOM manipulation stuff in vanilla JavaScript would be a better use of that time, and build familiariity with the language earlier on.

I don't count this as a "negative", as it's not part of what the course sells itself as, but Computer Science fundamentals like algorithms and data structures are not covered in the course. Learning these makes you much stronger in tech interviews, so I'd recommend taking the more CS-themed electives as they become available, and spending a lot of time becoming practicing these kinds of problems on leetcode.com or codewars.com.

I attended DigitalCrafts from Feb - Aug 2018 as part of their first part-time flex cohort. I am currently working as a DIR for the program so my opinions are coming from two perspectives. 

As a student: DigitalCrafts was a great choice for me as stay at home mom with no experience in coding. The initial pre-work was useful and necessary to get you started on the right foot. I would recommend the flex program to anyone who is needing to continue working or cannot dedicate 3 solid months to learning how to code. There were some rough patches at times since this was their first flex cohort, but I still feel like the quality of instruction was good. The instructors were very knowledgeable both in content and career. Keep in mind, if this is something you are considering, it will take a lot of work on your end. Instructors provide lecture and advice but if you are not willing to put in the time and effort you will not be successful. You will get out what you put in. 

As a DIR: Though it hasn't been long, since becoming a DIR I have been able to watch DigitalCrafts improve. One of my highest compliments to the company is their ability and willingness to listen to feedback and adapt. They ask for feedback often and will take action on comments from their students and staff. I feel and hope that this program will only grow and improve.

After several years yearning for a career change, I decided to take the bootcamp route to formalize my interest in programming. During my research, I noted that DigitalCrafts' name and reputation stood out from the rest of Houston programs. DigitalCrafts' fully immersive class provides not only the foundation, but the blueprint for a successful career in the tech world.

Now, it is indeed a challenging 16 weeks. The curriculum packs a lot of work (projects, assignments, extra-curricular learning, etc)  in such a short time. However, the resources to succeed are there. Attentive instructors and TAs, as well as the resources from the DigitalCraft wide network of alumni and current students. In addition to the actual material covered, the staff, including the Campus Director, provide insightful and constructive job-seeking feedback, as well as thorough presentations to make sure that the students are well prepared to tackle the job market.

I could not be happier with my decision to enroll as I see myself light-years away from where I was 5 months ago.

I could not be more satisfied with the education I got with DigitalCrafts. The atmosphere and community built in the classroom create an environment that's easy to learn in and focuses on developing not just personal skills but also cooperation and team-building skills. The staff are fully dedicated to giving every student the opportunity to succeed both in the course and in careers after graduation. I came away from the course confident in my abilities and wielding the tools I need to develop my skills further.

I am very happy with DigitalCrafts. The coursework was intense (as expected), and this allowed me to really hone my Software Development skills in a professional and collaborative environment. Everyone at DigitalCrafts was very helpful, all the way from my Instructor, my TA, Career Services, the Campus Director and everyone in between. They really care about their students’ success. 

As with everything valuable in life, this Coding Bootcamp takes effort, dedication, passion and commitment. My advice for incoming students would be to completely do the pre-work assignment they will give you and practice coding every day. This will allow you to hit the ground running when classes start. 

Best of luck!

Attending DigitalCrafts was a really great decision for me. Before starting the bootcamp I had been self-taught for about year and half, and while I had shallow understanding of many of the topics covered in the course, the Full-Stack Immersive program really helped me dive deeply into it all. I learned a great deal over the 16 weeks that we were in the program, and I would definitely do it again. That being said, no bootcamp could be perfect, so I will split up my review between things I loved about the program, and things that could be better. 

Things I loved about the program:

1. Veronica was a great instructor who would move mountains to help her students. Having the kind of enthusiasm and care from a teacher like Veronica is an invaluable way to start your programming career.

2. Career Week. Career week was a week long module within the program in which we got to: hear from speakers who are currently out working in the field, participate in mock interviews and whiteboarding to learn what we might face when applying to jobs, and learn how to make great resumes and portfolios specifically for jobs as developers. I found this week to be great and it really gave me the confidence necessary to consider myself a professional developer.

3. Group projects. I can't speak enough about how valuable the experience I gained from working on group projects was. Software Development for the most part is not really a 'lone-wolf' kind of field, so learning things like pair-programming, source-control collaboration, and good communication, is an experience without equal. Group projects also allowed us students to learn a lot from one another as each and every person brought a very unique set of skills and knowledge to the team.

4. A focus on the fundamentals. This was something that I really enjoyed about both Veronica and Paul's teaching. Rather than chasing down a million different frameworks, we learned how to write clean programs in Python and vanilla JavaScript. Frameworks come and go, but I am confident that knowing the fundamentals and core technologies of the web stack will show long term career benefits and I am really thankful Veronica applied that same belief to her teaching.

5. Friday interview challenges. Another really great aspect of the DigitalCrafts curriculum. Each Friday we would be split into pairs and would have an hour to answer as many questions as we could ranging from programming trivia and brain teasers to pretty difficult coding problems. Not only did these challenges test our problem solving skills and knowledge, but they also forced us to learn how to communicate well under a time crunch. I am very glad that this was a part of the course.

6. Business pitches. Just before our final projects we got the chance to listen to local businesses pitch us their ideas about work or projects they needed done. We then had the option of working with these businesses for two weeks to develop and ship a real product for them. This was another amazing aspect of the course and having worked for one of the local businesses, I gained a lot of experience from the project. I would 100% recommend that DigitalCrafts continue doing this for future cohorts.

Things I was not such a fan of:

1. A lack of community. I really wish DigitalCrafts had placed a greater emphasis on building community at the Houston campus. Aside from an awkward pizza party at the beginning of the course, and the occasional sharing of champagne to celebrate job offerings, there was a pretty massive lack of social-life within the bootcamp. Most days were spent listening to the lecture(s), doing the exercises, and then leaving for the day, with practically no after class activities provided that would build camaraderie. On the very last day of the course the staff did take us out for happy hour, however, it was somewhat disappointing to only get to know all the awesome personalities within our cohort and with the staff at the end of the course rather than throughout it.

2. Not enough attention applied to computer science fundamentals. To preface this point, coding bootcamps are not supposed to be replacements for computer science degrees, so I am not saying that DigitalCrafts should aim to teach what you would learn in university courses. However, CS basics do make up the foundations of programming, and learning basic concepts like what data structures are, what Big O notation is, binary, networking (TCP, HTTP, FTP), and memory management, are somewhat essential to excelling as a programmer. When the curriculum allowed, Veronica was really great at teaching these concepts and she covered them with great clarity. The lesson in which she explained the difference between "pass by reference" versus "pass by value" during our JavaScript module was a eureka moment for me. Unfortunately, these were usually very short snippets of the lesson and I feel that the concepts did not really "stick" for most of us.

3. Teaching Assistant turnover. TA's were a pretty essential aspect of the course. Veronica could not be in three places at once answering each student's questions, and having TA's available to answer questions when Veronica was unable to was really helpful. Unfortunately, these TA positions are only meant to be temporary positions for DC alumni while they go through the job search or long interview processes. This meant that there was a lot of TA turnover throughout our course, usually losing and replacing one every 2-4 weeks. I really think it would a great idea if DigitalCrafts made this a full-time position that lasted the length of a cohort so as to provide more continuity.

4. The pre-course work could be better. Having gone through the pre-work with a couple of other bootcamps such as Hack Reactor and General Assembly, I felt that the pre-work for DigitalCrafts could benefit from being a bit more methodical, rather than just being a list of somewhat random learning resources.

Digital Crafts is a 16 week full stack immersive bootcamp.  It is time consuming, but definitely worthwhile.  The covered material is interesting, and will be needed by job seekers when entering the job market.  The instructors are dedicated and knowledgable, and there are a lot of resources available to you throughout the duration of the course.

If you are looking for a career change I would definitely recommend Digital Crafts.

P.S. Don't worry if you have little coding experience!

I went into DigitalCrafts knowing close to nothing about web development, and before I had finished the course, I had accepted a job offer. As had many others in my class.

This course is not easy and will take a lot of dedication, but will pay off if you work hard. The instructors were very knowledgable and did all they could to make sure the students were successful. While at the same time they don’t hold your hand, and will teach you to work past your own technical roadblocks, which will benefit you in your career. They also offer good career support and advice to help you get a job.

Overall it was a great experience that helped me get a foot into a new career and would I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a coding bootcamp.