Le Wagon

 Hugo from batch 51 (early 2017) of Le Wagon in Bordeaux 

I graduated from a business school 4 years ago with the impression to have learned little and regretted not learning enough skills useful for the startup world. I wanted to learn a programming language but I needed to find a job and wasn’t sure I wanted to start over studying. Today I just finished batch 51 of Le Wagon in Bordeaux in France and if I could go back in time I would scream at my recently graduated self “GO DO LE WAGON!!!”  I learned to learn how to code. The program is well built to teach you the foundations of web programming with custom tools developed by the team. I also greatly appreciated the immersive experience in the life of a web developer which is a huge asset even if you never code again. But most of all, the teachers are all former students of Le Wagon which makes them the best help because they know exactly what you are going through.
Now I am back working on my startup idea with all the skills I need and a big network of alumnis.

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Coming from a business background, I was missing a creative dimension in my investment banking career. So I decided to take a year off from my MBA and learn to code with the objective to move to a tech role after graduation.

That's when Le Wagon came into my life and allowed me to make a transition towards a more creative career. It was the ideal first step to become an entrepreneur.

I loved my time at Le Wagon: the entrepreneurial mindset, the dedication of the staff and the overflowing creativity of my fellow students made these 9 weeks a unique and transformational experience.

It is incredible to realize how much you learn and can achieve in 2 months and a half: I became more independent and was able to launch my own venture with friends.
Le Wagon not only brings you technical skills but also an essential working framework.

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After studying graphic design and working for two years as a freelance UI/UX designer in Paris, I decided to join batch #48 because I wanted to be able to develop my own projects, from the first idea to an actual web app. And I was not disappointed!

The pedagogical approach and teaching methods are designed to help the student to learn by himself and become an autonomous web developer, while learning how to work among others as part of a team — physically and online. Moreover, Le Wagon Paris staff is full of very cool and talented persons who care a lot about the welfare of all the people involved in this crazy adventure.

After probably the 9 most intense weeks of my life, I was really proud and excited to present the MVP of mnemosyne.io, the project we built during the last 10 days with 3 other students — here is a link if you want to watch it. It’s a platform to share and discover art and design master theses. I’m now working on an alpha private version and hopefully a public beta version at the end of this summer!

So if like me, you want to give life to your best ideas, I can only recommend you to apply to Le Wagon FullStack program. I promise you that you won’t regret it ;)

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My 9 weeks training at Le Wagon Bordeaux (batch#51) was such an amazing experience ! The teachers team, the pedagogy, the interaction between alumnis and the projects we made, gave me really operational skills and a clear vision of what an efficient work is in full stack web developpement. In the last 10 days we built a full and working platform for delivery companies and customers with all the techs we’ve learned, like geolocalization and mapping.
Be prepared to meet exciting people, to spend hours of working and to finally blow your mind !

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If you want to learn how to be a good developper, Le Wagon is made for you.
I am a student from the batch #51 at Bordeaux, I came here because I couldn’t afford to outsource my company website development, these 9 weeks have helped me to be able to do it on my own.
The school gave me more than my expectations!
The programme has been built in order to teach you how to code, to get the good developer behavior, and also to help you even after with all the training material available, and believe me… it is a great idea!
This is a serious and friendly community I am very pleased to be a part of.

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Would you like to learn how to build a web application from scratch, surrounded by skillfull and friendly teachers? And follow courses at le Wagon in a beautiful city next to the sea while having a good glass of wine after hard day of work? Bordeaux may be your destination :)  

Hello everybody! My name is Pierre. I have been a student at the Le Wagon - Bordeaux for 9 weeks (batch 51). How incredibe and serious the way code has been taught to me, with no experience at all in web developpement before starting the courses. (I need to remind you that the courses is also structured for advanced level students). 

You will probably fall in love with ruby when coding simple programs to start,  enjoy designing your database schema and play hard with ActiveRecord in Rails, the framework you will use to build your web app! Patience, one step at a time, the road is not that easy and you will have to work hard during those weeks if you really wish to assimilate intense hours of courses and code (several langages as well!)

 You will also learn to design your pages, use Bootstrap and make layouts responsive to user’s devices (mobile phone, tablets etc.). Everything is made (online plateform, live codes, exercices, documentation) to make you practice and to be automomous in your work. Helpfull teachers and assistants will guide you through the courses, resolvings conflicts and bugs, giving you advices and tips when you’re stucked, and on top of that : share experience as humans with a strong passion for code! (You will meet extraordinary, available and open-minded people).

During the 10 last days at Le Wagon, you will work on a rails project in team (you build everything from scratch and present a demo in front of a public audience in the end. 

I developped with my team a social online plattform to share opinions on various themes with a fun angle. It was a technical challenge to increment the Websocket ActionCable technology in our app to get results in real time with a friendly user interface.

Le Wagon – Bordeaux is also very involved in technical business life.  Meetups, business conferences on various themes and they foster you to particpate in order to increase your developper’s web culture, your business vision etc.

That was honnestly the best courses I have ever had in the past few years in a great environnement:  kitchen and unlimited coffee, comfy chairs and work space! 

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“Everybody in this country should learn how to program, because it teaches you how to think.” Steve Jobs

Have you ever asked yourself if your ideas could be turned into concepts and even more into designed products ? Because i must say, i have. I’ve always been curious about how entrepreneurs had been able to create such great companies like Google, Facebook or Airbnb, companies where the product is the core of everything. Well, obviously, i needed to learn how to code to find out. So last January, just after my M1 in Business Management, i decided to join the 48th Batch of Le Wagon Paris.

I have to say that i am impressed. It was just incredible. The team, the courses, the teachers, the environnement, the events.. Everything was just amazing. It’s been a long journey, but at the end i am really grateful.

The program is really well structured with 3 weeks of hard skills at the beginning, learning the basics of the Ruby language. This is the perfect time to learn the logic behind an algorithm program. You’ll be able to learn how to code a black jack even if you’re not 21. It is very hard at the beginning but the teachers are by your side the whole time. Then you’ll learn how to play with a database with the SQL program, Software engineering, front end languages such as HTML, CSS, Javascript and Jquery during two weeks. Then, Ruby On Rails which is the framework used to code your project from A to Z followed by a direct application building a clone of Airbnb. Finally, you’ll be able to code your own project for the last two weeks. ( By the way if you’re stuck with a farewell party, check out The Good Gift )

To be completely honest, beside being able to learn how to develop a web app in only 2 months, which is already unbelievable, the adventure was humanely incredible. I’ve met and worked with people from different cultures and completely different backgrounds. I’ve learned more from the friends i’ve made than I thought I would and most of all, i’ve finished the program with a real sense of accomplishment.

I now joined le Hub Bpifrance as a start up analyst/growth hacker and planning to build my own start up when i graduate.

Feel free to contact me on Linkedin, i’d be glad to give you more details about this experience.

Best,

 

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When I first came across on Le Wagon website the first thing caught my attention was their slogan: “Change your life: learn to code”. I thought this was exactly what I wanted, change my life, jump in another “adventure”.

After my 4 years in China and almost 1 in Cambodia working as a Project manager  in the garment business, I wanted to go back to Europe and start again a new career.

Cause my IT background and cause ,as Project Manager, I always worked with developers I decided that the best way to go back in the market was to polish off my coding skills, which I was not touching  since the university times.

To me coding always been something boring to do.
I remember at the university studying  C or Pascal was a torture, thats why I decided to follow the networking path and avoid code.

But since today the world need coders I decided to give it a second opportunity and study it again in some cool course all around Europe.. and boom! That is exactly when I came across Le Wagon. 

I made my decision in one night.. “if it’s cool as it look like then I have found the right course for me”.

I signed in the day after. The first available batch was in Barcelona (beautiful city!) I called them, I did my interview and finally ,after few days, I got the confirmation: I was in!

After a wait of almost 1 month, here I was , learning code in a beautiful city like Barcelona, and yes, everything was like I expected It was, absolutely fantastic.

All teachers and people from Le Wagon  they were not just teachers but they were and are great human beings, taught me how to code and how to love it, they transmit me their passion and  their will to keep going and to learn something new everyday.

And right now I just can’t stop! I do code everyday and I am hungry of learning more and more, knowing that now I am part of an amazing community that is there anytime I will need help.

Thanks Le Wagon for this great experience, you really changed my life.

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Le Wagon is worth the investment and lives up to its reputation. Before joining the bootcamp I was trying to follow online tutorials to learn how I could build some prototypes of ideas we had for web apps but with the feeling I would never be able to leave the training wheels and ride on my own. I found Le Wagon by chance and seeing that the technology stack covered in the programmed matched what I was trying to learn, it looked like a perfect fit.   The program is demanding and fast-paced, but it is aimed and suited at complete beginners, although I feel that if you take the time to explore the technologies covered before starting you will get so much more out of this bootcamp.   The teachers are experienced in software engineering and they approach topics both from practical standpoints as well as theoretical.   The teaching staff is always available to help you with your doubts at all times.    There’s alsomore than simply coding though. Le Wagon organises talks and interviews with entrepreneurs and people involved in the start-up scene, which greatly complements the content of the course.   What really surprised me was the atmosphere between students and that’s something Le Wagon staff fosters and encourages – creating a network of contacts and fellow-students which will continue beyond the bootcamp.   The pace of the last two weeks is hectic due to the final projects but that’s where it all comes together. My team and I built a web app to track routines through user created questions/forms and it was great to see that I was able to build and structure a product on my own that differed from what I had been taught.   Now I understand why some of the reviewers wrote that Le Wagon changed their lives or that it was the greatest thing they’ve ever done. It’s not cliché. Even if you don’t plan on becoming a developer, it is an enriching experience and a fantastic coding program. As for me, I found something I really love doing.   Read less

My experience in the bootcamp was more than I could have expected. It started a bit scary and overwhelming in the first weeks but once time passed and programming and ruby notions were quickly building up in my head, it became more and more fun. The more I learned, the more possibilities I could envision. Honestly, I didn't think that I could learn how to build a fully functional web app in 9 weeks, but hey! it did happen!
Also, what really made the bootcamp for me, was the people involved - teachers, the driver, and all the other students. Its much easier to learn when everyone is heading in the same direction.
Learning to collaborate is a very important step, and the final weeks of the bootcamp are all about collaboration. I saw 10 amazing final projects built from 27 students in 2 weeks and I felt happy and proud of everyone!
My final project was a Facebook Messenger Bot that can pretty much work as a receptionist for a small hotels/hostels. And yes, in two weeks, my group figured out how to actually make it work
The feeling that stuck with me after finishing the bootcamp was that now I have the freedom and the tools to build anything I want and that feels really good! I loved it, definitely recommend it and wish I could do it again

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I graduated in 2013 from a business school with a specialisation in finance, then worked for 3 years in startups before joining Le Wagon's Fullstack program.

Being immersed in this tech environment and following the latest news on startups, certainly got me curious - but how do they do it? - and I slowly gained interest in code. I first tried to learn a bit by myself thanks to online resources. The problem was that learning code on and off through 1-hour lessons on my free-time turned out to be very difficult.

I heard about Le Wagon a bit more than a year ago from an alumni and I instantly found the format was pretty suited to my needs. Learning a language and being operational in 9 weeks, it's magical. Quickly, I felt like I wanted to be able to understand this completely foreign language and I realised as well that it would be a tremendous asset the day I would decide to start a company on my own - one day - I applied right when I got the opportunity to do it.

Yes, the bootcamp is truly demanding, but the methodology so efficient: theoretical classes - not too long to keep students' attention - followed by practical exercices to do in pairs, with a different buddy everyday. Classes allow to tackle basics and exercices to quickly assimilate them, pair-programming encourages socializing but also enables to improve faster by facing the questions of others.

The last few weeks are dedicated to the development, in groups, of web applications that are pitched by the students. It is the opportunity to put into practice everything that has been previously learnt in smaller modules.

And the result is... stunning, we built from scratch real web-applications that are fully functional, in no more than 2 weeks. I am very impressed by the speed at which we learnt all that, but also very proud of our project.
During the bootcamp, I also realised all the possibilities that are brought by these new skills, and I know that they'll be useful in any type of job.

As a whole, these 9 weeks are an amazing experience, I learnt a lot, met great people and found new professional opportunities.

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After graduating from my business school, I've decided to start an entrepreneurial experience with one of my friends. We've paid a web development company to create our web platform and tried to sell it to our target. For many reasons, this company has never been close to be successful and several frustrations occured during this experience. Nevertheless one frustration was bigger than the others : our inability to update/fix/improve our website by ourselves. We've obviously tried to learn alone but it was never sufficient enough to make significant modifications on our website. A few weeks after the end of this experience, I was at the HQ of Le Wagon in Paris for my 1st day of the Fullstack Program.

Le Wagon was the best answer to this frustration. After 9 intense weeks of learning with excellent teachers, I can (proudly) say that I have now enough knowledge to avoid facing this frustration again and to be able to create by myself a solid MVP. The best thing about this program is the well thought-out educational content. It makes you understand in only a few weeks, some of the hardest concepts of web development. Le Wagon has also an amazing worldwide community of teachers and alumni, ready to help you even after the bootcamp. For all of those reasons, I'll highly recommend that you enroll in the FullStack program without hesitation.

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My history with Le Wagon began e few years ago, I had just presented an IT recruiting system at a Ruby meetup in Paris and chance had it that someone from Le Wagon came to this same event to present their Bootcamp. The idea of learning to code started to sprout - but with a 9 to 5 job it would not be easy to find the time for a two months full-time bootcamp.

Some springs later, destiny (or rather my wife) made me move to São Paulo. So I quit my job and started learning Portuguese. Once again, destiny made things right when I heard that Le Wagon had just launched their bootcamp in São Paulo. This time I had the available time and I jumped on the opportunity to apply to their next batch. 

It started with an interview with the person in charge (Mathieu Le Roux), I felt lucky that he happened to be French since my "portuñol" was not that great. We talked about my motivations, in my case I had been working with digital for the past 6 years. I had a multitask profile: product launch, marketing, product management, acquisition strategies, mobile apps... but always felt frustrated for not being able to master 100% of the product chain. The interview went well, I just needed to complete an online course so that my application would be valid. 

One month later the bootcamp started and I felt the first week was really tough. Lots of new concepts everyday had me come home every night with some heavy headaches. It's only after the third week that I felt things became clearer to me, just when we actually connect all the concepts to concrete practical applications. From then on, things started to feel more natural and automatic. After that we had a few more weeks to learn Front End, which for me was easier since I had already created some sites using HTML and CSS. 

And finally, the two best weeks: the final project. Our small group of 4 people wanted to create a recruiting site targeted to developers, with a matching algorithm to find the best profile for each job offer. The team was extra motivated and we worked everyday up to 10pm. It was feature after feature: anonym and public profiles, search engine, matching algorithm, online payment, admin interface, responsiveness...  

The last day finally arrived and it was the moment to demo our product: programathor.com.br. Even though I had improved my Portuguese during these two months, pitching the project myself was still a little bit out of reach. So Julien and Leandro got the responsibility to demo the project, and they brilliantly did! Check out the video!

After Le Wagon I am still considering launching ProgramaThor as a proper business in Brazil and keep improving the platform so I don't forget what I've learned. I'm impressed and proud of what we have accomplished in only two weeks and of what I feel capable of doing after only two months. If you're reading this and still have questions about the program, feel free to contact me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/etiennecurati/  

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LeWagon bootcamp exceeded all of my expectations, not only due to the new skills I got out of it, but also to the people I was surrounded with and the endless opportunities it created for me. 

For the past few years, I had been evolving in the tech/startup industry, working with developers, and also trying to build several digital projects on the side. However, I had always felt limited by not knowing anything about coding. 
Joining LeWagon finally enabled me to get rid of that growing frustration and empowered me to work more efficiently with developers, to better manage digital projects now considering them also from a technical point of view, and to build my own digital projects.

LeWagon’s methodology is perfectly designed and well rhythmed  for people with no prior coding knowledge. The outstanding teaching staff is constantly sharing tips and the best practices they gained from years of experience which gives a lot of hindsight and help better understand what you are learning. On top of that, LeWagon gives you all the tools and resources you need to keep learning autonomously and improve your coding skills in the long-run.

Last but not least, LeWagon is also a strong community of creative and entrepreneur-minded people driven by the pay-it-forward mentality that it’s just awesome to be part of.

In a nutshell, whether you are in digital, you want to be able to build your own projects, or you are currently working with developers, this bootcamp is for you :)

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It has been a journey but a fun one! 
TA's have been very friendly and supportive, while being patient and doing their best explaining complex concepts in understandable ways. 
This experience powered my technical skills and building a project from scratch has given me the confidence I needed. 
Very grateful and happy with the experience and looking forward to put my learnings into practice!  Read less

The past few weeks at Le Wagon have honestly been one of the most intense and rewarding stretches of learning I've experienced. Going from writing my first Ruby methods to building a full-stack Rails application with Devise authentication, Pundit authorization, and third-party API integrations felt like an entirely different world by the end — and getting there meant grappling with real complexity: debugging merge conflicts, untangling database constraints, wrestling with async JavaScript, and learning to read code as carefully as I wrote it. What made it work wasn't just the curriculum, though — it was the people. Building TermsAI with my teammates taught me as much about collaboration, code review, and communication as it did about Rails itself. There's something genuinely special about a room full of people all hitting the same walls at the same time, and cheering each other on when something finally clicks. I came in with a finance background and no coding experience, and I'm leaving with a working app, a much sharper way of thinking about problems, and a group of people I'd happily build something with again. Read less

 This journey has been amazing: very intense, very interesting, and exceptionally well designed, supported throughout by incredible tutors. I met wonderful people I hope to stay in touch with. I would wholeheartedly recommend this programme to anyone looking to grow and connect with a great community.  Read less