Hi folks! It's Katie from Parts and Crafts.
We are hoping to get some introductory coding classes up and running at the Somerville Fab Lab and have been in conversation with the First Source Jobs program about putting together some starter classes for people who are interested in exploring computer programming as a possible career track
Our hope is to design a simple starter course for people who want to do a coding bootcamp but first want to suss out if it's worth the investment.
My sense is that it takes 3-4 years of dedicated effort to go from "no coding knowledge" to "employable," but that programming remains one of the cheapest ways to bootstrap yourself into a good job without paying a lot of money upfront. That said, my expertise is in education, not the Boston coding scene! Before we put together and pitch a class, I was hoping to get some feedback from programmers on this list on how to make this type of offering most effective.
Here are some content-specific questions I have.
- Are coding bootcamps effective? (vs. say academic programs)
- Are there pay-for programs that you would recommend to others?
- What platforms or languages should we focus on to prepare people for this type of course?
- What type of informal networking needs to be in place to make this type of class successful?
- What resources exist in Cambridge / Somerville beyond the Fab Lab to help support people who want to get into programming?
Basic efficacy questions include:
- What is a reasonable "class-to-successful-job-application" trajectory for someone with previous coding experience who needs to brush up?
- Is there a reasonable trajectory for someone who has no coding experience whatsoever?
Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!
Katie