Showerthought: I had to pick between a coding bootcamp or just building my own projects after I left school.

I left my computer science program last year and faced a real choice: spend $15k on a 12-week bootcamp or just start making things on my own. I went the solo route, built a basic app for tracking local food trucks, and got my first freelance job from it. Did anyone else skip the formal training and just learn by doing?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan48824d ago

wyatt932 said "a structured bootcamp gives you a clear plan and connects you with teachers who can answer questions." That's the part I think people miss when they go solo. Without a plan, you end up spending a ton of time on stuff like styling a button perfectly instead of learning how databases actually work. I saw it with my own project - I got the frontend looking nice but had no clue how to handle user logins or store data properly. A bootcamp would have forced me to cover those bases in order. Plus when you hit a wall and nobody's there to explain, it's easy to just give up for the day.

nancy3912mo ago

My buddy did that, landed a job at a startup.

wyatt9322mo ago

Your path worked out, but that's a pretty big gamble for most people. A structured bootcamp gives you a clear plan and connects you with teachers who can answer questions. Building solo projects can leave big gaps in your knowledge that are hard to spot on your own. Having a guide through the tougher concepts is worth the money for a lot of folks. It just depends on how you learn best.