I’m kind of torn between either going to a programming boot camp or programming academy.
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I’m kind of torn between either going to a programming boot camp or programming academy.
I really do no have great understanding of what you mean by programming academy but if it is a college you mean by that, then I can provide a little insight into your question.
A college degree in programming will give you a comprehensive introduction to the world of software. You will get exposure to a wide variety of topics ranging from basic software principles to data structures to system programming to compilers to computer science theory. You will have the opportunity to take elective classes that delve deeper into topics that interest you such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, data mining, networking, security, and so on. During this time you will learn multiple programming languages but keep in mind that programming is simply a tool you will use to get work done. At the end of your degree you will have a good sampling of various topics and the ability to build a career in any of those directions. There will be a lot more learning you will have to do as your career progresses.
A coding bootcamp will be vastly different from a college degree. Since most coding bootcamps are only 2-3 months long, your experience will be condensed. Many of the overarching ideas and principles, as well as the level of detail that a CS degree gives you will be replaced with a short but sharp focus on teaching you how to write software that people want. You will probably learn only one programming language (something like Ruby or Python and not something like C++) and the focus will be on actually building software that someone might pay you for. You will completely forego any of the advanced topics that come in the form of CS electives I mentioned above. You will learn how to code but skip out on most if not all of the why. The goal of a coding bootcamp is to give you the minimum set of skills necessary to get a job writing basic software. You will have to continue to learn and develop your skills when you leave, but unlike going to college, you will have a more limited exposure to software and so the foundation you have to build off of will be much smaller.
Personally, as someone who has just finished their degree, I can tell you that I feel like my learning has only begun. I think one of the most valuable aspects of my degree is that it has lifted many of the “unknown unknowns” and turned them into “known unknowns”. That means I may not be an expert in compilers, or system programming, or any of the topics I studied in college. However, I know that they are out there, and I know what most of them are so that I can research them and hone my skills in them as needed as my career progresses. Keep in mind that all of this information is available for free on the internet. Whether it be online courses from something like Coursera and Udemy, or Wikipedia, or other assorted articles and sources you find through Google, every bit of information you can get is available online. There is just so much of this information that it is a hugely daunting task to start from knowing nothing and teaching yourself this material.
Coding bootcamps and a programming degree at a university achieve two different, but related goals. There are pro’s and con’s to both, but there’s no reason you can’t do both.
I’m a code mentort and I’ve mentored many students. I had a student who had very little coding background and had spent his career working in sales. On the other end of the spectrum one of our student one of our students already had a computer science background. Both of the students went on to get awesome jobs as web developers after completing the program. So you don’t need to do both, but you can. Alright, let’s dig into what the different options are good at.
Coding bootcamps are very short (8-12 weeks) and intense, it focuses on learning the skills currently in demand in industry, skip spending time going over abstract theories and advanced math. After going to a coding bootcamp you should be prepared to take an application idea and build it yourself. Bootcamp is usually designed for career switchers
and taught by people who have experience in industry. Programming academy will teach you the meta-skill of learning and goes into the most complicated topics of computer science. By tackling the hardest topics in computer science, building applications, getting jobs, etc. becomes a lot easier. Coding bootcamps teach you everything that is practical that you will use right from the first day.