In this article I want to share my experience what is better — coding Bootcamp or Computer Science Degree ?
Before I begin with my article , I just want to say that before I decided to study computer science I didn’t have any knowledge or what is the meaning of coding. The one thing I knew is that I was very interested in the term .
Let’s start where it’s all begin . 6 years ago I decided to study computer science because I felt that this is the best practice and the best way to gain your knowledge to become a software engineer . During my study I discovered a fascinating world and what is the actually meaning of computer science . It’s not just examples of code but there is more behind the scene . I will give you small examples like Graph theory ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_theory ) and Data Structure (geeksforgeeks.org/data-structures) . Just a reminder to you that I didn’t have any past experience with coding , the only experience I had was from movies .
After I graduated, I took a pause and I was trying to figure out my is the next step , now you probably ask yourself what next step — you graduated with computer science and you are going to be a software engineer . But one of the things that I understand while at college is that a big part of my bachelor degree was more theoretical and less actual coding , I didn’t felt ready and I was looking how can I become better software developer and what is the missing part .
Again I’m not saying that a Bachelor degree didn’t contribute to become a software developer . I can say that all of my friends from college found a job in the industry basically right away after graduating . But for me it wasn’t the case.
I was trying to figure out what I have been missing and what part of my skills I don’t have yet . The first option was using Udemy(Full Stack web developer course) as a learning tool , that gave me very basic knowledge about the web in general. It gave me an idea how coding Bootcamps can help me to gain more knowledge and become more efficient and better as a software developer. I was doing my own research about random Bootcamps , after I decided in which Bootcamp I want to participant, I asked for a syllabus to see what kind of topics it’s cover and does this coding Bootcamp can help me with my personal goals . After receiving the syllabus I asked my friends that work in the industry to check out the syllabus and I wanted to know their opinion on it . General opinion was that this particular coding Bootcamp cover all the necessary topics that I was looking at.
Next thing I found myself at the coding Bootcamp as one of the students . One of the many things that I noticed in the beginning and until the graduation of the course is that I have some advantage on other students . From here I am going to share my own opinion how Computer Science helped me to become better at the Bootcamp.
Examples :
I was more familiar with the jargon : scopes, variable , loop, class , object, function and more , not just familiar but deeper understanding how everything is connected to each other ( not just in the beginning of the course but until I graduated). For example the meaning of the word this.
I had more knowledge on Data Structure and Algorithms that we were studying in our Bootcamp . I was able to help my teammates with homework and also with our projects.
When I was exposed to new technologies like Node.js — I felt it was easier for me to understand what is node.js , and how using Node.js . I can say the same about React and the old version of React (used with classes as OOP ) .
I was able to read and understand other codes much faster because again I had some experience with code before. For example looking through Stack Overflow when I had some issues and I needed to solve problems during my projects or helping my teammates.
There are more examples but I didn’t want to make this article long, I tried to make it short and brief .
My final words : I can say from my own experience the combination of a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science and Coding Bootcamp is knowledgeable . Both helped me in my process to become a better software developer , having a Bachelor Degree helped me gain theoretical knowledge — it helps you as a developer understand not just lines of code but how is everything working under the hood, answer difficult questions on whiteboard interview and much more. Having coding Bootcamp helps you to implement all the knowledge that you have to actual projects and actual understating of how everything is connected ( client-side and server-side , what is DB and more ) .
If someone will ask me to choose Coding Bootcamp or Bachelor Degree , I will say Bachelor Degree again because you have all the knowledge that you need to become a software developer . Well you probably ask yourself why I didn’t became software developer after my graduated with my Bachelor Degree . Well I had the time and the effort to do coding Bootcamp .
Hope you enjoyed my article and I helped you decide what to study or even gave you some opinion on one of the fields . Again there is no right answer each one of us have different paths in our lives I just share my own .