For many years, there were two paths to learning a computer skill or language: go to school and earn a traditional academic degree or certificate or learn it by practice via trial and error or through online tools. Depending on the person, people find one or the other effective for their needs. Today, however, training programs online exist by the hundreds.
So, a stand-out, intensive approach was needed to provide people with a deep immersion in a practice or skill training that didn’t require the long length of an academic program but could be as powerful as a college course in terms of the breadth covered. Additionally, it needed to be practice-oriented for what was needed most in real-time work settings. Ergo, the “developer boot camp” was created.
Why Is It Named a “Bootcamp?”
For a web development bootcamp program, a student goes through an intensive training schedule compacted into a high-performance, short window. Every day covers enough material that would typically involve a half to a full week of concepts, as well as heavy practice in the application of skills, ergo the “boot camp” moniker. It’s not a training approach for those who like to take things casually or slowly. Similar to a military training regimen to turn a civilian into a functional soldier in 8 or 12 weeks, a boot camp development program puts the capital letters in the word “intense.”
Bootcamp web development programs have been highly successful for those who have a fast-learning aptitude and a desire to scale up their skillset quickly or for those who want to reinforce what they know under intense, industry-practical requirements to perform.
Ideally, successful completion of a boot camp signals the candidate is more than ready to take on high-pressure assignments in web development, including more advanced aspects of script programming, front-end and back-end stack development, large CSS projects, and marriage with high-end graphic and multimedia tools. Given the explosion of Web 3.0 platforms and similar, advanced web skills have become even more attractive, and a boot camp provides many a shortcut to skill development for fast entry into related assignments.
The Market Has Recognized the Need & Training
In fact, the demand was so high for web development boot camps that by 2017, the topic represented two-thirds of all recognized boot camp programs offered in the tech field. And the interest has only increased. Unlike academic programs that follow a very regimented learning plan approach that must go through a bureaucracy of approvals for content before usage, boot camps are highly sensitive to the latest demands, tools, industry changes, and needs.
For graduates, the investment has paid off; 1 out of every two successful students has realized an income increase as a result of their training or at least after it has been completed. As a result, the tool has been a go-to option for anyone trying to get into any kind of programming quickly, especially in terms of web development.
A good amount of economic pressure has helped boot camp growth as well. The federal government, through its U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), easily expects an ongoing 8 percent growth in industry demand for the skillset specific to web work and digital development of related content. No surprise, boot camp popularity and enrollment have increased accordingly.
What to Expect in Curriculum
Web development bootcamp throws a student right away into advanced web design as well as the language tools used to make it happen. No surprise, some basic understanding of HTML and CSS is already necessary just to understand how to navigate around a web design’s basic framework. Students are quickly pressed and pushed into the application of scripting tools, ranging from outright programs like Python to in-line scripting tools like JavaScript.
Expanded applications of CSS become essential in keeping a grip on portal projects and multi-page setups with shared formatting and unique multimedia integration for different screen view sizes as well. Dynamic web design through programs like Ruby and React are applied, too. In short, students understand the entire portfolio of how to automate a website, whether it will be a multiple landing grid of e-commerce pages or an intense experience in sound, video, design, and graphical layout. Principles of user experience (UX) and user interface are deep-dived as well for end-product high-quality delivery.
Depending on the program supported, boot camp classes can be delivered online, in a hybrid format, and in person. For many, the in-person mode is especially intense and valuable due to the team aspect of complex development, but many classes are also handled entirely remotely or part-time, accommodating those who may be at a distance or unable to engage in person due to time schedules in the day.
Some boot camps are incredibly short, running for only 4-weeks at length. Students can expect to put in 10 and even 12-hour day learning sessions, absorbing an incredible amount of application and skill, similar to what an intensive product launch might feel like in a modern tech company role.
The above-said web development book camps are not 1-to-1 substitutes for computer science degrees. A typical college CS degree easily incorporates far more with algorithm theory, language training in at least three to five different programming languages, math up to the calculus level at least, and operational design theory for networking and hardware. However, the value of an intense immersion has proven itself repeatedly with practice work-ready skill development that quickly launches students to another level of capability in web design.
Best Formats to Look For as a Student
Ideally, a student looking for the best value from a boot camp choice should be expecting to see the following in a program:
- Heavy 1-on-1 interaction and daily opportunities for explanations, questions, and expert advice on best practices.
- Practice, real-world exercises one would see in the industry.
- Both individual and team challenges to emulate common assignments from the work world.
- Options for attendance and involvement, whether remote or in-person.
- Involvement of potential employers as speakers and recruitment assistance.
- The ability to continue learning development beyond the boot camp itself for advanced specialization.
- Pre-boot camp preparation to obtain the best value of the program once enrolled and engaged.
Bootcamp training programs like LearningFuze and their Web Development Bootcamp path not only deliver the above but also provide full engagement with professional engineers who have and continue to practice what they teach in industry settings. These are not retired instructors who’ve been out of the work world for two decades’; LearningFuze’s approach is highly leveraged off of development content and industry demands happening today based on their network collaboration with multiple tech employers and similar.
With a 16-week intensive schedule, students in LearningFuze can expect eight weeks of fundamental training skill evolution culminating in hackathons and then eight more weeks of advanced programming and tool usage with a capstone project integrating all elements of learning into a real-time portal platform delivery. In addition, post-graduation mentorship is proactively provided for career guidance and portfolio evaluation, enhancing the recruitability of graduates.
