First Step Coding

I attended the First Step Coding class in November 2018 in San Francisco. I really enjoyed it and found it very informative and helpful. We started with fairly basic coding principles but moved quickly to more advanced skills.  Our teachers were really good, very knowledgeable and knew exactly how to explain complicated concepts and topics.  FSC helped me to learn JavaScript and understand the core of the language , I feel the course gave me a solid foundation of skills and knowledge for me to be successful.  If you want to leran to code and don't know where to start  - start with First Step Coding!

 

 

I recently started a Customer Success position at a small tech startup and I have the opportunity to interact with the developers much more than I did at previous jobs. In this role I am put in the position to advocate for certain product enhancements and fixes that the client asks for. I decided to take the Intro to JavaScript course so I could get a better understanding of the work that the developers do and be more technically literate when discussing tasks and priorities with the Engineering team. This course was taught at a fast but manageable pace, the teachers were always available for questions, and the material was challenging but worth my time and effort. I would highly recommend the course to anyone who is trying to dip their toes in the dev world, whether it's to get into a bootcamp or simply to get a basic understanding of JavaScript, CSS, and HTML.

As someone who worked on the sales and marketing side of a boot camp, but never actually learned any programming skills myself, I was anxious about finally putting myself in the position of a student and learn how to code. I signed up for First Step Coding because I read other positive reviews online. I was thoroughly impressed by First Step. Within a short amount of time, I found myself understanding concepts that had previously been exposed to buy for whatever reason, never actually grasped. The instructors were fantastic. The content was delivered in a way that was challenging -- in a good way. The pase of the glass was great. And I was pleasantly surprised to see Andy, the founder of First Step Coding, actually there in the classroom to help students and make sure the class was being ran effectively. As someone who doesn't plan to become a full fledged professional developer, I finally feel like I have a solid, basic understanding of coding to at least be able to more effectively communicate and work with developers. I highly recommend First Step to anyone who's looking to get started with coding, regardless of whether or not they plan to fully pursue coding as a career.

Programming became interesting to me because I work directly with our developer and really enjoyed learning a bit more from him on how the dev was working, namely HTML and CSS. As I asked more questions he recommended that I look around for classes. That’s how I came across FSC and thought it was the perfect fit. Choosing a class came down to three main things; One; cost, two; commitment, and three; accessibility. I wanted to join a class that allowed me to “get my feet wet” so to speak. Enough to know if I really would like pursuing further, but not a 100% commitment like other bootcamps. Overall, I gained so much from this course in such a small ammonite of time. Jake, our professor, and Zach, our TA were both extremely helpful and fun to learn from. They made themselves available often and it was easy to get help. If you’re considering, definitely do it! You’ll have a much better understanding of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS and understand better if this direction is the right one for you.

This was a great introductory course to the fundamentals of coding. If you are on the fence about spending the money for a Coding Bootcamp, think about doing this program first to see if coding is for you. Another great thing about this program is, if you do learn that coding is something you are interested, they are affiliated with various top bootcamps and will provide credit towards the bootcamp tuition. The instructors are available to answer any coding questions as well as general guidance in regards to Bootcamp selection or the job market.

The curriculum taught me the fundamentals in Javascript and delved a bit into JQuery, but most importantly how to approach a problem like a software engineer. While I was in the program, I realized that coding was the career path I want to pursue and helped me gain the confidence and base understanding to apply to a top Bootcamp, which I will be starting in January. 

I recently completed the Intro to Coding in JS course. I was a complete newbie before and now I feel pretty confident in basic coding. The instructors are very knowledgeable and helpful. The class is fast paced with a lot of content, so expect to put in a lot of work and time. The instructor is happy to have weekly 1 on 1 meetings to help with any of the material. I highly recommend attending First Step Coding before attending a boot camp; they teach you the necessary skills to feel confident! 

Choosing FSC was one of the best decisions that I have made and the staff was very enthusiastic in facilitating the course and setting me up to take the class. Due to some issues with my F-1 visa, I was not able to travel back to San Francisco from Vietnam in time to attend the course in-person. After discussing my visa issue with Calli, she kindly offered me the option to switch to the live-online course instead.

The online course exceeded my expectations. At first, I was skeptical of its ability to deliver all the knowledge I was seeking and its ability to allow me to interact with other students, since I only meet them through a screen twice a week. However, after the first day, I was hooked. Each day of class we were divided into pairs to complete coding challenges via a tool called repl.it. Through pair-programming I was able to learn how to work with other people and understand that teamwork in the technical or engineering environments is very essential. Additionally, I did not have to worry about getting help whenever I was stuck on a coding challenge or homework problem since every student is welcome to schedule a 1-on-1 meeting with the instructor for up to one hour each week.

If you're someone like me who was code-curious, but unsure of committing 10K+ to a bootcamp that you may be unprepared for, then FSC is what you're looking for. The curriculum is appropriately paced for complete beginners, however, they will give you enough to chew on to decide if this is potentially a career field for you. You'll start from scratch with Javascript learning basic data types and by the end you'll have a sense of how complex algorithms are constructed, even if you can't yet build them yourself. First Step Coding will give you a sense of clarity. Either you decide that while interesting, this isn't the career for you, or you're hungry for more and possibly developing obsessive interest. Both cases are great because now you'll definitively know if you want to dedicate a significant portion of your life to this undertaking.

The staff is wonderful and incredibly supportive. My instructor was Anna-Brit and she was unendingly patient, kind, and helpful. In or out of class, there was never a question I had that would not get addressed. Even Andy, the founder of the company, was open and available to students -- something that I would have to imagine is a bit of a rarity at other programs. They understand that during this phase of your education you need to have a bit of hand-holding, and while the goal is to get you walking on your own, they're always there for the inevitable stumbles.

In short, if you're curious about programming, but have little to no experience, then this is exactly the place where you need to be. Good luck!

First Step Coding is a great place to start your programming journey whether you want to attend a coding bootcamp, learn some fundamental programming concepts or just want to see if web development and computer science is something you are passionate about. 
The curriculum is top-notch and you will go from learning the fundamentals of programming in JavaScript to being able to understand the power of higher order programming, all while practicing pair programming and meeting some really cool people. I think it is very important to mention that FSC also really teaches you how to think and express yourself as a programmer. You will also learn the basics of HTML, CSS and jQuery. If you decide to take the second half of the course you will use real-world web developer tools such as Visual Studio Code and Chrome DevTools and develop your own website where you are free to explore more in depth concepts if you want. 
I can positively say that the FSC team truly cares about their students and wants them to succeed both academically and personally. I had seen some of the more fundamental concepts in another class so the first part of the course was a revision for me but my instructor Shlomy gave me some resources to study and some harder exercises to work on and we even did a 1 on 1 coding session together. Andy and Kurt (the founder and co-founder) are also always there when you need them and will answer any questions or concerns you may have. I was able to schedule 2 mock interviews with them, which really helped me getting into my bootcamp of choice. Overall, the whole FSC team is always available when you need help and are all both great instructors and people. 
In 2 months I went from being a beginner in programming to getting accepted at Rithm School in San Francisco and being able to pursue a field I know I am passionate about and I couldn’t have done it without First Step Coding. Whatever your goal in the class is FSC will give you the necessary resources to keep exploring and moving forward. 
Thank you Andy, Kurt, Shlomy, Anna-Brit and Calli, you guys are awesome!