First Step Coding

First Step Coding was something I stumbled upon while doing research on coding bootcamps. I am a 30 year old who works in the tech industry with zero background in tech! I wanted to enhance my basic knowledge of coding, but didn't want to commit the time and money into a real bootcamp because I wasn't sure whether or not coding was actually for me. What made First Step coding atractive was that it didn't require me to drop $15k and quit my job before deciding if I enjoyed coding.

I learn best in person and in a group as opposed to online. The classes met twice a week at night, and there were 6 of us in the class with 2 instructors who taught us Javascript. The instructors were young, knowledgeable, and provided a curriculum that made it possible for me to keep going with coding once the classes ended. I will say that I was in the first ever class in Boston that First Step ever did, so there were the usual kinks to work out, but overall I'd recommend the course to anyone interested in code that just wants to get their feet wet. What is also nice is that First Step has a few deals with Bootcamps around Boston so that if you want to enroll in a full time bootcamp, you can be reimbursed the cost of your First Step course.

The software development world is vast and can be pretty intimidating to those interested in giving coding a try. Poking around on your own can only get you so far. First Step Coding provides a true introduction into the fundamentals of programming and has found a unique niche with their partnerships with top bootcamps. In four quick weeks you'll know whether or not pursuing education in coding is right for you and then you'll have Andy and his awesome team on your side to help get you to that next step!  

There is so much to praise about this school. The teachers at First Step Coding are excellent. All the students there are passionate to learn. My core teacher, Tate Thurston, always showed up to class with a big smile on his face and never hesitated to shared his joy for computer programming. He is very knowledgeable and helped me become code literate in one month. Not only did I get all my technical questions answered, Tate helped me become a better student and problem solver. I was not a good problem solver before entering this course. Now, I’m comfortable with problem solving in general. What's also great is the teachers' prior and current experience in the industry. I love hearing their personal stories and wisdom for what works and doesn't.   I’ll admit, even though programming made more sense on paper and on screen, speaking the language to another was a challenge. Coding by myself was only half the pie. Conveying programming concepts and terminology to my classmates helped solidify the content I learned and complete our class exercises. It’s a highly sought after skill that will make you a better computer programmer.   First Step Coding helped me become a better thinker, problem solver, and team player. Don’t worry if you have no background in computer programming. All skill levels welcome. I'm glad I took my first step and signed up for this course. The staff at First Step Coding helped me discover my new career as a full stack web developer.   First Step Coding is a fun environment and great experience for learning computer programming, not to mention all the great conversations you'll have with students and teachers!   A++

I took programming courses before but I feel like I learn more in Andy's class (which is only one month) compared to several semesters of computer science courses.   Andy and Micheal were extremely knowledgeable, responsive and incredibly supportive. They often went outside the box to understand what I'm struggling with and tried their best to accommodate me. In fact, I scheduled several weekend skype office hours with the both of them. In all occasions, they were able to provide me with valuable feedback that eventually gave me a stronger foundation in Ruby and JavaScript!   One of the key takeaways is that I learned how to pair program (which I've never done before). For the majority of the coding bootcamps that I applied to, I need to pair program with the interviewers and explain to them my thought process of how I got from point A to point B. Andy definitely did a good job in terms of introducing the concept of pair programming to us and providing us enough class time to practice it!     Andy continues to follow up with all his students after the program. There were numerous occasions that I asked him for advice for bootcamps (for both East and West Coast) and he does a superb job in offering me his an unbiased opinion. In fact, he even connected me with students that are going through (or graduated from) the specific bootcamp that I'm interested in.   

I took the course with Kurt in Boston starting in August and from my perspective First Step Coding (FSC) is a very rewarding experience. What sets FSC aside above other coding prep courses is its instructor team and encouraging environment. All of the instructors have Coding related degrees and tremendous industry background. This definitely helps because they just simply know what is going on while writing those codes. Also, they could answer your questions from a professional view such as "Is javascript the primary language industry uses now?" "What is your opinion on Immersive Coding bootcamps" etc.. Having a knowledgable instructor just helps in a variety of ways. 

FSC is great also because the instructor cares about students as individuals. Meeting in person twice a week is definitely helpful especially for those who find it hard to study on their own from books or tutorials. And because of its small class size (my course is 6 people) you get immediate attention and help from the instructor. This is absolutely important because as a coding beginner, there are countless times I run into issues and have no clue why my code does not work. Kurt was accessibly and ready to help. 

The instructor always make sure that each one of us are on the same page while they are lecturing and no one got left behind. The instructors can be strict too so they will tell straight what they expect from you so if you are serious about the course, perform the exercises in class and finish the homework on time. 

Highly suggest this program!! Remote/night classes were easy for my busy work schedule. The instructor (Shlomy) was a solid teacher and always available via Slack/Screenhero to help with any issues on the homework assignments.   Before this course I had done some coding before in R, MatLab, and more research focused coding programs. I took this course because now I manage the development of a node.js application and wanted to understand how the product I manage actually works. The course definitely helped with that - plus I realized I actually like software development and want to keep learning more. The course is set up so you can go into a coding bootcamp afterwards, and they'll even help you prepare for interviews, etc. if that's something you're interested in.