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Fast Crimes at Lambda School

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Re: Fast Crimes at Lambda School

#351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I joined a bootcamp once, already knowing most of the material covered. I wasn't the only one in my cohort (of 4 people) who already knew how to program. My hope was that the bootcamp might make it easier to find a job , which didn't happen. They put more effort into instruction than into placing applicants. Not sure why; I can easily cover any material that would be covered in a bootcamp myself.

> the bootcamp might make it easier to find a job Did a few stints at a couple boot camps as an instructor. Many other students thoughts that too because it’s half the boot camps’ marketing efforts. But it was a big lie both times. They are friendly with a few startups who are looking for cheap labor at terrible conditions and they only have a handful of positions. « Career services » in the worst boot camp was an in…

Never wanted to do a bootcamp because of all the red flags around ISAs, and the often-remarked fact that there are almost no VCs or CTO's who understand pedagogy and the difference between that and growth hacking.

The thing that has been the most helpful to me to figure out what I should be learning and how my self-study time should be directed was a memo I got from a friend who worked at Google, explaining how their interview process works and what they expect SWEs to know before they can be hired (this was before that information was widely known outside the company; since then there have been some good write ups from former employees).

Re: Fast Crimes at Lambda School

#352
post #336
post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that's the point, then in the context of bootcamps preparing people to be professional programmers it's a bit...well, pointless. Writing a program of any sort is something anyone who can use a keyboard to write "print(10)" can do, but that doesn't suggest the only thing separating that group from professional programmers is the inclination to spend time on it.

In a past life, I tutored probably hundreds of kids in math and computer science. Yes, the separator is inclination to spend time on it -- because that's what it takes to get through to the other side of a challenge. Programming skill builds with time; they won't be pros but I'll take a risk on a keener from any background.

Kids who aren't capable of learning to program well aren't going to be inclined to spend time on it, so I'm not sure how this tells us anything.
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