Free Coding Bootcamps To Boost Your Skills & Career Options
Published on: August 24, 2021
Coding is one of the most essential skills to have in the modern workplace and can open many doors depending on your career path. There are numerous courses and degree programs available for those interested in coding, but taking part in a coding bootcamp is one of the quickest ways to boost your skills. Some coding background can be advantageous for these bootcamps, but most can be done without prior knowledge. Coding bootcamps are ideal for those with a strong work ethic and who want to quickly learn the skills employers look for. Although coding bootcamps can be expensive, free options are available to get you started without a big financial investment.
What Makes Coding Bootcamps Different From Other Online Courses?
The most significant difference between coding bootcamps and other online courses is the focus. Coding bootcamps tend to focus on aspects of programming that are used for real-world projects. This allows participants to become proficient with important aspects of coding much faster and learn skills that have practical applications in the workplace. In turn, this increases your chances of finding employment or expanding your career options. Coding bootcamps are also available for students already experienced in some programming elements but want to gain more specialized skills.
What Are Some Of The Free Coding Bootcamps Available Online?
App Academy has been ranked as one of the number one coding bootcamps in the United States. The full-stack curriculum has placed thousands of people in software development jobs and features everything from interactive coding environments and lecture videos to projects, community chats, and more. In addition, with their mentorship plan, you gain access to instructors on call every weekday. Still, the entire in-person full-stack curriculum is also available for free as part of App Academy Open. With over 1,500 hours of materials, this coding bootcamp is hard to beat.
Flatiron School has several coding workshops that are offered both full-time and at a flexible pace. However, besides the paid options, they also provide free coding bootcamps to teach participants the fundamentals of the most important coding languages. Since these introductory lessons are free, they are ideal for testing the waters if you want to see whether or not coding is right for you before committing. The free coding bootcamps at Flatiron School include intro to HTML and CSS, Intro to JavaScript, Intro to Ruby, and Intro to API Integration.
Anyone interested in a software developer job can benefit from the freeCodeCamp website. Their curriculum is completely free and provides users with thousands of hours of hands-on programming practice. According to freeCodeCamp, more than 40,000 people have gotten developer jobs after completing their coding bootcamps, including at big companies like Google and Microsoft. The coding bootcamp covers everything from responsive web design and data visualization to front-end development libraries, scientific computing with python, and more.
General Assembly offers training in tech, data, design, business, and more with a robust suite of courses. In addition to their paid courses, they also have several free learning resources available to students. These included classes, such as programming for non-programmers, introductions to various programming languages, and courses in data analytics, data science, and many others. Keep an eye on their workshops and events page for upcoming online bootcamps that are available for free.
For anyone interested in a career in web development, the free full-stack curriculum by The Odin Project is beneficial. A passionate open source community supports it, and it features curated online tutorials, blogs, and courses. Participants build dozens of portfolio-worthy projects along the way and can get assistance from a community of beginner and experienced developers. Starting with a hands-on introduction, participants can then move on to full stack Ruby On Rails or full-stack JavaScript curriculum.
edX is a global nonprofit with numerous free bootcamps, including computer science. What makes edX unique is that their free online courses are from real college courses taught at leading universities. Over 100 universities contribute to edX, and the courses cover everything from introduction to advanced programming in various coding languages. Most of the courses are done entirely in a web browser so that participants can complete assignments on a phone or public computer. Many of the free courses also have optional upgrades available at a cost if you don't mind paying.
Upskill has a pro membership option that provides access to hundreds of hours of cutting-edge web development, JavaScript and other tools, frameworks, and more. However, it also has the Essential Web Developer Course bootcamp that is completely free and covers all the modern web development tools. After completing the course, learners work on a complete end-to-end project composed of HTML, CSS, JavaScript/jQuery, Ruby on Rails, Git, Bootstrap, and everything else covered in the bootcamp. The instructor has developed applications for big companies such as Coca-Cola and Toyota and said that the course covers everything he wishes he had when learning how to code.
The free coding bootcamp by Skillcrush covers all the basics such as HTML and CSS essentials, visual and web design basics, and user experience basics, but it also delves further. The intro to WordPress portion of the bootcamp is great for anyone interested in coding robust websites using this popular content management system. The course also provides insider knowledge from experts in the industry about what it's like to work in tech.
