In this article let’s take a look at 3 best coding boot camp alternatives in detail so that you can learn coding and programming skills for both free and paid options without getting enrolled in coding boot camp.
This is the most comprehensive article you can find online regarding this topic so I would recommend you to bookmark the article and share the article with your friends who are preparing to get enrolled in a boot camp.
So without further ado let’s get started.
3 best coding boot camps alternatives
Formal education with CS degree
One of the best methods of learning programming and software engineering is by getting a formal education with computer science and information technology degree from your college which is usually 4.5 years long program.
Coding boot camps are created to replace computer science degrees and make it accessible for everyone to become software engineer within a few months and in a cost effective manner but still these boot camps cannot replace college degrees because computer science degrees provide more well-rounded view of computers that includes understanding not only the computer’s operating systems, but the how’s and why’s.
The coding languages you’ll learn in a typical CS program are not what you will use to build a website or the next mobile app. However, they provide a general foundation for programming and a deep-dive into the algorithms that help developers scale apps. Most coding bootcamps don’t really go beyond the Command Line like in CS degree Instead, the focus is on coding languages and tools for developers so boot camps do not properly establish the foundation of programming due to small time period.
And if you also want to get into higher positions of company like in executive and management role then you will definitely need a computer science degree.
The only problem with this option is you will have to dedicate more than 4.5 years of your life in college and apart from the time you also have to invest good amount of money in getting your degree from reputable college and if you graduate from a good university and college you can also get a good placement of the completing your CS degree for example students who graduated from Harvard University with CS degree get salary of $128,900 which is much better than many job opportunities you would get from boot camp and you will get job from top tech companies like Google and Microsoft through your degree.
And unlike coding boot camps many universities and colleges are accredited and recognised by the government bodies so you can also get scholarships and financial aid for example if you get admission in Harvard then you can get scholarship of 100% if your family income is less than $65,000 per annum which is need based and because your college is accredited unlike boot camps you can trust the college and is curriculum infrastructure and facilities.
Online course
And another good alternative of coding boot camp is online courses which you can purchase from platforms like Udemy skillshare Coursera coding ninjas code academy and many more.
When we compare this with coding boot camps then online courses are not only cheaper in price but because with online courses you get video lectures which you can download and get access to anytime anywhere right at your finger tips in your device & door step so you do not have to attend any classroom and you can learn coding at your own pace without any time restriction which is present in boot camp and you can also get certificates and job opportunities after completing online courses from some companies like coding ninjas.
The only problem with online courses is that you will need a lot of self discipline and consistency because you will have to do a lot of self study as you will not attend any physical classroom with online courses so it is not always a good option for all the students who do not have self discipline and need external motivation, environment to study.
Another problem with online courses is it can be hard for you to clarify your doubts and it can also become hard when selecting a course because there are many options you can choose, I would recommend you to first look at the reviews of the course on platform like trust pilot and read the reviews on Quora and reddit and also try to take courses from credible platforms like Udemy, coding Ninja which has a good track record.
Self learning through free resources
Another popular method of learning coding is by self learning using various free resources.
According to a survey, more than 60% of the students learn coding through reading articles online and watching videos and interacting with people on forums and many more free resources.
So very few percentage of people take online courses and boot camps to learn coding as you can find many resources and articles which can help you in your coding journey.
The only problem with this approach is it is not structured which means many students who try to learn coding by themselves without any guidance feel very confused and discouraging because there is no structure which they can follow for example you will have a structure and detailed roadmap on what you should learn everyday if you join any boot camp or take any online course but it is not present if you want to learn by yourself because you will have to research and find out all the materials online by doing a lot of searches on Google and on YouTube.
Thankfully there are many free websites, YouTube channels you can take to learn coding and programming such as,
- Freecodecamp
- Harvard CS50 course
- Code academy courses
- The Coding Train
- The net Ninja
- Edx
- LevelUpTuts
- Life of Luba
- Derek Banas
- The Odin Project
- MIT OpenCourseWare
- Khan academy
- GeekForgeeks
- Stack overflow forum
- Solo learn
Apart from these websites you can also purchase many physical and ebooks for coding such as self-taught programmer JavaScript for beginners, pragmatic programmer and many more.
And you can also take help from your friends and colleagues while learning code like you can attend tuitions and participate in online meetings and discussions and discuss ideas of coding and solve problems with your friends which is also a good way of learning coding from self study without any course and boot camp help.
With that said let’s end the article.
Conclusion
These are all the best alternatives to coding boot camps.
Do let me know which is your favourite alternative in the comment section below and also share the article with your friends and subscribe to my blog to receive notifications regarding whenever I publish a new post about coding or any other skill so that you can get notified and read the article.