Coding Dojo's Learning Platform Was Lightweight, Agile and Does the Right Thing

Coding Dojo's Learning Platform Was Lightweight, Agile and Does the Right Thing

In yesterday's post, I explained that the Rails curriculum at the Coding Dojo isn't all superpower ready. That being said, today I opened up its learning platform to review Rails before my meeting with a founder tomorrow.

Recently, I have had quite a few none-job-seeking meetings where I meet and greet Silicon Valley founders, approach them as an consultant rather than a developer. Much like my time at the Codecademy.

The Coding Dojo Rails videos are on the longer side 20 minutes+. It wasn't exactly organized as curriculum but really does the trick when you need a massive review like I do.  I have been hitting JavaScript hard for one month, and also being approached for PHP, i.e. my Rails is indeed rusty. To see Michael roams around all screens of Rails apps actually helps a lot.

But I am writing to talk about the platform. Unlike other bootcamps, one can view the dojo learning platform before joining the bootcamp, or paying a penny. It is the same platform as Michael's previously founded Village88.

The amazing part is that this platform is Facebook friendly and was developed by a previous student turned co-founder at the Coding Dojo - John, a great person and mentor, and a very dedicated hard working person.

Each class is available as an enrollable module, as are the weekly tests, new orientations. Each class has multiple tabs containing usually Youtube or Vimeo videos, some public as well. And at times, it is followed by a brief quiz, and the juice of the course content: while the videos may not be the best, the exercises, the explanations - more like enlightenments than step-by-step instruction are the essence of what makes Coding Dojo a serious contendant in the bay area bootcamp world.

It's not hard to see the teaching philosophy in this: the platform is lightweight, agile, easy to access in more remote regions, and it's been actively changed and developed. The videos are externally hosted which is more open and less problematic. Strong emphasis is put on the flow, the tips and tricks, summaries following each video rather than the videos themselves.

The exercises are the best content in the Coding Dojo libraries, followed by easy and quick file submission and content management widget. The other value-adding content at the Dojo? The breadth of technologies that the founder himself can cover: Agile, Python, Ruby, Rails, jQuery, HTML, PHP, CodeIgniter, Socket.io, Node.js. Here, I did it: one big praise for Coding Dojo.

Also refer to my other posts for criticisms and deeper dive.

Personal Experience at Coding Dojo : MIXED

Below is a real email to someone who was referred to me. He's seeking info on Coding Dojo . I offered my time for a phone conversation which quickly turned sour, as he accused me of trying to charge for my consultation and I was very offended when I deliberately spent valuable time in the afternoon to answer lengthy questions that originally filled a page in my email. 
He brought up a great point, why can't I just answer his questions straight up? I can't and I won't (many in the meetups do). It's too easy for me or any one from one of these camps to say: oh I like it, or oh I hate it, and never give an objective analysis along with the subjective experience.
So I put my two cents down here for all to see. My experience at the Coding Dojo was obviously MIXED, yet there are some very good segments of the curriculum and relevant parts of the package that many may benefit from. Yes, I have some weird philosophy here.
But that is why the information is valuable to others, because I actually take time to think it through and remove my personal emotions from this.

Exciting news: 1. I commissioned a collaborative post professionally written on Twitter Bootstrap that I paid for and vested time for but will share freely here in a couple of days
2. I am also going to research Hack Reactor in great details in the next couple of days and compile objective data on the bootcamp, and demystify the price tag and what makes its curriculum special. Super excited!

"I was just writing actually. To be honest I was offended. But I was writing you with info about Coding Dojo anyway, because I believe all are entitled to important information. 

Here's the thing the bootcamp choice really depends on your interest, background and many factors. Everyone will either tell you their experience sucked or is great. There's a lot of social psychology driven people to give such answers.
My answer is very complex:
1. Coding Dojo wasn't ready curriculum wise for its first class, though in many areas it was. The support for recruiting isn't ideal, nor is it for alumni. In general Coding Dojo still lacks glamour. That been said, its speaker series has been beyond expectation, and continues to do so.
2. Coding Dojo is a good place to learn PHP, mySQL and other more traditional skills. Last time I heard / experienced, Rails wasn't a strong point. The mySQL course here is by far the easiest and most relevant of all.
3. The price tag of course remains to be favorable as does the timeline, hence many students chose it for price, availability and proximity to the South Bay.
4. Staff is one key factor to consider. I would say the Coding Dojo staff is helpful but lack of total professionalism. It can exacerbate the first point I just made.  There's a bit of turnover concern in terms of staff change and experience.
5. Overall experience really depended on the segment of curriculum: the front-end was very effective, though lack in design thinking, the database was great as I mentioned, PHP scripting was excellent with great exercises, Rails was bit lacking, project support bit lacking, and alumni support is missing.
As all experience goes, it's hard to say good or bad. It's important for all of us to consider factors that are native to the bootcamp and also important to ourselves.
hope you find this helpful.
I am also posting this to my blog so more can see. Btw, I have lots of info on my blog for Coding Dojo already. You just haven't searched :) http://codesum.blogspot.com"

x

Learn the f**king JavaScript

I briefly mentioned before that JavaScript is the king, not Weasley, but why? One reader asked the question with audacity. It's simple, JavaScript is the language of the web, Ryan, co-founder of Codecademy said so when asked why Js was the first track on the interactive learning website.

The first time I heard Ryan's interview, it did not sink in. The first time I saw that a multi-million dollar project is entirely built of SQL database, JavaScript and transaction-based JavaScript and SQL procs... but then there is all the modern concepts of web development: box model rather than table cells. But what really changed is the way people handle all the interactions of users.

Pick Google Map, users don't give a damn about the back-end. For them, it is just binary, it is good or bad, e.g. iOS iPhone Map = bad, iOS Google Map  = good! When it comes to accuracy, users often only see black and white. After all there are n't many to compare and contrast in terms of options of apps.

But many discussions and talks have been said about interactivity, user interface, user experience, graphics...

On the web part, JavaScript handles all the interactivity. Imagine that HTML is a muffin, a dark chocolate muffin, CSS is the icing on the cake that makes a lame looking muffin a glossy cupcake. But JavaScript is like the thing that makes those effing muffins dance.... well we don't care about dancing muffins, or cupcakes, but surprisingly, we like our web to jiggle, to shake, flash, and flip and somersault. We want modals, lightbox, carousel, slides, HTML flipping presentations.

That's when JavaScript comes in handy for all front-end developers, or all front-end designers that want to be more of an engineer. And did I mention JavaScript really is the default language of browsers? Pretty sure browsers cannot just C without aim. And JavaScript already has enough cross-browser issues, cough IE. Can we take more?

jQuery is like Rails in the sense that beginners love it, and super advanced programmers love it. When you agree on the second level, you have reached enlightenment. If you think jQuery is just easy, then you have not unleashed its power.

So you can use JavaScript to manipulate the HTML DOM, and twig the CSS, but it didn't use to be case that you can do much damage to the database or the data that is being displayed. Spaghetti codes are required for lines and lines to manipulate some simple data. Not any more, Node.js renders javascript backend ready, and many frameworks including those backed by Google are emerging to take over the world. Heard of Angular.js or Ember.js? How about that Backbone.

Did I mention that JavaScript is not easy to learn? It's also simple to get started, but the possibilities are endless. It's almost more relieving to use Rails, because there's the Rails way of doing things and the Ruby way of doing things. When it comes to JavaScript, just the best parts, then you are on your own. Makes it the most flexible yet entangled language to learn on your own. Start small but time to get started on Js for sure.
 

traveling and a brand new checklist

I frequently visit family in China, and this  year there's no difference. I will lose access to Youtube, blogger, twitter, facebook essentially all my social network. In exchange I get a glimpse of the unusual life of netizens in China. To be honest, it does not bother me in the short term. Internet has enabled much collaboration and information access between China and the rest of the world. It's truly an enabler despite that many may argue about its shortfalls and imperfection.

WeChat, QQ Tencent, Ren Ren, Sina Weibo... these are the technologies that get Chinese to chatter and share their thoughts.

For me, it really does not make a difference. I am mostly a visitor any where. it's like traveling to any other country, a visitor is there to observe absorb, and may be not in one day wishing to change all the technical landscape.

This time though, as I am packing the usual, I choose to have an unusual checklist:

1. jQuery codes
2. Handlebars
3. Underscore
4. jQuery books in ebook or Kindle format for easy traveling
5. JavaScript books, ebook and kindle
6. Ruby OOP books, ebook and kindle
7. Rails installer
8. Git enabled, and all dependency enabled computer

Yes, I am getting my local machine ready with source codes, books, and libraries so that i can continue to develop on my local no matter where I travel. I still bring my laptop and many gifts for relatives. But for the first time, my laptop has endless possibilities despite slower and more limited internet.

用中文谈高科技编程和未来

我突然想起了自己以前的博客居然有好几万人在2000年－2012之间网络还比较平淡的时候来访。真是一个让人欣慰的事情。更让人觉得有意思的是现在中国的高科技软件矽谷竟然包括在环山四川的成都。成都人上http://www.codecademy.com 还开发游戏，甚至晋身全球超级网络和手机游戏之家。四川人真的很牛。

这就开发了我的想法，其实这个博客的内容也应该有中文的内容。向心急的中国家长美籍华人和蓬勃的年轻人提供他们期望的信息。而且这些信息要通过不同的平台来发放：
1.新浪微博而不是twitter
2.优酷而不是youtube
3. 博客大巴，新浪博客而不是blogger
4. 人人而不是facebook

这不是问题，而是一件很有意思的为中国人而存在的平台。很好，那下一步codesum.blogspot.com 和codediv.com都会尽量为大家提供中文的咨询。欢迎大家提供宝贵的意见。

A day at Hack Reactor - for backbone.js by Girls Develop It

Girls Develop It hosted a half day backbone.js session that will extends another half day tomorrow. This weekend course is well worth the price. 

Hack Reactor is centrally located on market street near Westfield mall at a safe environment (gets tad sketchy at night).

Furnitures are new and fancy, fake leather chair, monitors and clean desks. Much better than Dev Bootcamp San Francisco in an old building. It reminds me of Coding Dojo. The kitchen is nice clean and friendly too(coding dojo doesn't have a kitchen). No creaking floors. Big plus

I will add a profile page on http://codediv.com too. And will post it here soon. I wasn't credited to write about hack reactor before, since I was yet to visit.

Backbone.js though is hosted by Girls Develop It but taught back Backlift's Cole. Cole is a steady spirit, a true developer with plenty of philosophy and tactical approaches of his own. Backlift allows one click install and hosting integrated with Dropbox.

Make no mistake, Pamela Fox was not idle whatsoever. She chimed in... More than chimedin... Going around helping students, pointing out real world application and usage of backbone and best practices.

Fast paced indeed but it was a solid experience. Going through backbone code school and quite a bit of JavaScript beginner+intermediate background will help a lot. But rails will be super helpful too. Underscores methods remind me of ruby.

Jquery is a must. But really you just have to focus on the selecting and basic Dom manipulation

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