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Most coding bootcamps are a complete waste of money. Ever since I launched https://edabit.com https://edabit.com, I've noticed a ton of traffic coming from thes

Most coding bootcamps are a complete waste of money. Ever since I launched https://edabit.com https://edabit.com, I've noticed a ton of traffic coming from these bootcamps and I'm not sure what to think of it. On the one hand, I like the free promotion but on the other, I can't help but feel as though these people are getting ripped off (considering they can access the site for free).

nefitty 9y ago
Awesome, thanks for sharing. This looks like it'll fill out some of the missing parts of freecodecamp for me!
mingp 9y ago
Out of curiosity, how do you know that your visitors come from bootcamps?
- Method-X 9y ago
  Google Analytics; most of them seem to have some sort of internal members only area set up where they link to course material.
allanbreyes 9y ago
Bootcamp dropout, here. I 100% agree. I left The Starter League after the first semester when I realized the buyer's remorse of paying more per day than tuition at MIT. The prices for bootcamps simply aren't worth it, especially given the numerous online and self-paced options out there... many of which are free. How my story ended: I left the bootcamp and took a few Udacity Nanodegree programs for $200/month and (full disclosure) loved them so much that I applied for and got a job at Udacity. I really flourished in the self-paced environment, and found that I was able to learn a lot more, faster. Now, I get to go to work every day and build systems that provide affordable education for students across the globe. There are so many amazing and cheaper options out there, and I cringe when I hear about people dropping $15k+ for the same (or better) content that they can get for 100x to INF-x cheaper.
- speedplane 9y ago
  I definitely agree that there are less expensive options out there, but self-study isn't for everyone. Also, one of the main benefits of these boot-camps are their career counseling services. At the end of the day, if you're able to increase your salary from $30k to $80k, the extra $15k on a course seems well worth it.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- brooklyn_ashey 9y ago
  agreed. I started learning on my own with books and the internet, and Zed Shaw and Chris Pine. I loved it. I then went to a highly regarded bootcamp to find that there seems to be no value placed on teaching and hiring great teachers. I'd take the internet, stack overflow, zed, and chris any day over a bootcamp.
speedplane 9y ago
I'm not going to say bootcamps work for everyone, but my anecdotal experience proves otherwise. I know several people who were interested in coding but didn't have a formal education. After a $15k bootcamp, they got a better job and doubled their salary. It paid for itself in less than 6 months.
Endy 9y ago
Apologies for (slightly) off-topic, but I have a question about edabit. How much of a beginner can a user be and still get value rather than frustration from time spent on the site? I've been wanting to learn some real modern programming beyond HTML/CSS & some JavaScript for aeons, would your site be the place to do it if that's my current base?
- Method-X 9y ago
  Sounds like you're my ideal user. I created Edabit out of frustration with codecademy and other sites like it. They're essentially interactive books (poor ones in my opinion). With Edabit, I structured it to simulate how people naturally learn to code "in the wild" and added simple game mechanics. The challenges can be sorted in order of difficulty (start on easy and progress to hard), each challenge has relevant learning resources and a discussion area for questions. Do a challenge every day and you'll progress very fast.
zbtaylor1 9y ago
Is there some affiliation between this and the Zurb foundation? That yeti looks familiar...
- Method-X 9y ago
  Nope, but you're right! Both monsters with horns and geek glasses.

nefitty 9y ago

Awesome, thanks for sharing. This looks like it'll fill out some of the missing parts of freecodecamp for me!

mingp 9y ago

Out of curiosity, how do you know that your visitors come from bootcamps?

Method-X 9y ago
Google Analytics; most of them seem to have some sort of internal members only area set up where they link to course material.

allanbreyes 9y ago

Bootcamp dropout, here. I 100% agree. I left The Starter League after the first semester when I realized the buyer's remorse of paying more per day than tuition at MIT. The prices for bootcamps simply aren't worth it, especially given the numerous online and self-paced options out there... many of which are free. How my story ended: I left the bootcamp and took a few Udacity Nanodegree programs for $200/month and (full disclosure) loved them so much that I applied for and got a job at Udacity. I really flourished in the self-paced environment, and found that I was able to learn a lot more, faster. Now, I get to go to work every day and build systems that provide affordable education for students across the globe. There are so many amazing and cheaper options out there, and I cringe when I hear about people dropping $15k+ for the same (or better) content that they can get for 100x to INF-x cheaper.

speedplane 9y ago
I definitely agree that there are less expensive options out there, but self-study isn't for everyone. Also, one of the main benefits of these boot-camps are their career counseling services. At the end of the day, if you're able to increase your salary from $30k to $80k, the extra $15k on a course seems well worth it.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
brooklyn_ashey 9y ago
agreed. I started learning on my own with books and the internet, and Zed Shaw and Chris Pine. I loved it. I then went to a highly regarded bootcamp to find that there seems to be no value placed on teaching and hiring great teachers. I'd take the internet, stack overflow, zed, and chris any day over a bootcamp.

speedplane 9y ago

I'm not going to say bootcamps work for everyone, but my anecdotal experience proves otherwise. I know several people who were interested in coding but didn't have a formal education. After a $15k bootcamp, they got a better job and doubled their salary. It paid for itself in less than 6 months.

Endy 9y ago

Apologies for (slightly) off-topic, but I have a question about edabit. How much of a beginner can a user be and still get value rather than frustration from time spent on the site? I've been wanting to learn some real modern programming beyond HTML/CSS & some JavaScript for aeons, would your site be the place to do it if that's my current base?

Method-X 9y ago
Sounds like you're my ideal user. I created Edabit out of frustration with codecademy and other sites like it. They're essentially interactive books (poor ones in my opinion). With Edabit, I structured it to simulate how people naturally learn to code "in the wild" and added simple game mechanics. The challenges can be sorted in order of difficulty (start on easy and progress to hard), each challenge has relevant learning resources and a discussion area for questions. Do a challenge every day and you'll progress very fast.

zbtaylor1 9y ago

Is there some affiliation between this and the Zurb foundation? That yeti looks familiar...

Method-X 9y ago
Nope, but you're right! Both monsters with horns and geek glasses.