What to Consider when Choosing the Best Coding Bootcamp

The fifth in our series on coding bootcamp reviews

Nucamp’s review of 100devs

The demand for software engineers is high and projected to grow by 25% through 2031.

And the current supply of software engineers does not meet the demand in the current job market.

US News lists software development as the #1 job of 2023 , with a medium salary of $120,730.

With many companies dropping their degree requirements, learning to code can set you up for a lucrative career change.

And coding bootcamps can help you build the required software development skills in a short amount of time.

In our Reviewing Online Coding Bootcamps blog series, we described the 7 criteria to use to help choose the best coding bootcamp for you: cost, commitment, curriculum, class format, community & collaboration, career services, compliments & critiques.

The next coding bootcamp we're assessing is 100devs.

100devs is a free online coding bootcamp founded by Leon Noel during the pandemic.

His goal was to get 100 people placed in software engineer jobs after attending his 30-week full-stack coding bootcamp—thus the name 100devs.

The 7 factors you need to research when choosing the coding bootcamp that’s right for you.

1) Cost:

100devs is a free online software engineer bootcamp that teaches full stack web development.

They will only recommend free resources to augment their curriculum.

Students receive lifetime free access to the learning material, and Discord channels, and do not need a degree or any prior coding experience to participate.

2) Commitment:

The 30-week coding bootcamp consists of:

- 2 weekly online lectures on Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:30pm-9:30pm EST

- Approximately 10 hours of homework a week, with the recommended schedule of focusing on learning 2-3 hours a day.

- Office hours on Sundays 1pm-4pm which are online Q&A sessions

100devs has 3 levels, known as “Houses”: Hamilton, Hopper, Turing.

Each house has different requirements, benefits, and their own private house channel in the Discord.

Hamilton House:

Beginners are assigned to Hamilton House to start. These students can follow along at their own pace with the lectures and homework. They are assigned to the Hamilton Discord channel where they can ask questions and get guidance. Participants who show a strong commitment to the work, can move up a level to Hopper House.

Hopper House:

Students in Hopper House must attend the live lectures and complete the ~10 hours/week of homework. Attendance is taken on Twitter where students retweet a tweet to check-in. They’re allowed 4 absences.

In addition, Hopper House members must make 3 network connections per week, and have 2 coffee chats per week. These networking obligations are to make connections with other people in the tech industry, with the ultimate goal of building a strong network when they’re ready to look for a job.

Starting at week 15, students must complete a mandatory daily coding challenge.

Hopper students who exhibit a strong commitment to the work, can move up to Turing House.

Turing House:

The attendance, homework, code challenges, and networking commitments are the same as Hopper House. But Turing students have access to other benefits such as resume and portfolio reviews, mock interviews with Leon Noel, and access to a private Discord house channel.

Hamilton and Hopper House can earn access to the extra benefits afforded to Turing house by accumulating Twitch channel points which they can acquire during the live lectures.

3) Curriculum:

100devs is a full-stack software developer bootcamp.

It focuses only on practical coding skills, and not on computer science theory like a college degree would.

The curriculum includes HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Node, Express, MongoDB, Postgres and some computer science topics such as data structures and algorithms.

There is no syllabus.

This is done on purpose, so students don’t jump ahead, and risk burn out.

Because of the weekly networking requirement, there is a class on how to network on social media etc., and how to apply for jobs.

4) Class Format:

The live lectures and office hours are streamed on Twitch.

They’re recorded and posted on YouTube for students who may have missed the live lecture.

Also available is a Follow-along materials Discord channel and a catch-up crew.

Weekly assignments are posted on Discord.

Students submit their homework on Google docs then eventually GitHub.

Industry veteran Leon Noel is a charismatic, engaging, passionate instructor.

He curses unapologetically and sees programming as superpower.

His lectures include music, interesting backgrounds like outer space and cats, plus slides and white board sessions.

5) Community & Collaboration:

100devs puts a lot of focus on the value of community and helping each other.

The Discord channels are very active.

Alumni are expected to stay active on Discord to help lift others up, just like they got help from alumni when they were students.

Leon does emphasize that if you don’t like the 100devs community, then you should find one that you do like.

Even if 100devs is not the community for you – you still need one.

6) Career Services:

100devs teaches in demand technical skills that will get you a job.

They claim to be more than a coding bootcamp,

It is a jobs program with the ultimate goal of landing a job after graduation.

When done with the program, students are fully prepared to enter the job market.

Although the exact number of graduates, drop off rate, and job rate is unknown.

100devs discourages students to not just focus on FAANG positions.

There are many great jobs in every industry that are not FAANG.

100devs advises graduates to utilize their network and apply to at least 60 companies.

They predict on average that:

• 10 interviews will go badly.
• 40 interviews will be mediocre.
• 10 interviews will be great.
• You should expect at least 2 offers.

Leon states that the hardest thing for bootcamp graduates is to get into the interview.

He takes a derogatory stance on coding bootcamp graduates, stating that they “smell”, because their resumes contain nothing that shows an employer that they can code.

This leads students to list 100devs as their employer instead of their coding bootcamp.

The 100devs Agency “employing” these students on LinkedIn (about 2400 “employees”) doesn’t exist.

7) Compliments & Critiques

It was difficult to find third-party ratings for 100devs. Most were on Reddit and a year old.

The Pros:

Students like Leon and see him as a knowledgeable industry leader and a great teacher.

They enjoy his engaging and motivating presentations and feel he genuinely cares about their success.

They appreciate that 100devs is free, and that he is committing so much of his free time to help others.

The 100devs Discord community is very active and supportive.

The Cons:

Students mention that the 3-hour lectures could be shortened.

Some find the Twitch chat distracting.

Some think the 100devs Discord has too many channels and it’s confusing to know where to go for what.

There’s only one or two cohorts a year. If you missed the start, you’ll have to join the catch-up crew and may have a hard time staying focused.

No live instructor interaction. Besides the Twitch streams there aren’t any dedicated instructors or TAs to talk to, which can make it hard to get answers sifting through the many Discord channels.

Course Report's rating:

100devs is not rated by Course Report

Nucamp Course Report rating – 4.74 average rating from 1662 reviews

Key Takeaways:

Be wary of the suggestion to list your coding bootcamp as your employer. It’s unethical and unnecessary.

Many companies are hiring coding bootcamp graduates, and also have apprenticeships specifically for coding bootcamp graduates.

Having the ability to talk to a live instructor is more effective than 100% online communication through Discord.

Join Nucamp for the dedicated instructor and career support.

The right education is crucial to achieve your tech career goals and get a job after a coding bootcamp.

Coding bootcamps are a great way to learn to code quickly, but they’re a big commitment.

It’s important to choose the right technical education partner for you.

You’ll increase your chances of success if you enroll in the best coding bootcamp that aligns with your budget, schedule, learning style, and career goals.

Nucamp’s primary mission is to educate and help people successfully upskill or make a career change into the exciting and ever-changing tech industry.

Our coding bootcamps are high quality, flexible, and one of the most affordable in the industry.

Nucamp offers a variety of online coding language courses including:

• Web Fundamentals bootcamp (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) that spans 4 weeks for $449
• Backend, SQL, and DevOps with Python bootcamp that spans 16 weeks for $1,540
• Front End Web Development (React.js) bootcamp that spans 17 weeks for $1,540
• Full Stack Web Development (NodeJS) bootcamp that spans 22 weeks for $1,940
• Complete Software Engineer Path bootcamp that spans 11 months for $5,169

Classes are part-time, online, and structured with one week of self-paced, hands-on, guided study.

Our instructors all teach part-time for Nucamp because they all work full-time in the IT industry.

They use the technology that they teach every day in their jobs. This ensures our instructors have real-life industry experience and stay current on the latest trends.

We’re confident we can help you make that career shift and encourage you to compare what Nucamp's online coding bootcamps have to offer.

To learn more, please

schedule a call with a Nucamp advisor.