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Anders Lund
3,061 PointsGreat programming schools
Does anyone know of any good programming schools in the California area (LA)
That teaches JavaScript and Ruby on Rails and Swift maybe!
I really feel like I wanna study this subject, and then when applying for a job, do the ones who are hiring look for what you can do and have done, instead of degree right?
4 Answers
Rui Bi
29,853 PointsDegrees and schools don't matter that much for programming jobs for the most part, but it depends on both the company and the field/type of programming the job entails.
If you want to just focus on the programming and developing, then you might want to check out code bootcamps. There are quite a few in California, but its quite pricey.
Here is an article: http://www.skilledup.com/learn/programming/the-ultimate-guide-to-coding-bootcamps-the-exhaustive-list/
However, there are plenty of reasons to get a 4-yr degree not related to getting a programming job, and there are tons of great universities in California. However, a Computer Science degree is not necessary. Get a degree in anything you are really interested in, while also working on coding/programming/development either on your own or online or perhaps in a coding bootcamp, and you should be in the best position possible!
I graduated with a CS degree from one of the higher-ranked 4-yr universities, but made the mistake of not doing enough development related things outside of school before I graduated. It was not easy to find a job, while I know many people with degrees in English or Art with interests/passions in web development that got jobs as developers right away.
Anders Lund
3,061 PointsThanks, yes I have checked out some of the code bootcamps looks great but as an foreigner I think its going to be more difficult to get a job in the US than an American, thats why I want to go to university so I maybe can start talking to companies early on while going to school in America!
I don't really have an interest in computer science, all I want to do is develop stuff like (apps, web pages, web apps and so on!)
and I read that javascript is perhaps the best language to start with if u want to develop webpages instead of Ruby on Rails, do u know if thats correct?(I've heard they industry wants more javascript developers)
Thanks
Rui Bi
29,853 PointsJavaScript is great because it is the only front-end scripting language, so it is used in just about any web application, big or small. With the popularity of MVC frameworks, the demand for JavaScript developers and front-end developers in general is very high. With node.js and Express.js for the back-end, it is possible to even do full-stack development entirely with one language, JavaScript.
Ruby on the other had is a server-side only language, which means it is not used in all applications. That said, Ruby is a very clean, nice language, and the Rails framework is hugely popular and very powerful. Using Rails, it is possible to quickly develop scalable, medium-large sized data-drive applications fairly quickly. A few years ago, it seemed that just about all startups were using Ruby.
I would say its probably better to start with JavaScript just because it is generally easier to start learning the front end, and then moving on to the back end. Eventually you will want to do both: it will definitely be helpful if you could do both front-end and back-end development.
I would recommend to start trying to get a solid grasp of HTML and CSS, then moving on to JavaScript. After you are feeling pretty good about the basics, you will want to make sure you know the jQuery library for JavaScript, and perhaps learn a front-end framework such as Bootstrap or Foundations as well. Then from there you can pick up a server-side scripting language, either PHP, Ruby, or Python (although Python is not used as much as PHP or Ruby for back-end development). That would give you a basic ability to do end-to-end web application development. From there, you might want to consider picking up a MVC framework on the front end (angular.js, or maybe ember.js or backbone.js), and learn more about a particularly framework for your back-end language (Zend, Laravel, Cake, Yii, Phalcon, Symfony, CodeIgniter, or something else for PHP, Rails or Sinatra for Ruby, Django for Python). Then once you have all that down, maybe go for a enterprise scale framework used for large applications like C#/.NET, Java/Spring MVC, Scala, or maybe node.js/express.js.
Anders Lund
3,061 PointsPerfect! Will keep that in mind. Any Universities u would recommend (just on top of your head) in California that teaches (mostly) programming an developing. Javascript and HTML/CSS and so on.
Thanks a lot! :)
Jonathan Lau
2,857 PointsYou can also read about the best coding bootcamps on switchup.org - they have a complete list of schools with alumni reviews and a directory of coding schools.
As for LA, you can read about Los Angeles Coding Bootcamps on that site as well. There are a few, including MakerSquare which is a subsidiary of Hack Reactor.
And finally, yes - hiring managers often look for hard technical skills in a technical interview - but a degree or a technical degree does help get your resume to the top of the pile!