Welcome to your Code Fellows Ruby on Rails Bootcamp! We are honored you have set aside 8 weeks to be with us. Your commitment and trust means the world to us. Are you ready to dive in and work hard?
At Code Fellows, a large part of what we do is shaped by our promise to help you find a job. When we talk to hiring managers, the overwhelming message is that coders don't usually get taught the professional skills necessary to perform well in a team. Even Computer Science majors are not prepared for what it's like to work in a high-achieving group of professional software developers with industry experience.
For this class, we create a simulation of how real software professionals develop applications. First, we introduce you to the professional toolchain for Ruby on Rails: the set of programs and libraries, that we combine together and craft quality applications that deliver business value. Secondly, we give you a sandbox to learn and use these tools, for yourself, and in a team environment.
There are plenty of online learning experiences that outline paths for you to complete, and badges to earn. There are also many step-by-step books. I'm not interested in replicating that in a classroom environment. Why bother? You are all all smart enough to follow step-by-step directions. What we need is a creative space for learning together. We'll call this your sandbox (borrowing the metaphor from Steven P Anderson). Remember how much fun you could have in the sandbox as a kid? Building and shaping your own structures and road ways, destroying and recreating whatever your imagination came up with... This is learning without handholding.
Don't worry, we will be here to hold your hand, whenever you may need that (and there will be many times when you will!). But ulitmately, we can't give you web development skills. We can only show you the way, play along side you, and ensure you have all that you need to do web development yourself. That's where the learning happens.
So prepare to walk some paved trails, hike some rough paths, wander some backcounty, and just plain get lost in unfamiliar wilderness. We'll be there to guide you, to keep you in bounds, and explore with you through all the adventures that lie ahead.
Onward!
—Ivan Storck & Brook Riggio Code Fellows Instructors & Cofounders