Becoming a web developer has been such a common career move these past few years with good reason. Not only does one get paid above average, every company out there needs a web developer in one way or another. Plus, who doesn’t like building cool stuff out of thin air? It’s the closest thing to magic.
Don’t worry — I’m not going to dive in and try to sell you on becoming a web developer. Chances are, if you are reading this, you have already thought about it or are already in the process of becoming one. If that’s the case, all the power to you.
Since 2017, I’ve had multiple attempts to become a self-taught web developer using FreeCodeCamp, Udemy, Udacity, and other online resources. At one point, I even finished Colt Steele’s The Web Developer Bootcamp and was able to build a campground platform called YelpCamp using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MongoDB, and Node.js.
These attempts were quite promising but now that I look back at it, the biggest mistake I made was not going out of my way to build my own projects after following the tutorials. The concepts I learned weren’t solidified via practice and after a few weeks of not utilizing them, I would completely forget and have to start from scratch.
I even applied for HackerYou, one of the best coding bootcamps in Toronto. I thought I completed the technical challenge with flying colors. The PNG to HTML conversion was completely responsive and it was my first time utilizing the BEM methodology with SASS. I was really proud of what I came up with but at the end of the process, got my application rejected. Am I bitter you ask? Just slightly but that’s beside the point.
Attending a coding bootcamp is the fastest way to become a web developer. However, it comes with a hefty time commitment and at least $10,000 of your hard-earned money. If you are currently earning $55,000 annually, the opportunity cost of not working for 3–4 months is $10,500-$14,000 (after taxes in Ontario) in lost earnings. I don’t know about you but that’s a lot of money to me.
Don’t get me wrong. I firmly believe that coding bootcamps are well worth the price you pay because of the structured learning environment it provides, a supportive community of like-minded individuals, and strong industry connections. It’s hard to put a monetary value on some of the resources they provide.
Now here’s the question: Is it possible to build a curriculum similar to HackerYou and achieve the same goal of becoming a web developer for less than $100?
Challenge accepted! After two years of failing to transition my career into web development, my goal is to explore alternative ways to become a web developer without having to fully dedicate 3-4 months and shell out $10,000 on a coding bootcamp.
This seems like an impossible task but thankfully, coding bootcamps like HackerYou, Lighthouse Labs, and BrainStation provide a curriculum overview of their immersive web development programs which provides a great starting point on what web technologies to focus on.
In this case, I’m going to attempt to build a curriculum similar to HackerYou. Why their program specifically? I’m glad you asked. I recently reached out to HackerYou Alumni via LinkedIn who graduated in Fall of 2018 from the full-time web immersive program and now works as a Developer at BMO Financial Group. I asked him about his experience with the bootcamp and his response perfectly answers why I picked HackerYou specifically.
“In terms of HackerYou specifically (versus other bootcamps), the bootcamp focuses on front-end languages only as the goal is (to) know enough to get your foot in the door and and then you would naturally learn back-end languages and transition to a full-stack role. I personally think there are pros and cons to that. Other bootcamps aim to teach you to become a full-stack developer immediately, but the reality is you can only learn and absorb so much in such a short period of time. Whether you devote that time to a few languages and become decent at them or learn a little bit about more languages is up to you.”
I completely agree with his statement. The goal is to learn just enough to land a junior position and progress from there. There’s no reason to learn full-stack development in such a short period of time and risk spreading yourself too thin.
That’s my opinion at least so take what I say with a grain of salt. I’m not even a developer (yet). I’m just a random guy on the internet scratching my own itch.
The courses below are handpicked by myself based on the weekly breakdown of HackerYou’s curriculum. These are 7 of the best-selling courses from the highest rated instructors on Udemy. I believe that if you go through all these courses, you should gain enough skills to tackle the 7 projects required by HackerYou’s curriculum.
I have partially taken the HTML5 & CSS3, Advanced CSS, JavaScript, and React courses to varying degrees and can confirm that these courses meet my learning preferences. It doesn’t mean that it would necessarily meet yours. This is important because if one of these courses end up not being your style, you can easily swap it out with something similar.
For example, if you get to the React course and find out that you’re not a big fan of Andrew Mead’s teaching style, you can switch over to another React course taught by Stephen Grinder or Maximilian Schwarzmüller.
That’s the beauty of Udemy. There are more than 45,000 courses on their platform taught by highly-skilled individuals backed by thousands of reviews from people just like you and me.
Let’s get started!
Learn more: https://www.udemy.com/design-and-develop-a-killer-website-with-html5-and-css3/
Learn more: https://www.udemy.com/advanced-css-and-sass/
Learn more: https://www.udemy.com/the-complete-javascript-course/
Learn more: https://www.udemy.com/jquery-tutorial/
Learn more: https://www.udemy.com/git-complete/
Learn more: https://www.udemy.com/learn-gulp/
Learn more: https://www.udemy.com/react-2nd-edition/
Learn more: https://www.udemy.com/react-redux-firebase/
Learn more: https://www.udemy.com/build-a-slack-chat-app-with-react-redux-and-firebase/
The projects below are slightly modified versions found from HackerYou’s syllabus. All the credit goes to HackerYou’s wonderful team.
I filtered out the requirements of working in groups or pairs since it’s much easier to do that in a classroom setting. However, if you are able to collaborate with someone on any of the projects below and showcase it on GitHub, go for it!
Tip: HackerYou has some of their PSD designs stored at http://psd.hackeryou.com/
For your first project, find a three-page web design available online or collaborate with a designer friend of yours to come up with one. Your task will be to bring the design to life using HTML & CSS in exactly the designer’s vision. This is a core skill for junior front-end developers.
Find a one-page web design available online or again, collaborate with a designer friend of yours to come up with one. You’ll code the site from scratch to bring to life the designer’s vision, adding a great-looking and functional form, embedded media, and a navigation menu. This time you’ll also have to make the site completely responsive for all screen sizes, considering even the smallest smartphone or the large size of an iMac.
For your first JavaScript project, you’ll create an interactive user experience with a jQuery library. What you create is up to you! It could be a quiz, game, or something else entirely. It’s time to let your creativity shine!
Your project for the week will be a one-page web app. You’ll use an API to pull in data from one or more sources, and then add some cool functionality and style the rest of the site.
With your new knowledge of the React library and Firebase, you’ll start building your first truly rich web application, such as an app that takes notes, manages to-do lists, or books appointments. Once complete, this will definitely end up being one of the most impressive pieces in your portfolio.
Another one? Absolutely! Building functional web applications combine everything you have learned. Think of another app idea and build it.
You’ll whip up a portfolio site using plain old HTML & CSS, which will house all of your creations and give potential employers a way to learn more about you.
Now that I have a plan laid out, it’s time to start my challenge. Will I get through it? I sure hope so!
If you are thinking of going through this yourself, let me know. I would love to learn with you and spend sleepless nights making our code work!
React
Typescript
Django
Laravel
Facebook
Microsoft
Google
Alibaba
D3
Tencent