Degree vs Self-Taught vs Bootcamp - DON'T CHOOSE WRONG

Degree vs Bootcamp vs Self-Taught Programmer.

The most common question I get is “how do I learn to code with zero experience” closely followed by “should I go to college and get a Computer Science degree?”

Everyone has their own opinions on these questions. Let me give you my take. I will examine the three broad categories (degree vs Bootcamp vs self-taught) and consider which one may be right for you given your situation and conclude with what I would personally do if I were starting over from zero.

So, is a computer science degree worth it and how to get started learning to code?

In an ideal world, you want a way to become good at coding that is cheap, doesn’t take years to complete and still gives you the best chance at landing interviews & eventually passing them.

In reality, as you can probably guess, if there were a path that maximised all of those three factors, there wouldn’t even be a debate on where to start. After all, everyone would just choose that path and “where to learn to code” wouldn’t even be a debate.

But in the tech industry, there really isn’t such a clear path which is precisely why here this question is relevant. So let me first break down the three popular categories, college vs Bootcamp vs self-taught in terms of these factors.

Spoiler alert, I am personally self-taught, and that is still the path I would probably choose if I were starting over (with a slight caveat, I’ll explain in a moment..). But if you choose to learn coding on your own, the question simply becomes:

“ok, so which resources should I use to learn coding on my own?”
This is where time cost comes in. You don’t want to spend potentially months going through a suboptimal course or resource even if they are cheap or free. So at the end, I will also give you the resources that I would use if I were starting over specifically with the self-taught route.

STUDY & CODING RESOURCES

MY BLOG

DESK SETUP GEAR

PC PARTS LIST

FILMMAKING & YOUTUBE GEAR

OTHER VIDEOS

Chapters:
0:00 My Background
1:00 3 Factors to Consider
1:55 Degree
4:05 Who should go to college?
4:50 Bootcamp
6:20 DO THIS INSTEAD OF A BOOTCAMP
6:55 Self-Taught
8:20 THIS is what people miss
9:00 BEST RESOURCES TO LEARN TO CODE
12:05 DO THIS INSTEAD OF A DEGREE

WHO AM I?
This channel documents my life as a Self-Taught Software Engineer as well as my journey teaching myself Computer Science & Programming. When I graduated from university I was still completely lost as to what I really wanted to do. I always had an interest in technology, so I decided to start learning how to code with zero experience, and after just 4 months I had a job offer.

DISCLAIMER: some of the links in the description may be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service using the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. This is no extra charge to you! Thanks for supporting me :)

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[InternetMadeCoder]

Let's vote! Degree, Bootcamp or Self-taught? COMMENT BELOW !!

[dhyeyy]

a very helpful video for k-12 or any student as I am also going through the same situation this gave me more clarity.
thx for the help

[jpaul]

Thanks man you're the best!!! Ive been thinking not to go in to college cause education here is kinda sucks so ill be wasting my time. So you just convinced me!! THANKS MAN

[kevinchin]

Pumping videos left and right, keep it up !!

[supacheeppoonsawat]

This clip has a lot of inspiration for me to be Self-taught, also this clip video has great content and is helpful!
Thank you 🙏

[wadewhistle]

This channel has helped me a lot drastically with self teaching coding thanks so much bro my goal is to have a job at least in 6 months from now.

[joe-sephab]

11:26 That moment really hit me hard :(, I'm a college student and I don't see any good time in university, just sad and being obliged to be with certain ppl that actually just don't click with them, or just hate, I really hate my college, so yeah I dunno if I'm the exception and the rule is having fun in college or what!

[josephreagan]

A degree can also be a bad thing.

If the college you went to has a reputation for turning out Marxists (which drags down company culture because these people tend to have a chip on their shoulder and they expect the company to be as woke as they are) then a college degree might actually work against you.

If I was a Recruiter I would NEVER hire someone who went to college unless I had tested their personality to see how well they work with others and how they handle working in a non-woke environment.

Furthermore, politics aside, many who go to college have this elitist mentality where they think they are smarter than everyone else because they went to college.

Almost anything you can learn in college you can learn online. (There are even some free college courses online you can take (that are more focused on the subject matter than politics) which are pretty good but do not offer a degree.)

All a college degree does is prove that you can memorize enough information to pass a test.

[rookie]

*All other things being equal* aka ceteris paribus
Sounds so economics
Great content! 💯 Love it!

[luukkonenj]

Kylläpä tää sun kanava kasvaa kovaa vauhtia. Hyviä videoita teet! Opiskelen tällä hetkellä myös ohjelmointia ja syksyllä olis tarkotus alottaa amk:ssa opinnot :)

[Alvaro-efwg]

Starting today the CS50 program. Wish me luck!

[culturedmilk]

Underrated channel. I wish I found you earlier!

[shamaeelahmed]

The major catch in being self taught is that we need to figure everything by ourselves which is hard and frustrating

[CodingWithJan]

Nice video, a degree is definitely a big plus if you want to land a full-time position.
If you don't have one the fastest way might be through freelancing though. If you already worked on a few real-world project that's just so much more impressive than "I did a Udemy course". :-)

[frenchmike]

degree. Degree forces you to study what you probably would not study on your own, for instance you ll be forced to understand Operating Systems, Data Structures in depth, Algorithms, machine learning, databases, software development ... when you self study you tend to just do the fun projects, and you will lack the general knowledge long term that will eventually make a difference. And no age or money excuse I am 50 year old and in my 3rd year of a CS degree.

[khaledosama]

Don't forget to talk about the math needed to learn computer science.. And tell us what a person who sucks at math should do inorder to learn computer science.

[johnadrianregana]

I know this man, he was my neighbor, he was my friend in elementary school. He was a very talented man. We lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the fire nation attacked. Only the avatar, master of four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed him the most, he vanished.

[Ali-wtid]

"It's honestly the best course ever that I've ever done in any subject"

The passion and the way you said that just cracked me up 🤣🤣

Great content man, thanks!

[IamJohnKelly]

Do a video on ztm academy zero to mastery

[riddikulusyw]

Informative video! Thanks for sharing! I am really wondering if networking really matters to get a job, coz I am a musician, and self-learning coding, hoping to use this to migrate to canada, but I am not having any network there so I am considering if I should get a degree🤔 or is there any master that consider students with no cs degree. Thank you!