My Bloc.io 2017 Review

Apr 5, 2017 - # of words: 324

Please excuse the SEO title; I need the views 😬

I’ve already created a post that chronicles the path I took getting into Bloc, but this is more about my experience and recommendation.

I was a student in the Full Stack Development course as I wanted the best possible chance of getting a job. It is expensive, but not quite as bad as others I looked at back in 2015. It was very flexible which suited me since I have a lot of things pulling for my attention. If you have an entirely open schedule, I would recommend doing more of an immersive type course.

I thought the content was well written and if you put in the work, you will come out the other side a programmer. What really will make this worthwhile is the mentor, and I strongly recommend doing your homework before you choose one. If you don’t like their teaching style or you don’t get along just ask for a new mentor. They were excellent to me when it came to any problems I had and think their customer support is top notch.

I wish I had followed my own advice since most of my learning was done with my frontend mentor who actually did pair programming with me. This is of VITAL importance, make sure you are getting pair programming in and if your mentor is not interested… SWITCH! The best part is seeing how a pro developer breaks down problems, and you actually learn how to think. When I first started I thought it was all memorization of syntax and for loops but it really is just a study in how to deconstruct problems.

So overall I would recommend Bloc to someone who is working or has a busy schedule. Since it is a rather significant investment, it might be wise to do a little bit with FreeCodeCamp to see if you really want to become a dev.