Next Tech Steps for Bootcamp Grads
By: Mike Cronin
Tags: JavaScript, Coding, Codingbootcamp, Docker, React

Next Tech Steps for Bootcamp Grads

I’ve talked with a lot of recent bootcamp grads who ask me what they should focus on learning next. Below are some of my more frequent suggestions. This list is coming from my own personal observations after a year in the field as a grad myself.

Learn Docker

At your new job, you’ll likely have to work with Docker and Kubernetes, so starting dipping your toes into the shallow end of the container now. There are two videos I always recommend, Docker in 12 Minutes and Docker Compose in 12 Minutes. Docker Compose is an easy way to orchestrate Docker in local development. It’s like a mini version of Kubernetes, so it’s a good set of training wheels to teach you the beginnings of networking.

Host your projects

Employers will click on url’s but they’re less likely to dive into github repos. In order to stand out, every single project on your resume should be ready to be viewed online. Heroku, GitHub Pages, Digital Ocean, Firebase, Glitch, whatever you want, just get it out there and running.

Understand the JS event loop and call stack

This great video Phillip Roberts breaks down the event loop in a beautiful, simple, and humorous way. This is a great place to start digging deeper into the inner mechanics of JavaScript and answer those tough interview questions with confidence.

Go back over SQL

If you attended a shorter bootcamp, it’s likely that SQL was glossed over in favor of ORMs. However, it’s quite likely you will be making pure SQL queries at your job. For this, I’d recommend W3 Schools SQL course. Skim through the links and make sure the concepts all make sense to you. Try to get the CRUD actions to a point where they’re muscle memory.

Build something with raw WebPack

While frameworks are beginning to abstract away the build step, it doesn’t mean you can. I like this crash course WebPack video because it explains not just the mechanics, but the history and theory. It’s crucial as a JR dev that you fully understand what the “build process” is. Create something with pure JS and WebPack, you’ll be glad you did.

GraphQL is the new REST

Probably. Maybe. I don’t know. But it’s definitely going to start popping up more and more. Especially for companies with generic API’s. This GraphQL crash course video is a bit long, but covers a lot of great stuff. In a weird way, learning GraphQL also helped me understand REST better, and it’ll probably help you too.

React without create-react-app

If you know React I STRONGLY encourage you to build a React app from scratch. At my Bootcamp, we exclusively used create-react-app, and I assumed that was because React was super hard to configure. It’s not. Once you know the basics, branch out and peak behind the configuration curtain.

Also, get used to the new Hooks; adoption has been ludicrously fast so there’s a high chance your job will use them. I wrote an article that explains how the useEffect hook in particular shifts us into a new way of thinking. And if you used Redux, you’ll love how streamlined the context API is.

Learn a different framework

Perspective is great. If you know Rails and React, then build a project in Express and Vue. Sometimes to understand something fully, you just have to try doing it differently. I finally understood why DB queries go in models and not handlers when I switched to Node, for example. It really doesn’t matter what frameworks you pick, just switch things up.

Take time to Learn CSS properly

I’m willing to bet CSS was not dwelled on much in your camp, yet it’s the key to professional looking projects. W3 again has great CSS resources (and HTML guides). In addition, I highly recommend learning Flexbox. That guide in the link has been my go-to forever, but there’s also a fun game that teaches you Flexbox with a frog.

Those are a few of my quick suggestions, but it doesn’t really matter what you settle on learning first as long as you keep going and stay curious.

happy coding everyone,

mike