Front End Web Developer

Does Udacity Still Offer Free Programs?

At one point, I thought I remember reading that Udacity offered the full contents of its courses 100% for free. The only caveat was a few missing features such as mentorship, code reviews, some of the project examples etc. were only available to premium members.

Now it seems the coursework is no longer free to the public. For example if I go to the front end dev course here https://www.udacity.com/course/front-end-web-developer-nanodegree--nd001#

And scroll to the bottom under the 'Featured Free Courses' section it only lists one course: How to Use Git and Github.

Did they do away with the free course content?

For that list, JavaScript. I'm a bit biased (I helped build the first version) but Udacity's Front End Web Developer Nanodegree is a pretty solid introduction that will have you work through all 3 of the things you listed with no prerequisites required (absolute beginner to multiple completed projects).

The technologies you mentioned HTML, CSS and Java script are Front End Web technologies so you may be interested in becoming a front end web developer https://www.udacity.com/course/front-end-web-developer-nanodegree--nd001

You will want to first focus on the triad of markup, css, and js. Know the basics of each and how to turn any layout into a workable page. Then shift your attention to css preprocessing and how to create systems that are object oriented. Then spend as much time as you can in a leading js framework like react

Start with a cert program like this: https://www.edx.org/professional-certificate/front-end-web-developer-9

Or

https://www.udacity.com/course/front-end-web-developer-nanodegree--nd001

React: www.udacity.com/course/react-nanodegree--nd019

Hope that helps.

Udacity Nanodegree Review (Front-End Web Development) [X-Post /r/learnprogramming]

I earned Udacity's Front-End Web Developer nanodegree certificate earlier this month and thought I'd offer my thoughts on the program and share the projects I was required to complete.

If you just want to see what your finished projects might look like, here's a link to mine on GitHub. Each repository links to a live site for easy viewing. Direct links are provided below.

Before reading on, you should be aware that I completed most of FreeCodeCamp's front-end content before enrolling in Udacity's program. This gave me a good introduction to the basics.

Time & Cost

The program cost $200 a month and took 6 months for me to complete at a pace of maybe 15 hours a week. I'm eligible to get 50% back for finishing in under a year, and got $50 off my first month so the total post-refund cost for me should be $550. I believe anyone can finish in under a year if they put in consistent effort.

The 50% refund apparently takes 4-8 weeks to process. They didn't go out of their way to remind me of it when I graduated, and the only link to the actual form that I could find was buried in the FAQs section. It was a big motivator to finish early and obviously saved me a lot of money, so it's definitely something to be aware of.

Difficulty

This will of course vary from person to person, but I'd say in general the program was easy to moderate in terms of difficulty. The courses that accompany each project are well done, and I don't recall doing much extra research while working on the core requirements for the projects. Note that I was moderately familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript going in to the program.

Courses

The courses are great, but I believe available for free. The nanodegree is mostly about the projects.

Projects

Each project comes with a grading rubric and feedback/code review. The main reason I signed up for the program was to get that feedback. A code reviewer (I believe they're often graduates themselves) goes through your project line-by-line and offers inline feedback where appropriate. The reviewers I got were pleasantly thorough and helpful.

There's a decent degree of flexibility with most of the projects, meaning you're free to use whatever tools or technologies you like as long as you satisfy the rubric.

Udacity has added projects since I graduated, but when I enrolled there were 6 required projects.

Here they are in order, with links to my completed versions:

• Portfolio

• Basics.

• Resume

• Content from JSON.

• Frogger Clone

• OOP, Canvas

• Optimization (of an existing app)

• Critical rendering path, build tools

• Neighborhood Map

• Knockout.js framework, APIs

• Testing (of an existing app)

• Jasmine

• Bonus: Cat Clicker (MV* design patterns exercise, not graded or reviewed)

When I enrolled there were two passing grades: Meets Specs and Exceeds Specs, but they've since moved to a simple pass/fail grading system. Extra credit sort of things are still listed in their own section of the rubric in case you feel like doing them.

I enjoyed the projects and found all but the last one (testing an existing project) to be pleasantly challenging. You judge, but I think they'll be helpful while job hunting.

1-on-1 Coaching

Coaching is available for (I believe) all projects. I only took advantage of this once. It was a simple instant messaging conversation that easily lasted the scheduled 30 minutes and was acceptably, but not exceptionally, helpful. It did feel a little shallow; I don't think the coach spent more than a few minutes looking through my code prior to the appointment. I may have had a better experience if I went in with a specific problem to solve, but in my case I was just asking for overall impressions which is what I got.

Career Development Stuff

The program includes a good amount of career development courses (which I assume are free) and projects, plus a sort of exit interview with a career coach.

The career projects were graded and reviewed in the same way as the other projects, with the exception that they're optional.

The ones I completed were:

• Resume

• Cover Letter

• GitHub Profile Review

• LinkedIn Profile Review

These were basically just reviews of existing things, except for the LinkedIn profile which I'm considering deleting.

There's also a Job Interview project that I'm interested in doing at some point.

About the exit interview thing:

For me it was a video call with a coach who asked for program feedback and questioned me a little about my goals. There was some miscommunication about where to go to establish the video call, but thankfully I was watching my email when he got in touch with the correct link.

The guy I got was actually a programming coach because apparently the career coaches were all busy. He was nice and gave me some helpful links, but I do wish they'd just rescheduled me until a career coach was available.

Community

I interacted with my peers exclusively through the program's Slack channel, which was decently active and included a lot of participation from some Udacity employees responsible for the nanodegree program itself. I had a lot of opportunities to help other students and get additional feedback on my projects. The community was very friendly.

I'm not a fan of traditional forums, but they exist if you prefer them. I don't how active they are though.

Would I Do It Again?

Yeah, probably.

I'm switching careers from a non-technical field and I needed the motivation (finishing faster = less money spent) and direction (I get sidetracked or bite off more than I can chew), plus the projects and code reviews were helpful in building confidence and demonstrable experience.

If you don't need motivation, direction, or confidence: I recommend free resources instead.

Hope this was helpful.

Edit 18 Days Later: Updated project links.

Nanogree for Front-End Web Developer -- a good option?

By front end if you mean front end web developer then check out this course on Udacity which teaches frontend web development from zero to hero. The course is collaborated with Google and GitHub and they have done some real quality top notch work. They teach HTML , CSS and JavaScript from scratch and also move on the frameworks such as Angular and React at the intermediate level. They also have one to one mentors and projects which our regularly evaluated so you can check your progress. The link is here https://www.udacity.com/course/front-end-web-developer-nanodegree--nd001

So if I signed up for the Front End Web Developer Tehn I am forced into a 6 month contract, obligated to pay 200 per month until the course ends?

> I still made a mistake by not pursuing any internships or taking any real intiative to get a head start, career-wise aside from looking up tutorials that I never really fully grasped...Boy, do I kind of wish I still thought that way just because of how much hope I had. lol

This hit too close to home. I leaned on the fact that my CS degree would be inherently useful and make me immediately employable but I was so wrong. I did poorly in college and barely graduated and have spent the better part of a year "catching up". The biggest hurdle was convincing myself that I'm not stupid or lazy and seeking help for my mental issues. Before working on my career "revamp" I started receiving treatment for my depression and sought out a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with adult ADHD. Once I got my personal state under control, it was a lot easier to focus on pushing myself in the job search. Reading your background, I feel like you're in a similar position and may need to really address some of your underlying issues before trying to make some big changes in your career.

That being said, I can try to answer some of your questions:

> Is FreeCodeCamp a legitimate source of learning for someone who is serious about a web development/design job?

Sure. Frontend web development knowledge isn't heavily gated by what resource you choose to learn from. Your choice of learning method should be based on what learning styles you respond well too e.g. structured video courses, textbooks, interactive tutorials, etc.

> What are some other super useful courses/resources are out there for someone who is serious about getting that first job? (Can be paid courses, as long as it's affordable)

Like my previous answer, the knowledge is pretty accessible regardless of learning resource. What you might be looking for with your knowledge is a helpful community that you can leverage your experience with into a career. These exist in the form of online MOOCs and in-person bootcamps.

Online, I'd recommend Udacity Frontend Nanodegree since they have a lot of focus on career support, extensive alumni community, and a lot of hiring partners. I know it sounds like I'm shilling for them but like I said the information isn't any better, it's just a bigger support network that can help you get your foot in the door somewhere.

Additionally, there are in-person frontend "bootcamps" that are intensive multi-week long courses that typically feature high placement rates at companies and access to lots of career services. They can be pretty pricey and their availability is dependent on your location as well. They offer a very structured way to learn and is reminiscent of traditional schooling which a lot of people enjoy as it holds them accountable for the education.

> What can I do to stand out from the crowd, especially this long after graduation?

Luckily, frontend web development doesn't have nearly as much of a requirement for a CS background/degree and that's made it a popular alternative career transition for many people. The quality of your work will be the main thing that can help you stand out. This means developing a good portfolio and a personal website that showcases your skills.

Freelancing is a great way to break into this field. Create mockups or concept redesigns for people/businesses/startups and offer your paid services to build up your portfolio and show that you can apply your skills to a variety of domains.

> Where can I seek an internship or mentor for this kind of thing? (can be paid or unpaid at this point, I just need the help and guidance).

I think this subreddit can be helpful but if you're looking for one-on-one help, the Udacity course I mentioned has online mentoring options available alongside their nanodegree programs and even small group in-person mentoring services in select areas. (I'm do part-time mentoring for some of their other programs and I regularly am giving out advice like this)

Additionally, you can look into web dev meetups in your area and try to get in-person relationships with some more experienced people who will often be willing to help/guide you for free.

https://www.udacity.com/course/front-end-web-developer-nanodegree--nd001

Currently, I'm working on getting a scholarship for Udacity's Front End Web Developer Nanodegree.

I'm curious as to what to expect if I get accepted. Would someone who goes through the course be job ready? Or should I focus my time and energy elsewhere? We're on the first phase (intro stuff) currently and the top 1,500 students will be moving on.

Definitely want to do web dev for my career, and it'd be amazing if I could get paid to do it on the side while I'm in school!

So like the nanodegree? https://www.udacity.com/course/front-end-web-developer-nanodegree--nd001

In need of some real advice. I have been a hobbyist programmer for 5 years, unexpected circumstance makes me want to get a job asap. I've researched it quite a lot, please share your thoughts on my plan so far

Please be brutally honest with me since that's what will help me out the most, and please allow me to explain my problem in a short paragraph.

My brother recently told me he is 40k in debt and that he's already paying full interest on it since his first 12-18 months thing has passed. I NEED to get a high paying job asap. Programming is the only thing I am good at, but at the same time I'm not. I currently work a minimum paying job at Walmart, however, I created my first mobile application in 2013 which had 10k daily users before I moved on to a different project. In short, programming has always been my hobby. While others like eating out at restaurants, traveling, playing video games, etc., for me, I've always enjoyed programming.

The reason why I never tried to get a programming job though is simply because I was afraid it would lose all it's magic if it became work. First off, I wouldn't be able to work on my own projects that interest me, which is what draws me into it the most, bringing my ideas to life. And secondly, I always felt like my thought process is different than others, and that I might do poorly on a team, and that it'd force me to change the way I code things, although that could be a good thing since I imagine design principles as a good thing.

My point with all this is, I am not new to programming, but at the same time, I am completely self taught and only recently purchased programming books to be able to learn everything in depth (big mistake, I know). I've been able to create any feature I could ever think of, but if you asked me to tell you a definition, I probably wouldn't be able to give an adequate response and thus would fail interviews. My goal would be to get an entry level job asap and use that to gain experience and constantly improve. This might be a stretch, but my actual goal would be to get a 100k+ job by the end of next year. I should mention, Javascript is what I have by far the most experience in. Other noteable mentions would be C# in Unity3D, Photoshop and Excel. I have created 2 web hosting servers and have used all kinds of other small programs to get things done. I am quite good at picking new stuff up. Here are my current thoughts after researching the matter:

• I have only ever used vanilla javascript. Now that I want to get a job though, there are quite a few frameworks and/or libraries that people use. If I wanted to get a job asap, would it be wise to focus on one and look for jobs that require it? Or am I better off on focusing on something else? I should mention that, I do not mind moving anywhere in the US to get my career started asap. I would definitely prefer a location where salary - rent = most leftover money though, along with better opportunities in the same area for the future. But a serious question I have is, should I focus on one library so I can add that to my resume and it'd be easier to get a job that way? Or should I be focusing on something else?

• I was thinking of enrolling in Udacity's nanodegree program, either Front End Developer or Full Stack Web Developer. It says on there that Front End estimated salary is 51k-130k, where as Full Stack is 53k-108k. Front End Dev sounds like more Javascript and possibly higher paying, so that seems like a better choice for me. My main question is, would this be one of the fastest ways I could do to get a job since I don't have any work experience? Thoughts on going down this route? I plan to immediately hand in my resignation on Tuesday (I already called my boss and apologized), and will take a few days to decide the best course of action and then focus entirely on getting a job. I would seriously attempt to finish the course in 2 months or less.

• Another option I possibly thought of is, spend 2 weeks studying for the interview questions, along with all the terminology and definitions I can cram in, and then apply to every single job that looks decent, from any state/city that I would be fine moving to. I would also have to create a github (no experience with it) and make a proper portfolio in that time. Another question actually is, should I focus entirely on a github portfolio and adding as many properly done projects to it as I can from past projects? I might fail interviews left and right, but I kind of expect to either way at the beginning, so the faster I can get experience with it, the faster I will be able to pass one? Do I have any chance going down this route? Or should I actually do this in conjunction with the Udacity course?

Simply put, what is the fastest way for me to get a job in my circumstances? I am the type of person that is extremely competitive and takes his work seriously. I do not half ass anything I do and I absolutely love problem solving. If I got a job and didn't feel comfortable with something, I would be working my ass off even at home to better understand the problem and know what to do better the next day. For the next year, I want to focus on programming as if my life depended on it. Please share any information you can think of that would help. Thank you for reading and I wish everyone Happy Holidays! All the best.

Codecademy vs Treehouse vs Udacity Web Development Courses

I am looking to begin working towards becoming a front end web developer. I have done some self-study but would like to take some courses to make sure I learn properly.

So far some of the courses I found are: Codecademy/Ready (https://ready.codecademy.com/)

Team Treehouse Front End Web Developer Tech Degree (https://teamtreehouse.com/techdegree/front-end-web-development)

Team Treehouse Web Development Track (https://teamtreehouse.com/tracks/web-design)

Udacity Front-End Web Developer Nanodegree (https://www.udacity.com/course/front-end-web-developer-nanodegree--nd001)

Has anyone had any experiences with these programs and would recommend them? Thanks

Web marketer here. You'll want to look into ARIA markup and other accessibility enhancements.

https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/accessibility/

https://www.udacity.com/course/front-end-web-developer-nanodegree--nd001

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Accessibility/ARIA

Ich hab zunächst den Introduction to Programming Kurs absolviert und bin gerade dabei den Front-End Web Developer Kurs auf udacity.com zu beenden.

https://www.udacity.com/course/intro-to-programming-nanodegree--nd000

https://www.udacity.com/course/front-end-web-developer-nanodegree--nd001

Without knowing any of your interest, I would suggest going back to school since it will help you long-term. In my opinion, I don't know if a full four year program is required so hear me out on the following idea, and let me know if all of these sound completely boring to you. I suggest you look into a nanodegree in:

• Data Analytics: This is one of the hottest jobs in the market right now. I am a data scientist and we are in high demand. You're using a company's data (financial, HR related, web analytics, survey data, etc.) and pulling insights, building predictive models, or creating visualization with it. There is a ton that you can do and learning to code for data analytics is a great skill. These nanodegrees are ~$1,000 and there are also FREE options at codeacademy and other websites.
• Digital Marketing: Google/social media has turned marketing around on it's head. In the past marketers would do campaigns to the general public to find customers, now websites use SEO and social media to target people looking at their products. This will help you kick start all of that information.
• Front End Development: All the websites you've ever interacted with, have all of the code in order to make it look nice and be functional. This program will give you the skills in HTML and CSS in order to be able to do front end development work and build websites. If you're really into girls, you can try out the free version (no nano degree from this website though, but as the lesson progresses and you get answers correct the instructor losses articles of clothing hahaha) called Code Babes
• Full Stack Web Development: Websites and webapps have two components to them, the front and back end. Think about a restaurant there is the kitchen area (which you generally don't see) and the dining room/bar (which you do see). Web apps/sites have both what you interact with and what happens in the background in order for your requests on the site to be successful. If you hit "submit" on a form, there is a backend process that occurs before you get a confirmation message. This will teach you to do both front and backend work.

Udacity isn't the only place that offers these, do some research and see what options there are (and make sure it's a degree of high demand). If you learn some of this on your own you may be able to use it to help your current role, and put that on your portfolio/resume in order to land a job that requires some sort of experience.

These skills in digital are in very high demand, and the pay can be very lucrative. Just an option/idea for you to consider.

Hope it's helpful.

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academics/courses/courses-by-certificate/Back%E2%80%93End%20Web%20Development%20Certificate

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academics/courses/courses-by-certificate/Front%E2%80%93End%20Web%20Development%20Certificate

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academics/courses/courses-by-certificate/Web%20Technologies%20Certificate

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academics/courses/courses-by-certificate/Data%20Science%20Certificate

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academics/courses/courses-by-certificate/Software%20Engineering%20Certificate

https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academics/courses/courses-by-certificate/Programming%20Certificate

https://www.udacity.com/course/data-analyst-nanodegree--nd002

https://www.udacity.com/course/react-nanodegree--nd019

https://www.udacity.com/course/full-stack-web-developer-nanodegree--nd004

https://www.udacity.com/course/front-end-web-developer-nanodegree--nd001

https://www.udacity.com/course/mobile-web-specialist-nanodegree--nd024

https://www.statistics.com/specializations/

https://www.statistics.com/certificate-programs/