Welcome! If you're reading this, you have probably been told that React is the best thing since the internet. Or maybe you're a little React curious: you're coming from another front-end framework like Ember, Backbone, or Angular and wondering if there may be a better way. Perhaps you have thousands of lines of messy code written in jQuery and you know that there must be a better way. Unfortunately, this article will not be making grand statements about how React is the answer to all of your problems. However, you will be getting some suggestions and resources that will help you to build a solid foundation before you dive into the world of React development.

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August 29, 2017

According to CareerBuilder, 77% of employers value soft skills just as much as hard skills. You can be writing some of the best code out there, but it will amount to little if you don’t work well with others. There are tons of people interviewing for boot camps and joining the masses in their post-graduation job search. Having strong communication and people skills are what’s going to reward you that winning competitive edge.

What soft skills can you improve on that actually matter?

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August 22, 2017

As a self-taught developer, I can easily remember feeling overwhelmed by how and where to begin learning how to code. Below are some lessons that I’ve taken away from my early days learning how to code and subsequent years teaching hundreds of students across SF.

Focus on quality, not quantity

When I first decided I wanted to learn how to code, I tried to tackle all languages and technologies at once. I knew that I needed to learn JavaScript, but I was also fascinated by mobile and backend development. I spent hours learning PHP and JavaScript, watching Objective C tutorials, and building small web and mobile applications.

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August 15, 2017

This past spring, Rithm School offered our first ever Diversity Scholarship to our community of aspiring web developers. We received many impressive applications, and after careful consideration, Michelle Huynh was awarded a full scholarship to our web development training program in San Francisco. Here, Michelle tells us more about her background and journey in web development, how she has set herself up for success in the field, and what she hopes to do next.

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August 08, 2017

There's been a lot of buzz lately about the recent high-profile closing of two coding schools: Dev Bootcamp and The Iron Yard. Depending on where you get your news, the back-to-back shuttering of these schools is either an anomaly in an otherwise healthy industry, or it's the first indication that the industry Dev Bootcamp pioneered is now ending.

Neither of these extremes totally captures the reality; the truth is more complicated. While I was certainly surprised to hear about these schools winding down, the challenges they described in their public statements definitely resonated.

In this post, I'd like to dig into one of the biggest challenges I've seen discussed. It's tied to one of Silicon Valley's favorite buzzwords, but is also frequently at odds with high-quality education. That word is scale.

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August 01, 2017

At Rithm, we believe that one of the best ways to prepare students for jobs as web developers is by giving them opportunities to work on real-world projects. Working on personal projects can be fun, but working in a team or on an existing code base gives students insights into the day-to-day challenges of a developer that they might not otherwise learn. Towards the end of these projects, we spoke with student Julia Hazer to get her perspective on the experience.

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July 18, 2017

It’s no secret that getting into a coding school is highly competitive. The most common question I receive from potential students is, "What can I do to stand out during the admissions process?" Here at Rithm, we have a particularly tailored admissions process to snag one of our coveted 15 seats, which can undoubtedly be nerve-wracking when applying.

Fortunately, we have all the resources you need to make it through our admissions process. I’ve seen over a thousand applications and have compiled these tips to get your foot in the proverbial coding door:

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July 11, 2017

It can be tempting to think that your work is done after you've solved a problem, especially if the problem has been a difficult one. But as Polya writes in How To Solve It, reflection is an important part of effective problem solving:

Even fairly good students, when they have obtained the solution of the problem and written down neatly the argument, shut their books and look for something else. Doing so, they miss an important and instructive phase of the work. By looking back at the completed solution, by reconsidering and reexamining the result and the path that led to it, they could consolidate their knowledge and develop their ability to solve problems...There always remains something to do; with sufficient study and penetration, we could improve any solution, and, in any case, we can always improve our understanding of the solution.

In this final post, we'll take a look at this final strategy from the standpoint of programming.

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June 27, 2017

Shriya Nevatia is a current student at Rithm who previously worked at two small startups in Community & Operations. She has a Computer Science degree from Tufts and is very involved in women in tech communities, including the Spectra hackathon and Ladies Storm Hackathons Facebook group. In her spare time she enjoys dancing, reading, painting, and exploring San Francisco.

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June 19, 2017

Here at Rithm School, we have seen value in providing scholarships to highly motivated web development students. The practice of offering scholarships is not only a way to support learners working with tight budgets, but also a method of engaging and motivating nontraditional students of all backgrounds and experience levels who are interested in breaking into tech.

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May 23, 2017