Boom Or Bust: The Lowdown On Code Academies 130
snydeq writes "Programming boot camps are on the rise, but can a crash course in coding truly pay off for students and employers alike? InfoWorld's Dan Tynan discusses the relative (and perceived) value of code academies with founders, alumni, recruiters, and hiring managers. Early impressions and experiences are mixed, but the hacker school trend seems certain to stick. 'Many businesses that are looking at a shortfall of more than a million programmers by the year 2020 are more than willing to give inexperienced grads a chance, even if some are destined to fail. The zero-to-hero success stories may be relatively rare, but they happen often enough to ensure that the boom in quick-and-dirty coding schools is only likely to accelerate.'"
Only (Score:5, Interesting)
They'll work only if they aren't a sloppy, slapped together gimmick designed to rubber stamp "programmers" and install them in cubicles like spare parts.
In 2014, it is shameful that we still don't have an adequate statewide computer curriculum in the state that gave birth to Apple, Google and Blizzard.
And no, buying iPads for everyone and teaching them how to use Word is not a computer curriculum. When a 2.0 high school graduate can explain in 50 words or less what a computer is then we will have success.
The fact that someone hasn't already taken all the throwaway PCs, installed Linux on them and equipped every school in the state with a 50-desktop computer lab (at zero cost) is only further proof of our failure in technology.
Not anyone can be a coder (Score:5, Interesting)
Not anyone can be a coder, just not not anyone can be a doctor, lawyer or executive.
Businesses decided they didn't like the leverage coders had on them, so they tried all kinds of nasty tricks, including outsourcing, no-poaching agreements, removing stock options, and even Agile methodologies attempt to commoditize a position. Instead of fostering R&D, they RIF'd a ton of people in the early 2000s after the dot bomb. The result? The number of CS/MIS applicants were cut in 1/2 for half a decade.
You reap what you sew, assholes. Time to pay up, bitches.
Re:Public education problem (Score:5, Interesting)
universal access to education doesn't provide greater upward mobility for the poor; it forces them to speculate, which gives them a hit-or-miss chance of success
Even if it's as bad as you make it seem, that's still a chance of success as opposed to not being educated and having 0% chance.
the businesses need these educated kids to succeed, and not enough rich kids have those degrees and those skills, so the businesses grab anyone who can absorb those skills and makes sure they get it.
The problem is they don't need to make sure of anything because there's plenty of investment from other countries to take advantage of. We live in a global economy, and we should be investing in our competitiveness.