Le Wagon

Summary One of the best education I've ever had with 2 factors;

• Got practical skills in a short period of time: Everyday-coding challenges after morning lecture never let us leave just as lecture but as practical experience.
• Surrounded by smart / passion / diversed people.

I've been always interested in programming when I was doing internship for a startup before Le Wagon. And finally I jumped into Le Wagon Tokyo right after my graduation of bachelor degree in business.

Learning to code at Le Wagon was an amazing 9 weeks which I'd definitely recommend to anyone looking to up-skill or change careers. The course structure is very well organised with fun challenges and excellent resources. The teachers are awesome and there is always a friendly face to help when needed. I was amazed at how much I'd learnt and grown in just 9 weeks. I would highly recommend Le Wagon to anyone who has an interest in coding and looking for fun, supportive learning environment.

In Le Wagon I’ve found myself in an exciting community full of people that share with me a passion for creating, learning and coding. This sense of community and friendship was really important during the bootcamp to keep me motivated and excited for each day, sharing all our doubts, difficulties and personal knowledge was a special key element of Le Wagon, as well as all the dinners and events we shared together! All the teachers were caring and made sure we were taking full advantage of what the bootcamp had to offer. As well as an awesome curriculum full of coding technologies, we were taught important soft skills that really helped me getting my career started in the tech world right after the bootcamp finished. Even now my batch is over, I was left with direct contact to all Le Wagon’s online groups and communities filled with experienced teachers, alumni and new learning content to keep expanding my knowledge and stay in touch with all the great people I got to meet. I’m very happy I was able to be part of such an awesome experience, and I’m so excited to go into my new job and put to practice everything I learned in Le Wagon!

Le wagon has been an incredible experience in an uncountable amount of ways. If you’re considering doing a coding bootcamp, choose Le wagon.

Where did it start?

My interest in coding started when I experienced some limitations at work; I really wanted to create something and I knew how it should work or look but I didn’t know how to tell the computer exactly what I wanted. I researched coding and web development and used many free online tutorials, and I felt like I had made some progress, I could really write some lines of code and manipulate things on a website (felt pretty cool), but I didn’t know where to go from there, I could write some lines, knew some syntax, but there was no way I could create a full product, where would I start? After drowning myself in all the resources out there, I felt more and more confused and decided it was time to get some guidance.

Before choosing...

After researching coding bootcamps, it was clear that Le wagon was going to be a great choice. Although, I was a little skeptical at first because they seemed to just have endlessly positive reviews and I thought that can’t be right? Are these reviews real? (I can of course confirm that they are, now that i’m here writing one myself). Le wagon appeared to offer many interesting technical skills, but also seemed focused on teaching students to create a product as a whole, and focused on supporting entrepreneurship too. I watched a bunch of their demo day videos* from many cities and I was beyond impressed. I remember thinking “Wow, some of these ideas seem absolutely genius, and the presentation of the final products are really inspiring”. I wanted to be able to create something like that!

Which city should I choose?

Le wagon offers their course in heaps of cities, and although I was choosing between several cities, Barcelona was a clear winner for me. I wanted to stay in Europe, and after researching, Barcelona had one of the lower costs of living. Not only is it home to many start-ups and makes a regular appearance on lists about tech hubs in Europe, but it is also located on the lovely Mediterranean, and who would turn down a city with sunny beaches and beautiful mountains all in one.

After applying…

After I filled out the form on the Le Wagon website to apply for the bootcamp in Barcelona, I got an e-mail from Gus, the driver, offering to book a chat on skype. We had a great chat that resulted in getting the offer to do the technical tests. I was given some material to learn in a few days along with some tasks and then I was given a test which should be completed more or less in an evening. I was very glad to know that I passed the tests and had been offered a place at the bootcamp. The time between my admission and the first day of the bootcamp I was given some prep work to complete.

Before the Bootcamp…

I cannot stress enough just how helpful it was that I had completed the prep work given to me**. There are several videos to watch with some questions afterward, loads of useful resources linked in the descriptions. I really suggest you read/complete the info in the links. One thing that is great about the prep work is that it gets you into the mindset of how the bootcamp will be, consistently getting fed knowledge and new information. Lastly, DO NOT underestimate the javascript part, this will take you more time than you might expect.

Before the bootcamp started I also received a few really helpful email from the campus manager, Avalon, who gave me loads of information about the city and also helpful tips about finding places to stay during the bootcamp. She was really helpful and answered all the questions I had.

During the bootcamp..

From Day one I was so happy to meet so many interesting new people with so much of their own culture to share and stories to tell and I knew that I was going to really enjoy the 9 weeks to come.

First third of the bootcamp

The first week we learnt about the Ruby basics which was really helpful because they’re the fundamentals to learn any programming language, the important part was understanding the concepts as opposed to just learning syntax of by heart. It was intense, just as I had expected! On the friday we all went out for some beers to reflect on the first week and despite being tired and our brains overflowing with not only new information but also a new way of thinking and learning, everyone was in a great mood and we had a lovely time getting to know each other.

Something that really impressed me was the learning platform that the creators of Le Wagon have developed. You can’t even imagine how well structured, engaging and useful this platform it, it really was the key to being able to learn so much in just 9 short weeks. They have video lectures, slideshows, daily challenges, flashcards, and a super impressive “search” function where you can just look up any keyword you remember from a lecture and it will give you all of the content related to that word - I really relied on that!

The second week we learnt about more advanced programming concepts and we actually created some pretty cool mini programs which was the first time I started to feel like a developer.The third week we focused on Databases which was really interesting and it was really useful to learn how to communicate with Databases. So the first three weeks really focused on understanding the back-end.

Second third of the bootcamp

The next two weeks were focused on the front-end, we learnt HTML, CSS and Javascript, and also discovered libraries such as Bootstrap. We were able to build a profile page, learn how to build web components, good UI and UX practices. It was interesting to learn just how much logic is behind design, and it was actually really different from the back-end. It was refreshing to touch a new topic but it was just as challenging.

During this middle part of the bootcamp when we were focusing on  front-end and design, we were also taught about how to pitch a product, and we had a practice night pitching all the ideas we had to our fellow wagoners. This is a really valuable skill to learn, as they really taught us the ins and outs of a good product pitch.

The next week we learnt about Rails and oh my god - the magic behind Rails was mind-blowing. Rails is fantastic and seeing everything come together was really rewarding, it was great to finally understand why we were learning everything we had been learning.

Last third of the bootcamp

Now that we had acquired all the necessary skills to build our own app it was finally time to build one! We had one week (5 days) to build a clone of AirBnb in teams of 3, 4 or 5. This was really good practice to learn how to efficiently collaborate both in person and on GitHub, we learnt how to organise ourselves as a team and also how to deal with problems that we would run into. This practice week was so exciting because we had the opportunity to present what we had created to our classmates which was a great taster for when we would be presenting the actual product we were going to develop.

The final two weeks were intense, exciting, nerve-wracking but amazing. We worked in sprints and we were able to build an MVP in just 10 days. It was incredible to be working on a project building an actualt real-life app just 6 weeks after not knowing how to write a single line of code. God that was an amazing feeling.

On the Demo day, the day we would present our products to not only our classmates but also a general public audience who had signed up to join the event. We had a great day practicing our presentations and spending time with our fellow campmates, though it was a sad day saying goodbye to all my new friends, it was also a great day as everyone had a genuine sense of achievement and we were  all really proud to present what we had been working so hard on.

So that was it, after 9 weeks, I could now call myself a Junior Full-stack developer.

About the Teachers

Le wagon Drivers are great at choosing teachers who fit very well into the culture. Oftentimes the teachers have done the bootcamp themselves and so they are really able to relate to the students and understand which sections of the course tend to be more challenging and how students react to the content in the course. All the teachers in my batch were super friendly, we got along so well and it really made it a fantastic learning environment. There wasn't a strong sense of authority and superiority coming from the teachers which made the atmosphere more comfortable knowing that the teachers are really just there to support, help and guide you through the course. They help you learn how to solve problems by yourself so that you’re ready for the real world of developing and so that you don’t become dependent on them. (although I do sometimes miss having them around)

After the bootcamp

Earlier I spoke about the incredible platform built by the Le Wagon founders, and the best part about the resources is that they’re available to you for the rest of your life. They are not only aimed at students who are currently in the bootcamp but there is a massive active community (4000+ students) contributing to the resource part to help you continue to learn after the bootcamp.

They have channels to help you find a job, work as a freelance, help you if you get stuck while coding (fixing any errors you can’t seem to fix yourself). Everyone who has been a Le Wagon student is very supportive of other wagoners, and the worldwide community is great. If you attended the bootcamp in Tokyo but you are looking for a Job in Barcelona, the wagoners from Barcelona will be sure to help you. This is something that I am infinitely grateful to be a part of.

Why should you choose Le Wagon Barcelona?

Looking for a career change? Le wagon.

Want to become a Full-stack Developer in no time? Le wagon.

Looking to build your own start-up? Le wagon.

Want to learn how to communicate effectively with the devs in your company? Le wagon.  

Looking to become a Project Manager with Coding knowledge? Le Wagon.

Want to become a freelance developer? Le wagon.

Seriously...the list is endless in the number of ways Le Wagon will benefit you. You can learn so much and in such a beautiful city with so many international people. I highly recommend Barcelona.

What did I personally learn?

Apart from the obvious coding part, Le wagon actually taught me many useful life skills. I got to meet a bunch of awesome people from many different cultures and get insights into their lives, I learnt about how to approach …, I learnt how to tackle problems along the way, I learnt about teamwork in a technical environment, and I overcame my fear of public speaking from the support of the driver and teachers, which I will always be thankful for.

*anyone who is considering Le Wagon as their bootcamp choice, I would really recommend watching the demo day videos.

** All aspiring students should really take the prep work seriously.

After being graduated from Top French Business School, I had various professional experiences where i was in contact with programmers. Fastly, I realised that I had no legitimacy to run my project correctly because I was not able to talk their language properly. My conclusion : I needed to understand them to be more efficient in my work.

I heard about Le Wagon when I was in Business School while they organised a workshop and I really loved their methodology: learn by doing. So I decided to get in touch Le Wagon Barcelona and few interviews after, I was on board.

On my first day, I have directly been amazed by the variety of profiles in my batch : engineers, medical students … I probably couldn't have the opportunity to work with so many different people in one place. And it had been a real chance because this is what makes this experience so unique - people with totally different backgrounds, different points of view, different skills - but with the same purpose: learn to code and change life.

Those differences had been the engine of our success: we were combining our soft and hard skills to reach a common goal: create a product that we were believing in.

To any applicants: I highly recommend you to follow this bootcamp. This is a really challenging moment that requires a lot a work and involvement.  And at the end you'll learn so much more than code.

I did a bachelor's degree in business administration and engineering a few years ago. Since then I have been working in Ecommerce Startups in Berlin.
I work a lot with data and have already been able to teach myself SQL. I wanted to develop my skills more towards IT and was introduced to LeWagon by a friend.
LeWagon really has a great program. But what really exceeded my expectations were the people. They all had completely different backgrounds. This made the learning experience all the more exciting. Especially the connection with the great city of Lisbon was perfect. The teachers are always helpful and friendly on all topics. In a short time, the batch becomes a small family in which everyone supports each other. The Alumni Network is also extraordinary and probably also with the greatest added value.
I really think everyone should learn to code. The Bootcamp is one of the best investments you can make for yourself.

Le Wagon Bali was one of the most intensive educational & fun months of my life! Dirk & the other staff made sure traveling across the world was easy by providing us accommodation recommendations and a fun environment to always have something to do. The structure of the course was extremely cool and allowed for both beginner and slightly more advanced students have a filled day. If you really understood a lesson one day you still have bonus exercises that introduce new topics and offer fun challenges to push your learning to the next level. For me - I already knew how to build Wordpress & ClickFunnels sites but those don’t require much, if any coding experience. Since the batch - I have been able to build custom mapping estimating software and more importantly for me - hire someone to build the base code and have the ability to manage a workforce of programmers, because now I understand their workflow and structure. Being able to quickly understand and edit code saved you $1,000’s of dollars in development costs vs someone without a coding background. I thank Le Wagon Bali for all of this education and the time of a lifetime. Definitely an experience I recommend.

I did batch 205 of Le Wagon in Lisbon, finishing in December 2018. It was a great learning experience, very rewarding and challenging!
I have a business background, and was working in the retail industry for a few years. I've always been curious about how products are built and how to develop products tailored to consumers' needs. I didn't have any previous knowledge of programming but thought it could be interesting to learn how to code. A friend of mine told me about Le Wagon, and after checking the program and reviews from previous students, it seemed like a great option, so I quit my job and joined the bootcamp.
The bootcamp was very intensive and demanding. It really pushed me forward and made me step out of my comfort zone but it was totally worth it. I now know that anyone can learn how to code, it just takes commitment, effort, passion, and being surrounded by the right people and environment. And Le Wagon provided just that.
For me, a crucial part of my experience were the amazing teachers and TAs. They are very supportive, understanding your problems and helping you, adapting to your reasoning and own way of solving the challenges instead of just giving you their solution. This really helped me to feel more confident and understand things better.
Another great aspect are your fellow students. They know what you're going through, everyone supports each other, and the environment is really collaborative and friendly. This makes it so much easier to go through those days when you feel more lost or insecure about learning how to code. Pair programming is also a great feature of the bootcamp, allowing you to work with someone different each day, and helping each other. There's also time to relax and have fun together.
The last two weeks are very challenging and rewarding since you develop a real product in a team of 3 or 4 students. After prototyping our web app during demo day, I felt proud and amazed with what everyone achieved in 9 weeks!
Overall, I recommend Le Wagon to anyone who wants to learn how to code! You will be amazed by what you can do in 9 weeks and challenge yourself!

Before I took the jump and booked onto batch #190 in London I was a full time swim coach with no prior coding experience. Now, having graduated two months ago, I am Junior front-end engineer at an awesome sales start up in London. The course at Le Wagon can genuinely change your career path and your life as it gives you the technical knowledge and team work experience that employees are looking for from their next Junior Developer. On the course the teachers (most are past students) will happily help you with any problem, ranging from a small typo to a error that takes half the day to fix. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Le Wagon and encourage anyone who wants to gain the technical knowledge to become a Junior Developer or set up their own business to apply and get on with it!

I graduated from Le Wagon at the end of Nov 2018, and now I’m working at a FinTech startup as a full-stack developer in Japan. Looking back, I’m sure Le Wagon is the best choice if you really want to change your life.

Here are the things I liked:

- Extremely well-organized learning materials and resources, which you’ll think of like a bible even after

- Well balanced challenges given every day, keeping you concentrated regardless of your initial skill-level

- Great teachers and TAs, all of them are friendly and taught us that coding is fun

- Great classmates, and community where graduates and teachers all over the world are actively communicating

I was a banker in investment bank before joining Le Wagon. Though I didn’t have any coding skill, I really wanted to change my career and my life, and Le Wagon made it.

Please let me tell finally that the most important thing is… your heart!
9 weeks go really fast with intensive experiences!!

I’ve always been interested in learning programming, and after finishing my bachelor with a business major, it seemed to be just the perfect time to actually start.
I pretty quickly found out that I would prefer a full-time bootcamp over self-learning, and that’s how I ended up in Milan starting the 9-week LeWagon full stack bootcamp.

Your usual day at LeWagon begins with lectures in the morning, where new concepts are introduced along comprehensive examples. In the afternoon you then have to solve related problem sets, in order to deepen that knowledge.

From the first day on, Francesco and his team were doing their best to make this experience as nice as possible. Every concept was taught thoroughly and during the problem session, no question remained unanswered. 
This is where I also see the biggest benefit of bootcamps over self-learning in general. With the 1:1 on-demand help of the teaching assistants, you are able to learn way faster.

The highlight of the bootcamp though was the last three weeks, where the 16-people course was split up into 4 groups. After only 6 weeks, we were already able to program an Airbnb clone within one week. The great thing about this project was also, that you had to combine all your prior learnings and connect them in order to make your first "full-stack” project successful. 
In the following two weeks, we took that even further, with the individual groups coding their own apps, so completely independent of any lecture script. That’s where I also learned the most and the assistance of the experienced teachers is very valuable.

In general, LeWagon was a huge boost for my career. I started coding in a professional working environment right away after the course, without any problems. 
Thanks again to you Francesco and the whole LeWagon Milan team!

I must confess that my expectations were incredibly high before I start the bootcamp, but in reality the course was even better than I was expecting. It starts hard, and that's necessary for you to embrace the complexity of the program, but once you understand how things work, you can do anything you can without much effort. The reality is that every one of us build super amazing applications within 2 weeks, much faster than many professional web developers. I was even able to build my personal website in 2 days, after finish the bootcamp: https://hugoabreu.pt 
So, if you're looking to become a web developer, or like me, to embrace a career of technical project manager, Le Wagon is your place. I did my course in Tokyo and I can only recommend the staff from there!