Told my nephew to skip the $2k coding bootcamp and just do free stuff. Friends say I'm wrong.
My nephew asked me about a coding bootcamp in Chicago that costs $2,400 upfront, and I suggested he try free resources at the library and on YouTube instead. I was skeptical when a friend said self-taught people get hired at real companies, but I actually watched a guy at my old job go from warehouse to junior dev after 14 months of studying on his own. On the other side, my sister paid for a $4,000 program in Dallas and got a job in 6 months, so she swears the structure and career help are worth it. I see both sides: the free route takes longer and you have to be super disciplined, but the paid route is a big gamble if you don't finish. What convinced me was meeting two self-taught devs at a meetup in Kansas City who both said the bootcamp grads they work with often struggle with basics. But maybe those are just the exceptions. So I'm honestly torn. Did anyone here go the free route and actually land a job, or did you pay and feel it was worth it?