How's it going guys?

I took the Bloc.Io Web Development course... sort of. I enrolled in the course and spent a few months training and studying with Bloc to learn more about developing web applications. Before I jump into my review, I want to give you guys a little bit of background on who I am and why I joined Bloc.

I am a certified Digital Forensics Examiner and Penetration Tester. My strong point and primary focus is Information Security and has always been Information Security.

So why did I join Bloc? Well, I think it's a good idea as a Security Professional to expand my working knowledge of these programming languages and to also understand the foundation of web applications. Understanding what a Web App is vs. knowing how to build one are two different things and knowing both is a great asset. So that's why I joined Bloc. To learn more about the foundation of these languages and how to develop the applications that I am protecting.

Now onto the review. Bloc is an interesting Bootcamp. Comparing it to others such as Thinkful and Switchup it definitely is a little more expensive. So why did I choose them? Well, there aren't too many positive reviews about the other schools. Frankly, there isn't a lot on Bloc either which is why I am writing this review and why I have created several videos documenting my experience with Bloc which can be found here -> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Wsu3dSkW_zHPqQXZi09Yw

But the way you learn with Bloc is as follows: You learn the foundation, expand on those, develop your portfolio and rinse and repeat with every language you learn. So that's Ruby, HTML, CSS, AngularJS etc. Every language you are constantly learning the basics, expanding on that and then create some sort of application that can be used in your portfolio. Which is a fantastic way to break into the world of web development because unlike some schools where you learn the material and that's it. Bloc encourages you to push yourself and create new and complex applications again and again. I know that may sound like a promotion but it's not. This is an unbias opinion on Bloc. I don't really care either way if you join or not. This is just my opinion on the course and my experience and I want to share that so that those who are interested aren't scared away by the price tag.

You get what you pay for essentially. I'm not going to say it's a perfect course because it isn't I do think there's a lot they need to work on. For example when learning the basics you aren't learning the basics of HTML, CSS, Git from Bloc but instead, they give you a free subscription to CodeAcademy where you can learn through them on HTML, CSS, Git and then once you've learned the material. Bloc will quiz you on the material to make sure you understand it. To some people, this is a huge turn off but to others, it's not that big of a deal. I mean, who cares about learning from someone else as long as you're learning something right?

For me, I enjoy learning through Bloc compared to CodeAcademy. When doing it that way it feels like there's some sort of discount between school and student. I also enjoy having a hard-copy of the course material which they don't provide. Which is understandable considering there's a lot of material but I still would have liked to see some sort of hard copy book or projects so that I can study on the road or whatever. Aside from that, there isn't too much to say. I didn't use my mentor as much as I thought because I didn't really have an interest in becoming a web developer so I didn't really voice that to my mentor and didn't plan too. Which I sort of regret.

The mentor I had was nice. He was a guy that wouldn't give you any answers or a clear pathway to your question and instead would tell you when you're wrong, have you explain your reasoning and try to get you to see the problem in a new light which in the long run was extremely helpful. Some coding projects seem easy at first but for me when I get to a math problem and I have to use javascript to solve it that's where I struggle. And it would be too easy just to have the answer in front of me so helping me to understand how these types of problems can be solved is more beneficial than saying "Here's the answer, now try the next"

Long story short. I like Bloc. It's expensive but it's well worth the price, they help you develop practical applications that will create a stunning portfolio and the workload is a lot... and I mean a lot. There's never any point where you're not studying with Bloc. And if you think that you'll join Bloc and it'll be a breeze then think again. The beginning is always easy but once you get to creating more and more applications. The hand holding goes away and it goes away fast. So if you're looking for a challenge go with Bloc.

If you're interested in discussing the course more in-depth feel free to email me and we can chat about everything that I have learned, my feelings on Bloc and how I found Bloc to be useful.

For those who are planning to enroll here is my email to receive $500.00 off your tuition. You may use this coupon for any course with Bloc, not just the Web Development. Mcraesean97@gmail.com

Here is also a way to get $100 off your tuition: https://www.coursereport.com/schools/ ... Course Report is offering $100 off if you enroll through course report. Just make sure to bring it up whenever a code advisor calls you about enrolling into Bloc and they'll deduct it from your tuition.

Let's connect: linkedin.com/in/mcraesean97/