Hi, I’m Brian, a former senior software engineer and now industry mentor at Pathrise. I have helped hundreds of software engineers land their dream jobs in tech. Check out my article with the best coding bootcamps in Los Angeles.
The tech scene in Los Angeles, known colloquially as Silicon Beach, is flourishing. Thanks to the city’s growing number of startups and companies, including Google, more aspiring software engineers are moving to Los Angeles, registering for coding bootcamps, and launching their careers in tech.
With so many bootcamps to pick from, selecting the right one can be challenging. We have put together a list of coding bootcamps in Los Angeles to help you find the program that best suits your goals so that you can jumpstart your software engineering career.
Best coding bootcamps in Los Angeles
1. Codesmith
Experienced software engineers who are preparing for mid- and senior-level software engineering roles can check out Codesmith, a 12-week software engineering bootcamp with campuses in Los Angeles and New York. Students meet 9am-8pm on Monday-Friday, as well as 9am-4:30pm on Saturday. The rigorous curriculum helps students deepen their knowledge of key computer science concepts, including algorithms, data structures, programming paradigms, design patterns, analytical problem solving, and more. To help students prepare for the job market, Codesmith offers considerable assistance, including interview prep, portfolio building assistance, and post-graduation check-ins. In the final weeks of the bootcamp, multiple companies interview Codesmith students.
2. General Assembly
General Assembly offers a 12-week bootcamp in Los Angeles for aspiring software engineers. In addition to studying computer science fundamentals, students develop an in-depth understanding of algorithms, data structures, design patterns, and APIs. Employing different frameworks and stacks, students build a number of interactive full stack applications, which they can add to their portfolios. They practice using in-demand tools, including Python, Django, React, and other leverage JavaScript libraries. Shortly before graduation, students meet 1-on-1 with career coaches to work on resume and portfolio building, as well as interview prep. 
3. Coding Dojo
With a campus in Burbank, Coding Dojo is another option for learning software engineering in Los Angeles. Students who enroll in the full-time onsite program commit to working 70-90 hours per week in order to learn 3 stacks in 14 weeks. Initially, they focus on the fundamentals of front-end web development and back-end with Python. As for the next 2 stacks, students choose from the following list: MEAN, Ruby, Java, or C#.NET. The curriculum features algorithm sessions, tech talks, and lectures, as well as group and individual projects, which students can add to their portfolios. Students also receive 1-on-1 support from career coaches, who help them with portfolios, resumes, and interview prep, for the duration of the program.
4. Hack reactor
Hack Reactor offers a 12-week, full-time software engineering bootcamp in Los Angeles, with classes that meet on Monday-Friday from 9am-8pm. To prepare for the bootcamp, students work through 80-120 hours of self-paced pre-work, which they can take online for free. The pre-work prepares students to program with React, Block, full stack JavaScript, as well as various API and CSS frameworks. By week 7, students are ready to start building applications from scratch. They spend the second half of the program completing an application, as well as meeting with career coaches, who provide guidance on multiple components of the job search, including resume building, interview preparation, and salary negotiation.
5. Nucamp
People who are interested in a web development or software engineering bootcamp with in-person and online components can consider Nucamp. With a campus in Los Angeles, the bootcamp offers 3 programs: web development fundamentals (4 weeks), front end web & mobile development (17 weeks), and full stack web & mobile development (22 weeks). Self-paced, the fundamentals program covers basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. A project-based program, the front end track teaches students how to use tools such as bootstrap, React, React Native, Microsoft Visual Studio, and Git & GitHub.
Those in the full stack program learn the same skills as people in the front end track, in addition to key tools and concepts in server-side development, including back-end with NodeJS, Express, databases with MongoDB, and storage. For the online component, students work through 6-14 hours of self-paced work per week, including recorded lectures and exercises. To discuss projects with their classmates and instructor, students meet in-person on Saturday from 9am-1pm. Following coursework, Nucamp invites front end and full stack students to take their 6 week career development course, which focuses on the ins and outs of resume and LinkedIn optimization, as well as interview prep.
6. Galvanize
Another tech bootcamp with a campus in Los Angeles, Galvanize offers programs in software engineering and data science. To prepare for the rigorous curriculum, students must complete 80 hours of self-paced pre-work online, which is free. They can also enroll in the Galvanize 6-week prep course, a paid option that is also offered online. The bootcamp, which emphasizes full stack JavaScript and application design, is a serious time commitment, as full-time students meet Monday-Friday from 9am-8pm and on Saturdays from 9am-5:30pm for 12 weeks.
For the first part of the program, students participate in lectures, labs, and Q&A sessions in order to learn about inheritance patterns, algorithms, databases, various frameworks (API, JavaScript, CSS), and server side technologies. Students spend the second half of the program working on teams to develop a front end application. Career coaches also work with students on resume building, interview prep, salary negotiation, and other aspects of the job search.
7. Beachcoders
A Los Angeles-based tech bootcamp, BeachCoders has 3 courses in software engineering and web development: front end, full stack, and data structures. Students who enroll in these courses, which last for 4 weeks, meet Monday-Friday for 2.5 hours per session. The curriculum includes lectures, which are not recorded, as well as group exercises, coding reviews, and portfolio building workshops.
The front end program, which is a prerequisite for the full stack course, teaches HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and REACT. The full stack program covers Express, MongoDB, SQL, server side rendering, as well as web sockets, package.json, NPM, and AJAX. As an alternative to the front end program, students can enroll in data structures (which emphasizes algorithms and blockchain). This alternative course focuses more on linked lists, arrays, hash tables, queue, arrow function, and closure. Although BeachCoders does not offer job-seeking support, they do have partnerships with tech recruiting organizations based in Southern California.
8. Sabio
Sabio is a software engineering bootcamp with both online courses and a on-campus learning in Culver City (Los Angeles) and Irvine. Before starting the full-time (12 weeks) and part-time (24 weeks) immersive programs, students must pass a technical assessment. If they don’t pass, students complete the Sabio 4-week pre-work program, which covers JavaScript, HTML, and CSS fundamentals. Bootcamp students participate in lectures (not recorded), hands-on projects, meetups, hackathons, and more. They learn about client-side frameworks, database architectures, Node.js, React, and GitHub. To help build their portfolios, students complete a number of team and individual projects. Career coaches meet with students throughout the bootcamp to offer assistance on resumes, portfolios, and interview prep.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that provides 1-on-1 support to students and professionals on every component of the job search, including technical and behavioral interview prep, resume and portfolio building, salary negotiation, and more. If you are looking to work with a mentor to optimize your job search and help you land a job in software engineering, join Pathrise.
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