Development Track - Online And Continuing Education At Umass: Fill & Download for Free

As you can tell from the answers already posted in this question, there are quite frankly hundreds of websites/programs that will teach you both web development (Front-End) and the programming behind it (Back-End).At one end of the spectrum, there are programs that accumulate a wealth of content for you to learn on your own with videos and interactive web apps:Free:[Codecademy] http://www.codecademy.com/: If you're just starting to learn - this can get you introduced to basic concepts. I'd describe it as "coding on training wheels"[Code.org] http://code.org/learn - Interactive tutorials/games for general programming concepts. They were the ones who organized Hour of Code![Khan Academy] http://www.khanacademy.org/#comp...: Salman Khan's a great teacher. I've seen all his Organic Chem and Bio videos when I was studying for the MCAT. Great introduction to fundamental CS conceptshttp://www.skillcrush.com/terms/: They provide an excellent list of common terms you'll hear in any programming/web development conversation. Very easy to understand definitions!http://www.bentobox.io/: interactive tutorials of everything from HTML/CSS to Angular, Backbone, Coffescript and more![CodeYear] http://www.codeyear.com/: Looks like a supplement to codecademy.Next, we move on the programs with monthly/course fees:[Codeschool] http://www.codeschool.com/ - grouped by specific "tracks" with additioanl screencasts[Treehouse (company)] http://teamtreehouse.com/[Tuts+] http://net.tutsplus.com/[lynda.com (product)] http://www.lynda.com/[Udemy (company)] http://www.udemy.com/courses/Tec...[Coachunt(company)] https://www.coachunt.com/all-courses[Coursera] https://www.coursera.org/ deserves their own section for being the emblem of a MOOC:As an example, here's my current dashboard of courses:Next, we have a variety courses hosted by prestigious UniversitiesIntroduction to Computer Science and Programming - MIT OpenCourseWareIntroduction to C++ - MIT OpenCourseWareIntroduction to Computer Science: Programming Methodology - Stanford Engineering EverywhereData Structures - UC BerkeleyHarvard Open Courses for FreeAn Introduction to Artificial Intelligence - UMass (Boston)Now at the OTHER end of the spectrum you have "bootcamps" which are considerably more expensive ($8000-15000) but provide extensive support. Depending on which you're accepted to, you'll be coding 50-90 hours a week.http://www.thinkful.com/bootcamps/ - Just launched! A great way sort through different programming bootcamps by location and topic.The Ultimate Guide to Coding Bootcamps: The Exhaustive List - a comprehensive article from SkilledUp that provides additional information on all of them - check out their "most selective" article as well!For those of you who aren't able to commit the time or money for these bootcamps, there do exist some online programs.That was me. I wanted to become a web developer [eventually full-stack] but needed a course that fit my needs. I tried using many of the free resources available on the web ( What are the best sources to learn web coding in a short time? Please mention whether the source is free.) but realized I needed a project based curriculum to actually apply the new skills. I became quite frustrated when I would get "stuck."I chose Thinkful (company) from the various options on find and learn all about web development bootcamps.*Update* Hello! So. A lot has changed over the years. Most importantly, we have a program that helps our students become engineers: Become a Software Engineer. So far, 93% of graduates have landed a job within 4 months of graduation. Here's what makes learning at Thinkful special:Outcomes-driven. This is probably most important. It’s a subtle shift we made in our mentality that’s led to some exciting changes. First of all, every student who graduates from the Web Development Bootcamp is guaranteed a job or 100% of their money back. Second, we publish all of our stats (in real-time) as a jobs report. We’re proud to be the first online school to do so! Third, our Career Services has been fully revamped. It starts at Day 1, continues throughout the program, and doesn’t end until you’ve negotiated the best possible job offer.Universal and flexible. The first sentence of our mission statement reads: anyone with a strong will to learn can become a programmer. There are no technical prereqs barring you from admission. You won't have to move or quit your job. You can start at anytime and learn from anywhere. You’ll still be held accountable for your goals but we know you have a life outside your studies and need a flexible environment to support that.Human. Relationships drive learning. Plain and simple. It’s been proven that students succeed when paired 1-on-1 with an expert (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_Sigma_Problem). You’ll talk to engineers you can trust at every step of the program starting with Derek, a former student, who onboards you to the program and is available any day. You’ll meet with your personal mentor 3x a week during the course and a career coach that will guide you through the job placement phase. And that’s just counting the 1-on-1 sessions. There’s an entire community of Students on Slack to talk to in real-time and a 30 hours of weekly office hours in group video sessions. This isn’t your typical online class - you’ll never feel alone.If you’re interested in the Web Development Bootcamp or just need general career advice, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected]. I’d be happy to answer any questions or connect you with a mentor, current student or alumni.I wish everyone who reads this the best of luck on their programming journey!

Mayank gave an excellent answer with go-to references to use throughout your web development journey. While his "where do you learn this crap" section includes the most relevant sources possible (the documentation itself), a beginner will need other resources to actually learn the material.Luckily, we live in the age of the Internet and there are quite frankly hundreds of websites/programs that will teach you both web development (Front-End) and the programming behind it (Back-End).Before I begin, here's a list of almost a hundred free programming textbooks on Stackoverflow if you prefer that medium:http://stackoverflow.com/questio...Anyways, at one end of the spectrum there are programs that accumulate a wealth of content for you to learn on your own with videos and interactive web apps:Free:[Codecademy] http://www.codecademy.com/: If you're just starting to learn - this can get you introduced to basic concepts. I'd describe it as "coding on training wheels"[Code.org] http://code.org/learn - Interactive tutorials/games for general programming concepts. They were the ones who organized Hour of Code![Khan Academy] http://www.khanacademy.org/#comp...: Salman Khan's a great teacher. I've seen all his Organic Chem and Bio videos when I was studying for the MCAT. Great introduction to fundamental CS conceptshttp://www.skillcrush.com/terms/: They provide an excellent list of common terms you'll hear in any programming/web development conversation. Very easy to understand definitions!http://www.bentobox.io/: interactive tutorials of everything from HTML/CSS to Angular, Backbone, Coffescript and more![CodeYear] http://www.codeyear.com/: Looks like a supplement to codecademy.Next, we move on the programs with monthly/course fees:[Codeschool] http://www.codeschool.com/ - grouped by specific "tracks" with additioanl screencasts[Treehouse (company)] http://teamtreehouse.com/[Tuts+] http://net.tutsplus.com/[lynda.com (product)] http://www.lynda.com/[Udemy (company)] http://www.udemy.com/courses/Tec...[Coursera] https://www.coursera.org/ deserves their own section for being the emblem of a MOOC:As an example, here's my current dashboard of courses:There are also quite a few CS courses all hosted online!Introduction to Computer Science and Programming - MIT OpenCourseWareIntroduction to C++ - MIT OpenCourseWareIntroduction to Computer Science: Programming Methodology - Stanford Engineering EverywhereData Structures - UC BerkeleyAn Introduction to Artificial Intelligence - UMass (Boston)Now at the OTHER end of the spectrum you have "bootcamps" which are considerably more expensive (8-15k) but provide extensive support. Depending on which you choose [get accepted to], you'll be coding 40-80 hours a week.http://www.thinkful.com/bootcamps/ - Has information on almost every in-person "bootcamp"The Ultimate Guide to Coding Bootcamps: The Exhaustive List - a comprehensive article from SkilledUp that provides additional information on all of them - check out their "most selective" article as well!That was me just 3 months ago. I was looking for a way to learn how to become a web developer [eventually full-stack] and needed a course that fit my needs. I tried to use the free resources referenced in the beginning of this post but realized I needed a project based curriculum to actually apply the new skills. I also became quite frustrated when I would get "stuck."After doing extensive research, I chose Thinkful (company) (http://thinkful.com). Many of the students have full-time/part-time jobs or are current college students (they recommend ~10 hours a week for Front-End and ~15 for Python). They also had the structured path and most importantly a personal mentor to do live code reviews (via screenshare on Google Hangout). Two months into the course, I applied for a marketing/front-end internship for the school and was accepted full-time :) Here's a post from my first day: Has anyone "attended" Thinkful and what was their experience? Is there any additional value derived from Thinkful?Bit more info: Flexibility is the biggest strength of our program. The mentors [and students] are all over the world, so we'll be able to accommodate any requests. Whether you're a complete beginner (like I was) or have significant experience, you'd gain significant value from the curriculum. Since the payment is for monthly access to the whole program, you'd able to work on the parts of the curriculum that you need. At the recommended pace, our students finish in 3 months but some may finish in 2 or take another month! If you finish the course, you'll get permanent access to the curriculum :) The final product of either course is pretty awesome (a personal website for Front-End, an capstone project for Python & Rails, and an iPhone app for iOS). If you'd like see some examples of student projects read blog.thinkful.com.Feel free to send me a message if you'd like to view some sample projects or have ANY questions about either course :)--------------------*Update (3/1/16)* Hello! So. A lot has changed over the years. We’ve added some exciting new courses like the Web Development Bootcamp. I can go on and on about the evolution of Thinkful but I’m going to focus specifically on the education. Here’s what learning looks like as a Web Development Bootcamp student:Outcomes-driven. This is probably most important. It’s a subtle shift we made in our mentality that’s led to some exciting changes. First of all, every student who graduates from the Web Development Bootcamp is guaranteed a job or 100% of their money back. Second, we publish all of our stats (in real-time) as a jobs report. We’re proud to be the first online school to do so! Third, our Career Services has been fully revamped. It starts at Day 1, continues throughout the program, and doesn’t end until you’ve negotiated the best possible job offer.Universal and flexible. The first sentence of our mission statement reads: anyone with a strong will to learn can become a programmer. There are no technical prereqs barring you from admission. You won't have to move or quit your job. You can start at anytime and learn from anywhere. You’ll still be held accountable for your goals but we know you have a life outside your studies and need a flexible environment to support that.Human. Relationships drive learning. Plain and simple. It’s been proven that students succeed when paired 1-on-1 with an expert (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_Sigma_Problem). You’ll talk to engineers you can trust at every step of the program starting with Derek, a former student, who onboards you to the program and is available any day. You’ll meet with your personal mentor 3x a week during the course and a career coach that will guide you through the job placement phase. And that’s just counting the 1-on-1 sessions. There’s an entire community of Students on Slack to talk to in real-time and a 30 hours of weekly office hours in group video sessions. This isn’t your typical online class - you’ll never feel alone.If you’re interested in the Web Development Bootcamp or need general career advice, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected]. I’d be happy to answer any questions or connect you with a mentor, current student or alumni.Anyway, this is just one of many options to start your learning. If you found this post helpful, let me know and I can post a more advanced learning guide as well as a back-end version.I wish everyone who reads this the best of luck on their programming journey!

Huge companies like EMC and Wayfair call it home. It is a city that is well-known for its research, manufacturing, biotechnology, and finance. Yes, we’re talking about the city of Boston, a city of 700,000 and the home of the Fig Newton and the Red Sox.Industry is alive and well in this city, and with the sector being so active comes a dynamic project management landscape. There is a myriad of project management and PMP courses being offered in Boston, especially by its world-renowned colleges and universities.Below we’ve compiled a list of what we believe are the best PMP education programs in the city. But first, let’s discuss what you will need before you can even think about doing a PMP course.Things you should considerAll PMP candidates in Boston must meet a specific set of requirements first. The first thing that you should know is that PMP certification is the gold standard in the project management community. With this status, employers expect those on the program to be the most knowledgeable and most experienced out there. Hence, PMI expects each candidate to have a certain amount of experience before applying.Before you even consider what program in Boston you should go to, you’ll need to look at your history in project management. If none of your job titles specifically say you were in project management, then it’s ok as PMI cares more about what you did leading teams to complete projects. PMI stipulates that you will need a certain amount of project management leadership experience hours and educational background to apply.Those with a bachelor’s degree or a global equivalent need to have 4,500 hours worth of experience in leading and directing projects over a minimum of 3 years. Those with an associate’s degree, a high school diploma, or the global equivalent will need 7,500 hours’ worth of experience in project management leadership over a minimum of 5 years.Every PMP candidate needs 35 hours of formal project management education. Luckily, this comes in the form of project management training institutes, like PMTI. However, those who are already CAPM certified already meet this requirement.If the only thing you need is your 35 hours of project management training, then you are ready to start looking for the best places to do so. Below we’ve listed the best places to get prepared for the PMP exam in Boston, Massachusetts.PMTIFor over 16 years, PMTI has been teaching students the ways of project management. We’ve been in it for so long that we’ve been in the middle of most of the changes PMI has made to project management and the PMBOK® Guide. After all, one of the leading authors of the PMBOK® is the CEO of this institution. We have a proprietary approach that has been continuously copied by other institutions, but we have a secret sauce that keeps students coming back for more and referring friends for our course.The Project Management Training Institute prides itself on providing the highest in excellent project management education. Our sole purpose is to help students in passing the PMP exam by offering a variety of educational techniques that transcends memorization. We want to ensure that each student doesn’t just memorize project management concepts, but learns the tools and processes to get to the next step.Our courses have resonated with those who have gone through the program so much that students can’t help but sing high praises of the course. Check any PMP course for any city on our website, and you will see a chorus of rave reviews left by students who attended that course. Our classroom-style PMP boot camp has been tried and tested for years, and this can be seen in our Boston PMP Boot Camp Training Experience. This innovative educational experience may explain why we have a 99% exam pass rate.The courseAt PMTI, we offer training for the PMP exam in three different ways:ClassroomLive onlineSelf-studyIn our PMP Boston Boot Camp Training Experience, you will learn project management concepts in a four-day intense training program. These sessions are run by the most knowledgeable instructors you could find anywhere in Boston, and they have the sole duty to ensure that you understand the topics surrounding PMP and can apply them to real-life situations.Each instructor will track your progress so that they know how you are performing, and in turn, ensures that you pass the PMP exam. All you will need is an attentive mind as we provide notepads, pens, pencils, erasers, and highlighters.Online optionsProject management professionals are some of the busiest ever. We know how hard it is to commute to work each day, much less to commute to an unfamiliar place for PMP classes. The mean time that Bostonians travel to work each day is 30.4 minutes, and 15.1% of Bostonians walk to work. We know it would be challenging for many Bostonians to go to our program, which is why we have two online options for those who can’t make it to a 4-day classroom session.These two options are our Live Online course and our Self-Study course. The Live Online course is reserved for those who want to complete it in as little time as possible, while the Self-study course allows candidates to take as much time as they need to study for the exam.With the PMP Live Online course, you will be taught by a live instructor that you can ask questions and interact with. We made sure that you will get the same kind of education that you would get anywhere else in this course. You also have the option of studying PMP project management concepts for up to six months with our self-study program.Just like with our boot camp and live online courses, with the Self-Study course, students have access to our 1,000 PMP exam prep questions, along with our proprietary study guides and other materials. You will have access to other free materials such as our PMP Certification Success Guide, PMP Exam Information Seminars, recorded lectures, etc.Many students worry that quality is less online compared to our classroom sessions. On the contrary, our programs online follow our strict processes. Our 100% money-back guarantee also backs our online courses. But we’re also doing everything in our power to ensure it doesn’t get to failure #3.Reasons to do our programOur prices are competitive in the project management and PMP certification education field. We can guarantee you that you will get a lot of value for your money. Apart from our PMP exam success guarantee, we also have a 100% money-back guarantee, which will be discussed in more detail below. We do this because we believe that students shouldn’t take on the risk of any program that they decide to take. We’re confident in our program because after all, we do have a 99% PMP exam success rate.We are pioneers in the PMP certification training field, so much so that our instructors have made significant contributions to The Project Management Body of Knowledge®, or PMBOK® for short. This book is the basis of each training program, and the PMP exam is based on it. PMTI has been a PMI Global Registered Education Provider since 2003, providing excellent guidance to over 100,000 people around the world in its 16-year history.However, we know that the PMBOK® Guide is quite tedious to read through, which is why we have our own proprietary exam study guides to help students quickly learn the contents of the PMBOK® Guide. Our four exclusive study guides include the PMP Exam Prep Blue Book, The PMP Exam Prep Brown Book, The PMP Exam Prep Grey Book, and the PMP Exam Prep Orange Book.The Blue Book provides examples of the five process groups and ten knowledge areas that you will need to know to pass the PMP exam. The Brown Book has 1,000 PMP test type questions about those process groups and knowledge areas with answers, explanations, and reasonings. The Grey Book has the ITTOs in a workbook format, and the Orange Book outlines recognized best practices.Post-PMP at PMTIAfter passing the exam, you can earn Professional Development Units (PDUs) through several courses that we offer. You can earn 53 PDUs through these free courses given to our students. We can do this because we’re a PMI Registered Education Provider, which sets us apart from the rest of the vast field of PMP certification programs.Students who have completed our PMP Certification program can get the PDUs that they need free!The GistThe difference in our program is that we start the prep work for the PMP Boot Camp days or even weeks before you begin our boot camp. This instills a lot of confidence in our students when taking the exam. We take out all the stress of the application and preparation for the PMP exam so that you have to worry about passing the exam after doing the boot camp.EDWELJust like PMTI, Edwel is a veteran in professional management training, providing world-class project management, PMP Exam prep, and risk management courses. Since 1992, they have produced over 25,000 PMP certified graduates, which is very impressive, but PMTI in its 16-year history has had over 100,000 people go through its program. As you can see, it took a shorter amount of time for PMTI to make a more significant impact on the project management world.Edwel’s program also follows a 4-day boot camp format. They do have an online course, but their main strength is in their in-person instructor-led courses. Edwel’s courses are taught by veteran instructors who are well-versed in the contents of the PMBOK® Guide. And just like PMTI, they guarantee their class schedules, so if there is only one student that shows up for a class, the class will still be held for that day.This company has a myriad of exam prep sample questions for each student and a 99% PMP exam pass rate. If students don’t pass the first time, students can retake the class for free. As you can see, being a veteran ensures that their program is top-notch. However, there are some weaknesses as compared to PMTI.Edwel’s money-back guarantee is slightly similar to PMTI’s, but the difference in ours is that we are focused on helping the students pass by offering a customized study plan. We also focus on a student’s weaknesses, making sure they transform into strengths. We provide study guides and extra material to help them in their studies. Plus, students of PMTI have access to the CEO of the company, who is a contributor to the PMBOK® Guide. Edwel doesn’t have that same perk for their students.BOSTON UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL EDUCATIONTheir PMP Exam Preparation Course is offered in two parts: part 1 is provided online, and part 2 is provided at the Boston University Charles River Campus. This is a very inconvenient mixture for many students.For part 1, sessions are held weekly for five weeks for an hour. For Part 2 of the class, students can choose one 6-week trimester to do in a classroom setting. Students get 29 contact hours in doing this course, which falls below the 35 needed to do the PMP exam.Their course costs $1,495, but it goes on for a longer time and doesn’t come with the amenities that a student at PMTI has access to. For those who attend the school, doing this course won’t provide any credits. It gives no credits to university students.Like with any other university, you are pretty much on your own. At PMTI, we are always available for questions, and when you fail, we help you retake the PMP exam by giving you extra one-on-one sessions and additional material.MASTER OF PROJECT ACADEMYMaster of Project Academy is one of the leading project management education institutions out there. It is used by large companies to train their staff, and they have had a lot of professionals that were enrolled in their program.Master of Project Academy claims to be the most affordable and flexible Boston PMP training provider. However, there are tradeoffs, such as you having to buy practice exams and materials separately, which makes the program a lot more expensive. By the way, Master of Project Academy is not a Registered Education Provider.For starters, they don’t have a money-back guarantee. They offer a money-back guarantee, but not in the way PMTI does. They offer a refund policy where if the total progress of the course is less than 10%, the student can get their money back. However, this guarantee doesn’t even extend to their live class training sessions, their one-on-one online coaching sessions, or their exam simulator. This is huge as this says if you do their program and don’t pass it, not only will you be on your own, you will not get your money back. At PMTI, we say that if you don’t pass the exam the first time, we will help you pass the exam or your money back.There are three options to get 35 hours of PMP training in Boston:1. The self-paced online PMP training2. Virtual PMP training3. In-person PMP classroom trainingTheir self-paced PMP training program helps students get the 35 contact hours they need to be eligible for the PMP exam. Also, students don’t have to feel alone because they can take part in discussions on their online forums with other students and instructors. They have over 300 lectures, 750 PMP practice questions, and flexible pricing options for their program.Their virtual PMP training also satisfies the 35 contact hours needed to qualify for the PMP exam. A live instructor leads it. This is similar to PMTI’s program, where we offer in-person interactions with instructors and have over 1000 practice questions and hundreds of other preparation and readiness material that will prepare you for the PMP exam.Project Management Excellence CenterPMEC sells their PMP Exam Prep Boot Camp as an accelerated and guaranteed pathway to achieving PMP certification. PMEC blends proven learning and memorization methods to help students, and their 4-day program in Boston is no exception.The core focus of PMEC’s mission is to help students identify and overcome knowledge gaps. They teach essential tips and tricks to help students learn PMP concepts and recall them on the exam. This course satisfies the 35 contact hours that are required by PMI.Each student receives a pre-class study guide, access to their online PMP certification simulator, and access to over 1000 practice questions. Their program goes from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM, four days a week. They also have a virtual classroom where students can learn from home. While this is good, it doesn’t have the same interactivity and the same number of resources that PMTI offers. Plus, we provide an online self-study course because we know project management professionals are busy, and some need to study PMP concepts in their own time.SIMPLILEARNSimplilearn’s Boston program allows students to earn 35 contact hours. They do this with the use of eight industry case studies and 20 industry-based scenarios. With this great online program, the caveat is they don’t have an in-person counterpart. This won’t bode well for students who need to be in the presence of an instructor for them to fully grasp PMP concepts. At PMTI, we have our PMI PMP Certification Training Boot Camps along with our online classes.There are some pros with going to Simplilearn. Students have lifetime access to their self-paced learning programs. They also get 24x7 learner assistance and support. Their online classroom program gives students 90 days of flexible access to instructor-led online training classes in Boston. PMTI, on the other hand, gives six months of access to online training classes.There are some cons, as well. There are some hoops that Simplilearn students will have to jump through to not only complete the course but also to get their money back if they need it. To complete the online classroom course, students are required to attend one complete batch, have a minimum score of 60% on a simulation test, and be successfully evaluated on a project. For their self-learning course, students must complete 85% of the course, complete a simulation test with a minimum score of 60%, and successfully be evaluated in one of the projects.At PMTI, not only do we offer live sessions in-person and online, but we also have on-demand sessions where you can move at your own pace. Plus, we give our 100% pass guarantee and a cornucopia of online material that you will not find at Simplilearn. To get your money back at Simplilearn, you would have to ask for a refund within seven days.UMASS BOSTON COLLEGE OF ADVANCING AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIESUMass Boston has a PMP Exam Prep program that covers the concepts found in the PMBOK® Guide, 6th Edition. The course is designed to help candidates prepare for the PMP exam.On their website, they include this disclaimer: “However, it does not guarantee success on the PMP® exam.” That does not instill confidence in students at all. At PMTI, we inspire confidence in our students with our 100% money-back guarantee.It is a tertiary institution after all, and there is prestige with attending institutions like these. However, the downside is that just like any other university, you’re virtually on your own, especially when you fail.They only have one instructor for the course who has taught graduate and undergraduate project management for over seven years. This is good, but at PMTI, we also have very experienced instructors along with those who have contributed to the PMBOK® Guide. Those who complete the course will receive a certificate of completion. The UMASS course is also only offered a few times a year, unlike our many class offerings.CONCLUSIONChoosing the right program for you will depend on how busy you are and what your commute is like. When selecting the best program, make sure that it provides the best options to help you pass the exam, even after failure. Also though the institutions here all have pass rates in the 90th percentile, the difference in quality comes down to how they treat those who need the most help. PMTI has that exceptional quality, which is why we’ve been so successful for 16 years.