• 🏫 Link to the Topics
• 📋 Link to the Class Zoom Room
• 🧑‍🏫 Instructional Team / Contact Info
• 📝 Additional Coding Practice Resources
• 🏆 How to Succeed in SEB
• 📈 Growth Mindset

Welcome to Part 2 of General Assembly's Software Engineering Bootcamp Prep! This phase of the program is designed to deepen your understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript by transitioning from basic concepts to hands-on practice in your own development environment. Get ready to build on your foundational skills with more advanced techniques that will prepare you for the challenges of software engineering.

This will be your shared class repo!

Link to join the class Zoom Room

As you prepare for the bootcamp, these curated resources are designed to reinforce the fundamentals of coding. While all topics introduced here will be thoroughly covered during the bootcamp, engaging with these materials in advance can give you a helpful head start if you have extra time:

JavaScript.info offers an extensive introduction to JavaScript, tailored for beginners. The site includes detailed explanations and hands-on exercises to solidify your understanding of JavaScript fundamentals.

Enhancing your typing speed and accuracy can significantly improve your coding efficiency. Explore TypingClub or Keybr for interactive typing lessons that cater to all skill levels.

MDN Web Docs provides comprehensive tutorials and reference materials on HTML and CSS. Gaining familiarity with these topics will give you a solid start in the first unit of the bootcamp.

Soft skills are essential for your development as a programmer. The Art of Asking Questions is an invaluable guide to improve your ability to seek help and effectively engage with peers and mentors during the course.

For those interested in deepening their JavaScript knowledge, Eloquent JavaScript is an excellent book that goes beyond the basics into more advanced topics.

These resources are recommended to complement the bootcamp's pre-work and are not mandatory. They are meant to enhance your technical proficiency and ensure you are well-prepared for the upcoming challenges.

"Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable!" -Eric Jerome Dickey.

We have a large body of knowledge, experience, and expertise to draw on from the iterative nature of SEB. Trust the the process. It may feel as though you're not "learning" enough during the lectures. This is not where you should expect to grasp the concepts in this program. In fact, the lectures will make up a relatively small part of your learning.

• ~ 30% of your understanding of the material will come from coding along with the instructor during lectures (imitation). This is the point where most students fall into the panic zone.
• ~ 40% will come from reinforcing those concepts through the deliverables and labs (repetition)
• ~ The rest of the 30% will come from building your projects (innovation)

• The title says it all. Outside of regular class hours, you will spend many hours on homework assignments and projects. The most successful students in the past are ones who invest additional hours outside of class time into the course. The instructors are your biggest cheerleaders and will provide support, but we cannot do the work for you.

• You'll be learning, eating, growing, failing, and succeeding together for the next 12 weeks.
• Teamwork will be paramount to your success as an SEB student and beyond. Programming is a teamwork-driven profession. You will learn more from each other than from the instructors!

• The MOST significant skill you will gain from this course is not proficiency in a particular web framework or programming language, but rather learning how to teach yourself.
• You will learn this in an environment that is specifically tailored to this goal, where there is heavy support, instruction designed to structure your self-learning process, and safety to 'fail'.
• We will progressively "back off" over the course of the cohort, encouraging the development of your autonomy as a developer, allowing you to stand strong on your own. We refer to this as the gradual release of responsibility.

• Don't be too hard on yourself.
• You will probably feel somewhat lost on this week's topic, feel more comfortable with last week's lessons, and notice that a few weeks ago looks easy.
• The first couple days would mostly be review, but we're going to ramp up the rigor and difficulty of the course slowly but surely!
• The pace of this course is designed to push you past your limits.
• The brain is like a muscle; sometimes it gets sore.
• Struggling with the material doesn't mean you aren't learning; on the contrary, it reflects sustained and meaningful engagement with the material.

• This intensity means that we have to make room for balance.
• Sleep, food, hydration, rest, and hygiene.

Consider making a daily schedule for yourself to prioritize what's important to you - time spent with loved ones, working out, preparing healthy meals, etc. Find a balance between the hard work needed for this course and taking care of yourself.

Programming is a mindset. It's about confidence and being open to failure. It's about knowing when to climb from the bottom of the cycle and being able to say, "Eh, I'm going to try this thing, even though I don't really understand it. AND I'm not going to get attached to it in case it doesn't work and I have to erase all my code and try something completely different."

• This is a non-competitive environment.
• You get out what you put in.
• Everyone enters and leaves at different levels. Try to compare you with you only.
• Use your classmates' work as inspiration to improve your own!

• Here we learn by doing, and things don't always (and usually won't) go right the first time.
• This is normal. Expect it.
• Fail often and learn from it.

• ASK QUESTIONS!!!
• If you need to be off-camera, if you didn't complete a deliverable, or if you will be late or absent, make sure to communicate with your instructional team! Treat this program as your job. If you don't, we won't be able to help you get a job.
• If you are having an issue, don't hestitate to ask for assistance. If necessary the instructional team can assist you individually during office hours/lab time, but generally, when you ask for help during lessons, you are helping everyone! Debugging is an absolutely essential skill in software engineering. Pausing a lecture to debug provides everyone in the cohort the opportunity to practice this skill.
• Complete the exit tickets. SEB has been refined and improved through hundreds of cohorts. We have developed a solid curriculum and approach to delivering the material that has been informed by all of our past cohorts, but we also know that each cohort and individual is unique. Your feedback is essential to shaping this program in realtime.

Dr. Carol Dweck

Developing growth mindset

How do you think GROWTH MINDSET could come into play for a bootcamp student?

This may be the most mentally challenging thing you've ever done - the first time you've been bad at something in a long time. You will fail and struggle at times, but that's important. We don't succeed despite challenges - we succeed because of challenges.

The growth mindset here is understanding that even when something doesn't work, it will still make you a better coder! We want this to be challenging for you because...

• Just memorizing stuff won't help you. Learning HOW to code will.
• You can't BS your way through code.
• The fundamental standard of programming: It either works, or it doesn't. No amount of sweet-talking will make it work.
• Google is your best friend.
• Unfortunately, this can hurt. Just like exercise can make you sore and tired, so should learning. Try to enjoy the burn knowing it is making you better.
• We anticipate that you will run into hardships. When you do, that's when it is time to really challenge yourself and buckle down. Don't quit! Embrace the fact that the challenge will make you a better coder. Endure the struggle to grow and develop your mind.
• A great way to track your progress and growth is by keeping a coding journal.

Throughout the course of SEB many students say something along the lines of "I don't know how to do that." Many of you certainly will. If you do, however, just add "...yet" to the end of that sentence.