UCSD Coding Boot Camp + Projects
It’s been an exciting time in San Diego, CA. When I moved here with my fiancé from Madison, WI seven months ago, I immediately decided to take up this intense 6-month coding boot camp program through UCSD-Extension. Last Saturday, I am proud to say that I have finally graduated! This took a lot of sacrifice including time away from my friends, family, and fiancé, and playing Pokémon/competing in state and national tournaments.
The program was intense and I do recommend it for anyone who is serious about learning how to code and building programs/websites/apps. There are so many coding boot camps out there now, but UCSD-Extension is particularly unique because it partners up with Trilogy, has a career counseling component and extra help available from TAs and instructors who are experts in the tech industry. I was putting in 30+ hours a week learning how to make websites and applications from scratch. This includes HTML, CSS, Javascript/jQuery, mySQL, MongoDB, REACT, Node.js, and so much more. The instructors also made us do three group projects throughout the program.
I had the pleasure and honor to work with the same awesome people throughout the three projects. Thus, REMY was found. It stands for our names: Radhika, Erin, myself, and Yoursa — together we make up an amazing multicultural, multinational, and women-powered team!
The first project was to get us familiar with the front-end of the website. This means that no login is necessary and we weren’t going to store any data. We called it PikyFilm. The idea behind the app is that we want to make the app fun. We used Microsoft’s Face API, which has algorithms to determine users’ ages based on their selfies. Then, using a Movie API, the app returns back movies that were released the user’s guessed birth year. So the next time you don’t know what to watch, use this app!
The second group project was to build a full-stack program. Erin pitched the idea of an app that lets user share their belongings with one another, building on the growth of the sharing economy industry. Check out Remy’s List here.
Our last final project was the one that took the most work and had to be built with a MERN stack, which stands for Mong0DB-Express-REACT-Node.js, Radhika was the star VIP of this show and REACT wizard (someone give this woman a job!).
I’m also the most proud of this project because it is driven by our sense of social justice. Giving Good(s) app lets caseworkers from non-profit organizations and shelters post items their clients need. My team and I trust that the internet has good samaritans who will look at the website and donate to those specific shelters. But it needs your help to push it forward! The website is currently undergoing beta-testing and any (constructive) feedback is welcome!
REMY will soon become an LLC and we will continue to make apps that are fun, meaningful and that can spark social changes.
