u/thorth18 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
Have not gone to Codesmith, just throwing out another question here: 1. How long into the course did you do leetcode style questions in the morning? I see that it’s 1 per day. That’s the part that really appears to separate Codesmith from other bootcamps. But, you can also leetc
u/michaelnovati replied · ★ FEATURED
I've worked with a lot of (10+) Codesmith alumni who come to Formation and can comment on some trends where I think the DS&A bar is at.
Most have a good starting DS&A, not quite at the top tier bar. Most get through the basics relatively quickly compared to other bootcamp grads but most people need some reinforcement/relearning in one or more areas. They then spend a similar amount of time as everyone else on the intermediate (and advanced) concepts that are needed to consistently be at the FAANG bar.
In general, bootcamps are not the best environment for teaching DS&A because of the fixed timeframe and fixed curriculum structure. These aren't just problems to pass an interview, but it SHOULD be about learning abstract concepts and patterns that be applied to solve complex real world problems. People learn these at different paces and have different degrees of and areas of interest. So doing a problem a day with peers is great practice to increase you chances of passing an interview, but in my (SUPER BIASED!) opinion, it takes more breathing room to become very strong in the fundamentals.