After three months at coding bootcamp General Assembly, Alice Chen scored a junior developer position building applications for a nonprofit organization.
She ran into a small problem, though: Alice went through GA’s back-end web development bootcamp and her new job demanded front-end JavaScript knowledge she had yet to acquire.
She had to learn. Fast. Luckily, she found Codementor.
The Challenge
My bootcamp was more focused on backend, and the team I’m on is more frontend and JavaScript. I was having trouble getting a grasp on our new framework, backbone.js, and I needed someone to give me a high-level conceptual overview of the framework. Unfortunately, there was no one else on my team who could help me.
First, of course, I looked for tutorials online. But my situation is unique, and none of the tutorials matched the current state of my project. I found out about Codementor by Googling for a solution to my problem.
Codementor gives me quick solutions to problems I would have no other way to solve. If I didn’t have access to Codementor, I would probably have to find a tutor on my own. Codementor is definitely more convenient!
Enter Codementor
My first session was with Sam Saccone, a backbone expert and maintainer of Backbone.Marionette, a composite application library for Backbone.js.
We started by talking about what my work situation was like and what I was trying to do, and he looked at the code of the app I was working on. Then he gave me a high-level overview of how Backbone works, and helped me through my first question – all in a half-hour session.
After that I felt a bit better about Backbone, but I ran into a few other issues that I needed help to resolve. I was having trouble with a concept in backbone called the router. I was trying to make a single-page application and didn’t know how the concept of a router would fit.
My second mentor, Marek Publicewicz, was just as skilled as Sam. After a quick pair-programming session, he’d explained the concept to me and helped me figure it out!
The Impact
Codementor gives me quick solutions to problems I would have no other way to solve at work.
Thanks for starting such a platform! I consider it a godsend.
If I didn’t have access to Codementor, I would probably have to find a tutor on my own. Codementor is definitely more convenient! It’s less expensive than a tutor, and in terms of timing, it’s super flexible. We can meet as early as 7 in the morning or as late as 10 at night, and I can get help the day I need it. There are definitely some more Codementor pair-programming sessions in my future! Thanks for starting such a platform! I consider it a godsend.
