Almost the backbone of the internet, JavaScript opens the door to an in-demand field with the potential of earning six figures. One of the best ways of opening that door is a JavaScript bootcamp.
Now that you’re planning on learning it, you may be stuck in the vast sea of courses available. The number of programs and schools that offer JavaScript as a module in their education can be dizzying. We’ll help you decode the litany of offerings to discern what’ll best fit your needs.
In this article, we’ll be covering different JavaScript bootcamps that teach the fundamentals of software development. These courses range in price, curriculum, and format. Before embarking, it’ll be important to decide if your interest stops at frontend development or goes into full-stack territory.
To learn the differences between frontend and backend development, check out our article comparing them!
If you’d like to skip ahead to a particular section, simply use the clickable table of contents:
- What is JavaScript?
- Is learning JavaScript worth it?
- How to choose a JavaScript bootcamp
- 15 of the best JavaScript bootcamps
- Final thoughts
1. What is JavaScript?
JavaScript is a coding language that was created in 1995 by Brendan Eich to meet frontend client-side web development needs.
You’re actually using JavaScript to read this article now!
Alongside HTML and CSS, JavaScript is one of the three pillars of web development that our internet sits upon. JavaScript is rapidly evolving with the web it helped create, making it difficult to nail down a single definition of the language.
Over these 27 years, JavaScript has grown into a rugged full-stack language. Backend functionality for Javascript, through Node.js, was a major and exciting leap in web development.
JavaScript has a multitude of programming libraries and web frameworks at a developer’s disposal. Keeping that in mind, It’s always best practice to get comfortable with the vanilla language before embarking on those more nuanced topics.
If you’d like to read more about how to go about it, we got a senior developer’s advice about learning JavaScript.
2. Is learning JavaScript worth it?
The TL;DR answer is a resounding “Yes!” JavaScript is a substantial language that opens avenues to pivot careers or bolster your coding toolbox.
The internet continues to grow and evolve daily, and JavaScript with it for over the last quarter century. It’s no surprise, then, that there’s a strong and growing demand for web developers that are proficient in the language.
As you can see in our JavaScript developer salary guide, web developers and software engineers fluent in the language can bring in six-figure salaries. Once graduating, most land a job with a hefty income within a calendar year of beginning a course.
Learning JavaScript only sharpens your competitive edge when applying to big-name, higher-paying companies.
3. How to choose a JavaScript bootcamp
Just as with any coding bootcamp, a great way to discern what you should look for in a course would be to ask yourself a line of questions first.
These question typically run like this:
- How long am I willing to spend on a course?
- Do I work best with an in-person class or online in a coffee shop/at home?
- What is my ideal price range?
- Can I get financial aid or is there some sort of job guarantee?
The best course is the one that fits your needs while pointing your career in the direction you’d like to go.
Another great way to choose a bootcamp is to try out any free resources that are out there first. Not only will they help you see whether learning JavaScript (or even coding!) is for you, but also gives you an idea of what learning from that school is like.
For example, CareerFoundry have a free coding short course that teaches JavaScript as well as HTML/CSS. In just five lessons, you learn to build and style your first website, using JS to give it functionality.
Here’s a sneak-preview of one of the lessons, as Mozilla engineer Abhishek Nagekar introduces you to coding with JavaScript:
4. 15 of the best JavaScript bootcamps
Here’s our list of some of the top JavaScript bootcamps, in no specific order, which include the language in their curriculum.
While most bootcamps don’t offer specific JavaScript courses, it’ll typically be included with their frontend (alongside HTML and CSS) and full-stack (usually as Node.js for backend) courses.
Prices, duration, and program information were sourced from bootcamp comparison sites CareerKarma and Course Report, as well as the programs’ websites.
Where it’s applicable, we’ll be defaulting to and referencing a bootcamp’s Software Engineering and Web Development programs, using the two terms interchangeably. Where those aren’t present, we’ll be looking at any courses that generally include JavaScript in their curriculum.
BrainStation
Price: $16,500
Duration: 12 weeks (40 hrs/week)
Features: BrainStation offers a recently-renamed software engineering bootcamp, either online or in-person (in London, Miami, New York, and Toronto).
CareerFoundry
Price: $2,000 (Intro to Frontend Development) – $7,500 (Full-Stack Development Program)
Duration: Flexible—Intro to Frontend Development is 8 weeks – Full-Stack Development Program 5 months at 30-40 hours/week or up to 10 months at 15-20 hours/week
Features: CareerFoundry offers both frontend and full-stack courses online, with both courses available full, part-time or flexible, and designed to be accessible to the beginner!
Their Full-Stack Web Development Program covers everything you should need to get a good handle of JavaScript. This includes JavaScript basics, functions, jQuery, Node.js, React.js, and Angular.
Springboard
Price: $9,900
Duration: 36 weeks (20 hrs/week)
Features: Springboard offers a JavaScript bootcamp as part of their online software engineering course. If it’s too intimidating to hit the ground running, they also offer a 6-week asynchronous online prep course!
Flatiron
Price: $16,900
Duration: 15 weeks (40 hrs/week)
Features: Flatiron offers a full-stack software engineering course, both online and in-person (in Denver and New York City). Some of the technologies that they touch on in the course include CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Node.js, React.js, SQL, and others.
Nucamp
Price: $1,480 (Frontend) – $1,880 (Full-stack)
Duration: 17 weeks (Frontend; 20 hrs/week) – 22 weeks (Full-stack; 20 hrs/week)
Features: Nucamp offers JavaScript bootcamps that cover both frontend and full-stack development, both online and in-person in a multitude of major cities across the United States.
Makers Academy
Price: £8,500 ($10,430)
Duration: 16 weeks (40 hrs/week)
Features: Makers Academy offers a full-stack web development course exclusively in London. Languages in the development course include, but are not limited to, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Node.js, Git, and Heroku!
Thinkful
Price: $9,000 (Part-time) – $16,000 (Full-time)
Duration: 24 weeks (20 hrs/week) – 20 weeks (40 hrs/week)
Features: Thinkful offers both a part- and full-time online full-stack software engineering course, with JavaScript a firm part of that curriculum.
Tuition is flexible with a range of options, including a deferred payment that allows you to begin paying once you’ve secured a job that meets $40,000 per year.
Coding Dojo
Price: $9,995 (Part-time; Accelerated) – $16,995 (Full-time)
Duration: 12 weeks (25 hrs/week; Accelerated) – 14 weeks (70 hrs/week)
Features: Coding Dojo offers full-stack Software Development that is both online and in-person (in California and Washington). The online sections are offered in both part- and full-time while the in-person program is exclusively full-time.
Codesmith
Price: $19,950 (Full- and Part-time)
Duration: 12 weeks (60 hrs/week) – 38 weeks (18 hrs/week)
Features: Codesmith offers a CS Prep Course as well as JavaScript for Beginners course. These are excellent ways to get you started for their litany of online and in-person (in New York City) full-stack software engineering options!
Actualize
Price: $13,900
Duration: 12 weeks
Features: Actualize is a Chicago-based, in-person full-stack Web Development course.
Their JavaScript bootcamp is organized into 5 weeks of online pre-work to establish fundamentals before moving onto 12 weeks of in-person instruction. After the bootcamp, there is structured career guidance to get you started on your career.
Fullstack Academy
Price: $13,495 (In-person; Part-time) – $19,910 (Online; Full-time)
Duration: 26 weeks (In-person; 10 hrs/week) – 19 weeks (Online; 40 hrs/week)
Features: Fullstack Academy offers a Bootcamp Prep course to prepare you for both their Web Development and Software Engineering courses, both of which are, as the name implies, full-stack. They offer a range of beginner to intermediate courses that are both online and in-person.
General Assembly
Price: $3,950 (Frontend) – $15,950 (Full-Stack)
Duration: 12 (Synchronous; 40 hrs/week) – 20 (Asynchronous; 20 hrs/week) weeks
Features: General Assembly offers both frontend and full-stack courses in Software Engineering that are online. In one of their frontend courses, they offer a part-time JavaScript exclusive curriculum.
Tech Elevator
Price: $16,500
Duration: 8 weeks (30 hrs/week) – 14 weeks (40 hrs/week)
Features: Tech Elevator offers full-stack courses covering part- and full-time as well as online and in-person courses throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Beyond their full-stack course, they offer a course that includes framework education.
Skillcrush
Price: $2,499
Duration: 12 weeks (Part-time)
Features: Skillcrush offers two JavaScript bootcamps in their frontend development courses. The two may seem quite similar, but one also includes an introduction to React.js as a JavaScript library.
As well as topics like responsive web design, you’ll learn the three frontend pillars: HTML, CSS, and most importantly, JavaScript.
The Tech Academy
Price: $11,660 (Full-time) – $14,000 (Part-time)
Duration: 22 weeks (40 hrs/week) – 40 weeks (20 hrs/week)
Features: The Tech Academy offers frontend and full-stack Web Development that are both online and in-person (in Portland, OR). Beyond beginner bootcamps, they also offer courses that dive into frameworks.
5. Final thoughts
JavaScript is a pillar of frontend development that’s also broken down walls into the full-stack world.
It’s a fantastic choice for anyone that wants to begin or pivot into a career in either web development or software engineering while learning a single language.
We’ve covered a brief cross-section of the nuanced flavors in the world of JavaScript courses! By now, you should have the resources to make an educated determination on courses that fit your needs.
If you are interested in further reading about JavaScript, give these articles a look: