Skills > Degree ™

Orientation & Program Prep

• • Demonstrate mastery of computer fundamentals and knowledge of the technology landscape.
• • Understand the program policies and graduation requirements.
• • Demonstrate readiness to make the commitment to complete the program successfully.
• • Assessment: Program prep and orientation quiz.

Programming Fundamentals

In this module you learn how websites work and how to build them. You will learn not only the basics, like HTML & CSS, but also learn JavaScript, how the Internet works, and common data structures and algorithmic thinking.

You’ll build a fully-working version of Hacker News, a popular social news website focused on computer science and entrepreneurship using these skills.

• • Problem Solving
• • Debugging
• • Command Line
• • HTML
• • CSS
• • JavaScript/ES6
• • Git Basics
• • OOP in JS (Prototypes, Classes, Inheritance, Closure)
• • How the internet works, REST & APIs
• • DOM Manipulation
• • Using agile practices, user stories & requirements
• • Call Stacks
• • Recursion
• • Arrays & Strings
• • Algorithmic Thinking

• • Introduction: Your New Career
• • What skills do you need to be successful in your job search
• • Networking 1 - Why and How

Frontend Frameworks

You’ll learn the most sophisticated techniques used by all your favorite websites. You’ll learn React, a popular JavaScript library maintained by Facebook as well as best practices such as testing your frontend code and and frontend build tools.

Using React, you’ll build a chat app and Bloc Jams, an in-browser music player similar to Spotify, the popular music streaming service.

• • Introduction to Frameworks
• • Frontend Testing
• • Frontend Build Tools/Processes
• • ReactJS
• • Use module-pattern JS or EW6 classes for state
• • Medium-sized Code Base (Code >500 lines)

• • Networking 2 - Presenting yourself
• • Finding Open Positions
• • Finding Focus
• • Networking 3: Informational Interviews

Computer Science Fundamentals

In this module you’ll learn the more theoretical concepts that hiring managers expect. You’ll learn the most common data structures, understand the tradeoffs of various algorithms, and learn how to use relational databases to store and manipulate data.

• • Hash tables
• • Usage of Linked Lists
• • Usage of stacks & queues
• • Usage of Graphs & Trees
• • Sorting
• • Considering control flow and iteration trade-offs
• • Understanding algorithmic growth rates
• • Fundamental usage of Relational Databases

• • Behavioral Interview Practice 1
• • Resume Building 1
• • Crafting Stories
• • Networking 4: Cold Outreach and Introduction Requests

Server-Side JS with Node.js

Students who choose to specialize in server-side JavaScript will build a server-side application using Express - a popular server-side framework built on Node.js. You’ll also use modern techniques such as backend testing with Jasmine, deployment and how to manage a large code base.

You’ll use Node and Express to build an address book and a clone of Reddit, the social news aggregation, rating, and discussion website.

• • Express
• • JWT
• • Mocha/Chai
• • Sequelize
• • Jasmine
• • Deployment with Heroku

• • Resume Building 2
• • LinkedIn
• • Networking 5
• • Cover Letters
• • Thinking and Talking about Salary
• • Applying
• • Behavioral Interview Practice 2
• • Coding Challenge Practice
• • Whiteboarding Practice
• • Technical Interview Practice

Job Ready Gate

A final “job-ready” assessment ensures that all Bloc alumni are confident of their skills. You’ll go through the hiring process of today’s top tech companies including a phone screen, take-home coding test and a live code review.