Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) July 03, 2014
Intensive code schools are gaining notoriety among people interested in launching programming careers as well as the tech companies who are hungry to hire talent. The Iron Yard, a nationally-renowned code school who opened Atlanta offices in March, opens its doors to the public after each set of three month courses to showcase just what it is their students are building behind those glowing computer screens. On June 20th, they welcomed their first graduating class into the developer community with a day of demonstrations and presentations—and the projects proved as varied as the participants in their courses.
What type of student fits the mold at an immersive programming school? The Iron Yard aims to change the landscape of education in technology, beginning by opening their courses to candidates from all walks of life. From mid-career financial gurus to creative-types, the common vein that runs true at The Iron Yard is a passion for learning and a propensity for problem solving. With no coding experience required, how far could a three-month course take students? Far enough to launch a career, get a job, or start a company. Students spend the final two weeks of their project-based curriculum building a robust application for over 80 hours each week, tackling everything from concept to deployment. That capstone project serves as proof that they are ready to work as a professional and solve programming problems for companies and clients.
This month The Iron Yard graduated Mobile Engineering and Ruby on Rails Engineering classes at ThoughtWorks in Midtown. The event was open to the public, local hiring partners, and recruiters. The presentation of final projects was exciting and full of variety. Some students took a playful approach to everyday needs: a socially integrated iOS app for barbecue enthusiasts, an application that mashes up famous love letters to send to loved ones, and a resource for generating cocktails based on current home inventory, to name a few. Others entered the education space, creating platforms for educating and training students of all ages. With the vast developer talent void prevalent in Atlanta, the presentations gave a hopeful glimpse into the future of tech in the growing Southeastern city.
Developers, developers-in-training, and representatives from area corporations, including State Farm, were present to see the culmination of twelve weeks of intensive programming. Graduates will go on to enter the industry as developers in back-end, front-end, and mobile technologies, and are currently interviewing for roles that will fill the wide gap we face in Atlanta’s tech industry.
Interested in learning to code or hiring development talent? Check out theironyard.com to find out more, and mingle with the graduates themselves at their next Demo Day.