Concrete Vs. Abstract Thinking In The World Of Development
Oct 9, 2017
One of the things that has helped us both as students and now as junior instructors is understanding how we think, and thus learn. Having a better understanding of how we think has helped us learn new languages and frameworks quickly and teach them to others. Read More

Topics: Learning

No Single Person Makes NSS Happen | 500 In 5
Oct 5, 2017
As we post this today, I am being honored by the Nashville Technology Council at their annual meeting and inducted into the NTC Hall of Fame. I’m very honored to be so recognized and even more proud to represent all of the NSS community in accepting this honor. I thank the NTC for honoring me and through me all of those that are part of the NSS story. No single individual makes something like NSS a success. And on this day when I and NSS are being recognized, I’d like to make sure a few people who were instrumental in supporting the launch of NSS are remembered and thanked for their help in getting NSS off the ground back in 2012. Read More

Topics: Community, 10 Years | 2000 Journeys

We Made It! 500th Graduate Milestone Passed With Cohort 19 | 500 In 5
Oct 4, 2017
When we started this series of posts celebrating and reflecting on our fifth anniversary I said that our goal was to graduate our 500th new junior developer during the six months of our anniversary period. And darned if we didn’t make it. This is a big milestone for us. In a job market the size of Nashville, 500 new junior developers makes a huge impact. Read More

Topics: News, 10 Years | 2000 Journeys

Learning C# And ASP.NET
Sep 28, 2017
Steve Brownlee shares about teaching C# and ASP.NET to students fresh out of their JavaScript education and walks us through running ASP.NET on Linux. Read More

Topics: Learning, Technology Insights

“Don’t Give Up” And More Great Advice From A Working Developer | Pete Dunlap - Cohort 3
Sep 26, 2017
Pete Dunlap transitioned from a high school science teacher to a full-stack Rails developer after completing our web development bootcamp as a part of Cohort 3. He shared, “Without NSS I certainly could not have gotten a job as a developer.” He offers some great advice for graduates looking for their first development role and shares what he has learned since he graduated NSS. Read More

Topics: Alumni, Student Stories

Cohort 19 Graduates 27 Students On Demo Day
Sep 25, 2017
On Friday we graduated 27 junior developers from Cohort 19. To showcase all that they’ve learned at NSS, the graduates presented their front-end and back-end capstones to prospective employers one-on-one. During their six months with NSS, Cohort 19 learned front-end development using HTML/CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, AngularJS and server-side development with C#/>NET. Get to know our newest graduates. Read More

Topics: Student Stories, Hiring?

Evolving Demo Day | 500 In 5
Sep 21, 2017
Tomorrow is Demo Day for Cohort 19 at NSS. Demo Day is a big deal here - it marks the graduation of another cohort of students and it marks the formal kick-off of most grads’ job searches. It also gives us a chance to showcase to the community our newest grads, what they’ve learned, and what they can do with those skills. However, today’s Demo Day was not the way we originally released our grads into the wild. It’s something that evolved out of experience and trying other things. In that sense it’s like so much of what we do - it’s driven by experience, by feedback, and by trial and error. In other words, it’s driven by learning. Which seems somehow appropriate, right? Read More

Topics: Hiring?, Community, 10 Years | 2000 Journeys

The Emerging Role Of The Front-End Designer/Developer
Sep 19, 2017
One well known practitioner that has been talking and writing about the emergence of a “hybrid” UI/UX designer/front-end developer for several years is Brad Frost. Frost uses the term “Frontend Design” to refer to these hybrids who both handle UI/UX design as well as implement the design in front-end code. In a recent blog post, Frost speaks to the trend and the reasons for the trend. Read More

Topics: Learning, News, UI/UX

What We Mean When We Say Community | 500 In 5
Sep 14, 2017
When NSS started back in 2012, I identified Community as one of our five core beliefs/values. Of those five beliefs, Community is the one where my understanding, appreciation, and belief have most evolved and deepened. Based on what I’ve experienced at NSS over the past five years, I now believe that my initial understanding of community was valid but incomplete and, to a degree, superficial. So what does Community mean? Read More

Topics: Community, 10 Years | 2000 Journeys

Investing In Your Analytics & Data Science Capability
Sep 12, 2017
So, employers, how is your company planning to build its data engineering and data science capability? Planning on finding a data science unicorn to do it all? Good luck with that. What about the possibility of taking people already in your organization, people that know your business, people that you know fit into your culture, and invest in their future. Read More

Topics: Hiring?, Analytics + Data Science