App Academy conducts a full stack web development course with a 16-week in-person course and a 24-week online course. The syllabus of the App Academy entirely focuses on the web development course. In this article, we will explore the App Academy Curriculum and Syllabus
Web Development
As we all know, Web Development is the art of building and maintaining websites. Usually, the work behind the scenes makes a website look great, work fast, and perform flawlessly.
In addition, web development programming helps web developers to deal with the coding or programming part that enables website functionality, per the owner’s requirements. Web Developers mainly deal with the non-design aspect of building websites, which includes coding and writing markup.
App Academy Curriculum
The App Academy has two different types of courses that need to suit online and in-person classes. Let us discuss the App Academy Curriculum.
24-week Online Software Engineering Program
Week 0 Prep Work
The students start their learning journey by acquiring the three vital skills to help them through the rest of the course.
Topics Covered: HTML/CSS, Git, Boolean logic
Week 1-5 Programming Fundamentals
Students learn the craft’s underlying principles through writing, organizing, and maintaining their source code as they would in a real-world job setting.
Topics Covered: JavaScript, Git, Object-oriented programming, Command line
Week 6-8 Computer Science
Students extend their programming knowledge with efficient ways to store and search for data. Then, use that knowledge to understand the way computers communicate with one another across the Internet.
Topics Covered: Networking protocols, Networking tools, Sorting algorithms, Data structures
Week 9-10 Front-End Engineering I
Tutors instruct students on creating compelling web pages for their applications that adapt all kinds of sizes from large 4K monitors down to old smartphones.
Topics Covered: HTML & CSS, Responsive Design, Flexbox, Grid layout
Week 11-13 Back-End Engineering
This week, Students continue by manipulating their Web application data to create and extend functionality within their applications.
Topics Covered: Express, PostgreSQL, Object-relational mapper
Week 14-16 Front End Engineering II
With their tutors’ guidance, students learn to boost their web application’s responsiveness by learning how to build snappy experiences with real-time communication channels to the data and other users.
Topic Covered: React, Flux architecture, Web Sockets
Week 17-20 Python
This section demands students discover swapping out one technology for another, learning another language, and using tools to persist and manipulate data for their Web application.
Topic Covered: Python, Flask, SQLAlchemy, Docker, Microservices
Week 21-24 Career Quest
In the final week, students should create their portfolio projects using the skills mastered throughout the course. The project will be the keystone of their portfolio and emphasize React, Redux, and the back end of their choice.
This is a solid chance to demonstrate their skills and creativity. Refine all that they’ve learned about finding a programming job with lots of dedicated time polishing their resume, pitch, online presence, and code portfolio.
Topics Covered: Resume Workshops, Networking, Applying Strategies, Personal Pitch
Check out the App Academy Review.
16-week In-Person Software Engineering Program
Week 1 – (Remote) Solve Algorithms Using Fundamental Ruby Methods
Students study the basic comprehensive investigation of foundational Ruby concepts. Their toolbox will be well-stocked, and they will solve a variety of commonly-seen problems.
Topics Covered: Ruby Environment Setup, RSpec Testing, Blocks and Procs, Arrays and Hashes, Function Arguments, Strings
Week 2 – (Remote) Build Classes and Utilize Object Interactions
Tutors help students learn to write programs where data and the methods that operate on it are compartmentalized into discrete objects. This introduction to Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) will be the foundation for future lessons.
Topics Covered: Object Initialization, Class and Instance Methods, Class and Instance Variables, Getter and Setter Methods, Nested Arrays, RSpec and Classes
Week 3 – (Remote) Algorithms Using Recursion & Abstract Data Types
Students learn to solve even more advanced problems with abstract data types and concepts such as recursion. They will also learn the intricacies of version control with Git.
Topics Covered: Memory/References, Scope, Recursion, Git, Data Structures I (Stack, Queue, Trees)
Week 4 – Object-Oriented Programs With Inheritance & Modules
This week, Students get a chance to learn more about the principles of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) while building complex applications like Chess. This is also an opportunity to start writing their RSpec tests and practice Test-Driven Development (TDD).
Topics Covered: OOP Principles, Modules, Test-Driven Development, RSpec, Big-O Notation
Week 5 – Create & Query Databases Using SQL & ActiveRecord
The focus this week is on creating, seeding, and interacting with databases. After working on raw SQL, students proceed to use ActiveRecord, which provides a more intuitive interface for sending data to and from applications.
Topics Covered: Data Structures II (Linked Lists, LRU Cache), Databases, SQL, ORM, ActiveRecord, Validations, Associations, Indexing Databases
Week 6 – Build Full-Stack Apps with Rails
This week, students will build fully functional Rails applications using the traditional Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. This is also an excellent opportunity for students to learn more about the Internet’s underlying structure and standard protocols.
Topics Covered: Rails, MVC Architecture, Servers, Request-Response Cycle, RESTful Architecture, Web APIs vs. Websites, ERB, HTML Forms
Week 7 – Implement User Authentication in Rails Apps
This week’s curriculum covers the modern authentication patterns and how to implement them in a Rails application. Last but not least, you’ll build tests for these applications and add some special touches with CSS styling.
Topics Covered: User Authentication, Encryption, Hashing, Salting, Cookies, Rails testing, Integration testing, CSS (Flexbox, Dropdowns)
Week 8 – Understand the Fundamentals of JavaScript
Some of the problems that the students will see this week will be very familiar; however, JavaScript provides entirely new ways to solve them.
Topics Covered: Rails Under the Hood, Javascript Syntax, Closures, Callbacks, Asynchronicity, Binding (without args)
Week 9 – Use JavaScript to Build Dynamic Websites
JavaScript is a premier web development language. After going over a few more foundational JS concepts, the course requires students to learn just how useful it can be for manipulating DOM elements and generally creating dynamic websites.
Topics Covered: Prototypal Inheritance, Binding (with args), Currying, Object-Oriented Javascript, DOM Manipulation (jQuery + Vanilla JS), AJAX.
Week 10 – Manage Front-End Applications using React & Redux.
React and Redux is vital for building a dynamic, responsive, single-page application. There are many moving parts here, but the material this week will introduce it one piece at a time.
Topics Covered: React, Redux, Flux Architecture, Local State, Global State, Components, Middleware, React with Rails
Week 11 – Put it All Together (Rails, React, and Redux)
These projects will challenge students to build fully-featured, modern web applications. They also learn about best practices, interface with a few external APIs, and smooth out any rough edges in their understanding of the development stack.
Topics Covered: JBuilder, Rails as a Web API, Frontend Routing with React Router, Frontend Authentication
Week 12 – Start a Full Stack Project
Students will work independently to build a fully-functional clone of a popular application from scratch for the next two weeks. Also, the tutors provide guidance and help debug when the going gets tough.
Topics Covered: Rails, React, Redux, AWS, Heroku
Week 13 – Finish the Full Stack Project
Students add finishing touches to their Full Stack Project before the end of the week. This will be the foundation of their portfolio for their job search.
Topics Covered: Rails, React, Redux, AWS, Heroku
Week 14 – Learn a New Stack (MERN)
This week, students get to know about an entirely new development stack – MERN! Using this stack means learning about a wholly new database paradigm (MongoDB) and back-end framework (Express). Students will form a group of 3-4 and use this stack to build their second portfolio applications.
Topics Covered: NoSQL Databases, MongoDB, Express, Gitflow, Personal Pitch, Interviewing, Cover Letters
Week 15 – Take a Deep Dive into Vanilla JavaScript
This project is all about building a fully-featured JavaScript application with minimal help from popular libraries. Whether students develop a game, data-visualization app, or something else entirely – they’ll get a much deeper understanding of JavaScript’s role in web development. Let’s proceed with the App Academy Curriculum.
Topics Covered: Canvas, D3, Vanilla DOM Manipulation, Resumes
Week 16 – Prepare for Common Interview Topics
This final week is all about reviewing a wide variety of data structures and algorithms. Understanding these at a deeper level is key to succeeding in future job interviews.
Topics Covered: Optimizing Algorithms, Sorting Algorithms, Linked Lists, Stacks and Queues, Binary Trees, Search Algorithms, Graphs, Heaps, Tries, Networking, Applying Approaches, Negotiations.
Final Note
So far, we have discussed the App Academy Curriculum. The curriculum covers most of the crucial topics that are needed by a web developer. We at Best Bootcamp too feel that App Academy’s Curriculum and Syllabus covers most of the essential topics for web development and is one of the best in the industry. Do share what you feel about this curriculum in the comments section.
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