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General Discussion

Posted by Anthony Moreno
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Anthony Moreno
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 4,899 Points

Should I enroll in the Front End Web Developer Techdegree if I know Ruby on Rails?

I am thinking about signing up for the FEWD Techdegree, however not sure if its worth doing since I am pretty familiar with Ruby on Rails, and managed to create my own Portfolio site. With that being said, would the FEWD degree be worth it for me?

2 Answers

Mia Filisch
Mia Filisch
16,117 Points
Mia Filisch
Mia Filisch
16,117 Points

It depends on what you're looking to get out of it.

I've worked as a backend developer so far and am currently taking the Front End Developer Track (not Techdegree) to build some additional front end skills. It discusses HTML and CSS in great depth, including best practices, and also teaches you a load of Javascript, which is a good language to know if you're looking to find work as a developer and don't want to limit yourself to Ruby-only jobs (which would be a minority compared to JS jobs).

Based on the FAQ section on https://teamtreehouse.com/techdegree, the Techdegree looks to be an upgraded version of the "Track", so if you're unsure I'd recommend you try the Front End Development Track for a bit and then upgrade if you like it! Any courses you complete whilst in the Track will be applied to and marked as complete in the Techdegree, so you won't lose any work.

Anthony Moreno
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Anthony Moreno
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 4,899 Points

I think I am going to give it a shot. I do want to expand my knowledge. I would like to work as a Back end developer but I also want to be able to design the front end. Plus it seems like in my area there are more front end jobs than backend. Thanks for your reply.

Michael Cook
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Michael Cook
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 28,975 Points
Michael Cook
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Michael Cook
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 28,975 Points

I am going to say no. If you already know a backend language and you are comfortable making a portfolio site for yourself, then you really don't need the techdegree. IMHO, the techdegree is for learners who need a lot of hand-holding and are completely new to coding. That doesn't sound like you, just from your post. However, if you want to get a stronger grip on front-end technologies, do the FEWD track and then pick a JS framework and learn that.

Personally, I am at a point where I am mainly taking courses here for specific purposes, i.e., to learn a technology that would be useful for a project I want to do. My experience so far is that thinking of a project idea that gets you excited and then starting it and taking any relevant courses you need to get up to speed on certain things is the best way to learn once you have a grip on enough basics to read documentation and have a bit of independence.