Study
Study one worked example, start to finish.
WHY: A solved example teaches a beginner more than a blank page does.
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ENGINEERED BOOTCAMP
Public pilot · Cohort 01Engineered Bootcamp is a free 20-week course. You learn to write code, test it, ship it, run it in the cloud, and keep it running. Every week you build something you can show.
20
weeks of lessons
480
planned hours
2
catch-up weeks
5
quality gates
WHAT YOU FINISH WITH
Every part of this course ends in something that runs. You finish with five public repositories, each with a README a stranger can follow, tests, automated checks, and a tagged release.
Hiring managers read the distance between your first project and your last one. That distance is the point of the order below.
WEEKS 1–4
You can write Java that is tested, reviewed, and built by a robot on every push.
01WEEKS 5–8
You can design tables, write an API, secure it, and test it against a real database.
02WEEKS 9–12
You can build the screens too, and join them to your own API through one tested release.
03WEEKS 14–15
You can ship a numbered version, smoke-test it, break it on purpose, and roll it back.
04WEEKS 16–22
You can take your own idea from a goal to a released product, and defend the decisions.
05Your private notes, timed tests, and personal data stay in a separate private repository. Only cleaned, made-up data and your own code go public, and only after a privacy check you run yourself.
THE BOOTCAMP FRAMEWORK
Six steps, every time. It is how a craft has always been taught: watch it done, do it alone, then explain it. Each pass leaves work you can show.
Study one worked example, start to finish.
WHY: A solved example teaches a beginner more than a blank page does.
Close the example. Build it again with no help.
WHY: Pulling it back from memory is what makes it stick. Reading it again teaches less.
Use the idea on a real task in your own project.
WHY: A new problem shows whether you can adjust the idea, not just repeat it.
Run it. Read the result before you change anything.
WHY: Practice with feedback is worth about twice practice without it.
From memory, say what it does and one way it could break.
WHY: Saying it out loud finds the gaps that quiet reading hides.
Days later, do it again with no notes.
WHY: Spreading practice out beats one long session. Almost everyone skips this.
WHERE THIS COMES FROM
These are not six steps someone liked the sound of. The shape is how people have always learned a craft from an expert. Steps 02, 04, and 06 are the three study habits that test best. Reading something twice is the habit learners use most, and it tests worst.
THE AI RULE
Every block starts with a no-AI warm-up. When the warm-up ends, AI-written code still does not count as your work. You write the app, tests, build files, pipelines, containers, Kubernetes files, and cloud config. That holds for all 20 weeks.
AI may explain an idea or the official docs. It may explain an error you already saw, with private details removed. It may ask you one question to help you find the problem. It may review work you already did.
Generated or patched code, tests, commands, workflow YAML, Dockerfiles, or Kubernetes and cloud config. No fixes for your bugs, and no answers to any quiz or test.
SDLC + AGILE / DELIVERY OPERATING MODEL
This is the software development life cycle (SDLC). Each feature moves from a clear goal to an accepted release. You work alone, in a weekly rhythm borrowed from Scrum (a common way teams plan work). Goals, stories, tests, reviews, releases, and retrospectives (short look-backs) keep your work visible. Anyone can follow the trail from idea to code.
THE TOOLS YOU LEARN
Java is the main language. Python stays in use for real work, not just practice. The front end, the database, CI/CD, the cloud, and operations all connect into one working system.
PRIMARY LANGUAGE
Build command-line apps, database apps, and Spring Boot apps. Along the way you learn static types, object design, and testing. You also learn refactoring: cleaning up code without changing what it does.
SUPPORTING LANGUAGE
Keep using Python for real work: checking data, running quick API smoke tests, and automating chores. You also build one typed, tested piece of the final project.
DATA + API
Practice database tables and schemas, migrations, transactions, JDBC, and REST APIs. Add input checks, login (authentication), permissions (authorization), and integration tests.
FRONT END
Build screens anyone can use, including people who use a screen reader. Learn typed components, state, routing, forms, calling your API, login, and browser tests.
BUILD + SHIP
Write GitHub Actions checks and fix them when they fail. Build once, ship that same build to each stage, smoke-test it, and prove you can roll back.
CLOUD + OPERATIONS
Learn how AWS and Azure match up. Use one approved free lab, put the app in a container, and run Kubernetes on your own computer. No paid cluster needed.
You choose your operating system, your editor, where you work, and which approved free way to deploy. The main app works on any computer. AWS and Azure are both taught. Running a test copy on your own computer (local staging) is always allowed as a fallback. You install and set up your own tools, following the official docs.
PROGRAM ROADMAP / AUG 2026–JAN 2027
Weeks 0–2 are ready now. Later week pages stay marked as planned until they pass review. That review checks the resources, the workload, the test rules, and the done checklist for each week.
WEEK 03 / Sep 14–20
Inheritance, polymorphism, interfaces, abstract classes, test-first coding with JUnit, cleaning up code, and your first written design decision.
WEEK 04 / Sep 21–27
Plan, build, test, release, and review the Vendo-Matic Java app. Then look back, and finish one fresh task.
Gate 1
WEEK 05 / Sep 28–Oct 4
PostgreSQL, database changes (migrations), indexes, transactions, table design, checking seed data with Python, and a database in CI.
WEEK 06 / Oct 5–11
JDBC, JdbcTemplate, data-access classes (DAOs), Spring Boot REST, input checks, unit tests, and tests against a real database.
WEEK 07 / Oct 12–18
HTTP clients, login with JWT tokens, permissions, finding threats, quick Python API checks, and a Python CI job.
WEEK 08 / Oct 19–25
Release the TEnmo API and explain your choices. Respond to review, do a look-back, and handle one fresh change.
Gate 2
WEEK 09 / Oct 26–Nov 1
HTML and CSS basics, moving from JavaScript to TypeScript, user journeys, and accessibility checks.
WEEK 10 / Nov 2–8
React with TypeScript, components, props, state, events, hooks, slicing stories by user value, and Node CI.
WEEK 11 / Nov 9–15
Routing, web services, forms, front-end login, Vitest, contract checks, and build output files.
WEEK 12 / Nov 16–22
Connect TEnmo Web to the API and run full-stack CI in parallel. Publish a release, respond to review, and finish a fresh task.
Gate 3
WEEK 13 / Nov 23–29
This week is left open on purpose. Use it to catch up, finish shifted work, or rest. Don't add new required work.
WEEK 14 / Nov 30–Dec 6
Map AWS and Azure, do one free cloud lab, build a Docker image, and run it on local Kubernetes.
WEEK 15 / Dec 7–13
Push one versioned build through CD, smoke-test it, and roll it back. Then find the cause of a failure and write up an incident.
Gate 4
WEEK 16 / Dec 14–20
Write the Product Goal, backlog, design, threat model, database schema, API skeleton, and Python contract.
Sprint 1
WEEK 17 / Dec 21–27
This holiday week is left open on purpose. Use it to catch up, finish shifted work, or rest.
WEEK 18 / Dec 28–Jan 3
Build the Java back end and a useful, typed, tested Python command-line tool or background worker.
Sprint 2
WEEK 19 / Jan 4–10
Build the React front end and connect it to the Java and Python parts.
Sprint 3
WEEK 20 / Jan 11–17
Release a pilot with private details removed, on an approved free platform, and collect feedback from approved users.
Sprint 4
WEEK 21 / Jan 18–24
Ship one change based on feedback, run an incident drill, check accessibility and security, and finish a timed set.
Release candidate
WEEK 22 / Jan 25–31
Publish release notes and a recorded demo. Show the trail from idea to code, do the look-back, and explain your decisions.
Gate 5
QUALITY GATES
GATE 1
Build, test, release, and explain Vendo-Matic. Then make a change a reviewer asks for on the spot.
GATE 2
Release TEnmo and defend it in a review. Show proof of the database, security, integration tests, and Python smoke tests.
GATE 3
Connect the React front end to the Java API. Both run CI side by side and ship as one tested release.
GATE 4
Fix a broken CI/CD run. Ship a numbered container image, smoke-test it, and roll it back safely.
GATE 5
Walk an outside reviewer through every step from idea to release. Make a live change they ask for, and defend the final product.
PILOT GOVERNANCE
This public pilot tests the lessons, the workload, the quality gates, and how it feels to learn this way. That happens before any separate paid program is designed. The website does not save progress, grade work, install tools, create cloud resources, sell access, or give certificates.
Your progress records, review notes, AI-help log, unopened tests, secrets, and personal data stay private. Only the week pages (cleaned of private details), starter files, templates, and the roadmap are public.