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Sorry, I'm sure you have the best intentions but it's not possible to go in 8 weeks from "no computer science background required" to a rails junior.

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Not true at all. I went from "no computer science background" to a Django junior hire in ~10 weeks of (admittedly quite intense) self-study. I'm now employed as a mid-level programmer making very good money.

My anecdote is about as valid a characterization of whether it's possible in general as your sweeping, baseless generalization.

I got a relative lot of email on this (given that I normally get zero mail it was a landslide) so I blogged responses to the questions I got.

http://mattdeboard.net/2011/11/23/how-i-became-a-programmer/

I'd be curious to hear the rationale behind my downvote.

Is anyone seriously suggesting you can turn a programming illiterate into a rails hire in 8 weeks?

It's very subjective to talk about what a "rails junior" means, but it is very possible for someone (like the students at Code Academy) to learn an immense amount of programming knowledge in a short amount of time (say 12 weeks).

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