Free 'Code4Fun' camp in Athlone next week for transition year students

A Code4Fun coding camp for transition-year students, now in its third year, is back by popular demand and will take place on the TUS Athlone campus from Monday next, November 29, to Friday, December 3.

The free camp is ideal for TY students interested in pursuing a degree in software development and will teach participants how to code and evaluate technology solutions to real-world problems.

The goal is to get students to start thinking like software engineers and figure out solutions to problems through effective teamwork and communication, explained Dr Enda Fallon, head of the Department of Computer and Software Engineering at TUS.

"Code4Fun encourages students to work as a team when brainstorming, technical conceptualisation and planning. Group work plays an important role at third level as it does in the context of an agile software development environment," he said.

"Our software engineering courses teach these principles to ensure students are industry-ready upon graduating. At Code4Fun, we mimic that environment to give students a flavour of what studying software development is really like in a fun, creative way."

Anonymised feedback from previous camps has been incredibly positive, with participants citing it as 'fun', 'informational' and 'insightful'.

One transition-year student said that it had inspired them to want to pursue computer science in the Leaving Certificate, and a degree in software thereafter, while another said that the camp was a great way of meeting new people and practising their coding skills.

Summing up the experience, a student said, "Coding is definitely something I would love to continue in the future and all because of this camp."

TY students can register for their free place here.

Places are limited, so book early to avoid disappointment.