Learning online programming - is everything as simple as it seems?

In an era of growing popularity of online learning and various courses, I want to highlight in more detail the topic, namely, the pitfalls that pop up in the way of this training.
Recently decided to master Java at a more serious level for a beginner. A familiar developer and colleagues organized an online course and invited me to participate.

Since the price was elevating (10 000 r. For the basics of the language - java core) and in QA, knowledge of the programming language is a bold plus - then, without thinking twice, I agreed.
I will try to briefly describe the pros, cons, as well as my impressions of this event.

I'll start with the pros

1) Online classes (both plus and minus). To comprehend programming conveniently at home, you need only a normal Internet and a microphone. You do not need to go anywhere, you can study, lying on the couch in your pajamas, drinking coffee.
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For participants of the course all the auxiliary material was shared and is in the public domain. All the videotapes of the lessons were laid out on a google disk, and books and add. materials could be found on git lab. In the same place the homework was set. For programming, IntelliJ IDEA was used, the homework for verification was sent to the repository on Bitbacket via GIT (yes, they were also trained to work with it). The undoubted advantage of online is that everything you need for training is located on three adjacent tabs of the browser.

2) A relatively small group of students. At the time when I started classes, there were 4 people in the group. And given that the teachers were 3, they could give enough attention and, to some extent, an individual approach to each student.

3) Good teaching staff. The mentors were guys with good experience in programming. They explained the material well. We tried to sort out the tasks in detail, and almost always were in touch. If a question arose, it was possible to agree, call on Skype and solve the problem on the same day, even if there was no occupation on that day.

4) The lesson plan (again, both + and -) classes were held 2 times a week, mostly on weekdays, but sometimes it was transferred to weekends. They started around 8-9 pm and lasted 2-3 hours. Each lesson started with a repetition of the material and analysis of complex tasks. So if you fit into the schedule of classes and try to pass the homework on time, you can achieve good results. On the downsides below.

5) Price - 10 000 rub. for a 3 month course of learning the basics of java, as well as periodic consultations with a personal tutor, it is very democratic as for me (at the moment I don’t know the cost, maybe it has risen).

6) Perspectives. If you successfully learn the basics of the language, you can continue to study for a full-fledged developer, if successfully completed, the teachers will help * pass the interview and get a job as a junior programmer (* they will help you not with cronyism, but they will give the necessary knowledge and life hacking to successfully pass the interview). The fee for such pleasure will be weighty - your first salary as a programmer. But as for me, it is worth it.

Now cons

1) Online classes. All people perceive the material differently. Personally, it was difficult for me to perceive by ear on Skype, much was not clear, and although the mentor broadcast his actions on the screen and could be asked to repeat, the effect was still not the same as if it was told personally. Also at home there are a lot of distractions - relatives, a cat, a child, and so on. And if at some point I had to distract for 5 minutes, then it would be very difficult to catch up with the explanatory.

2) Schedule. Classes started at 8-9 pm, so that everyone would have time to come home from work and something to eat. But the maximum I could do was to come home from work to the beginning of classes and warm up the food. He usually ate in the process, which did not contribute to the absorption of the material, and food, too. So as for me, one class should definitely be carried over to the weekend.
Again, my vision. After 23-00, my brain refuses to accept new information and wants to sleep. And the situation when the occupation reached 12 at night was very frequent. This negatively affected the perception of the material.

3) Spartan mode. After a month and a half of training, the mentors decided to introduce a very specific control system. The point is the following - each student had to provide a brief report at 12 in the afternoon, which indicated - What was done yesterday? What will I do today? Why was nothing done yesterday? The approach is so-so, because everyone has a personal life and other things besides courses, and sometimes they had to either lie or invent the reason why they did nothing on a certain day.

I do not argue, monitoring the implementation of tasks should be, but every day to report, this is overkill. In addition, all the mentors were very strict about this report, and if you did not unsubscribe in time, then 15 messages arrived with the topic - “why are you silent, where is the report”

4) Perspectives. Again, everything is very individual. I left after a month and a half. I did not have time to learn the material at all and by 10 o'clock in the evening I was already snoring at the lessons. So, if you have enough time (it takes about 10-20 hours a week), you can take the material on Skype and want to learn the profession of a developer, spending the minimum amount of time and effort required - then this option is for you. But if everything was so simple, then every second developer became ... go for it!

Thank you for your attention, all good!