The Slow Path for Studious Learners to a Career in Software Development

Structured Curriculum from First Principles

Our program is about slowly building up mastery of fundamentals, so you understand how higher level abstractions truly work from the bottom up. Our goal isn't to teach you how to use React or Rails, but to show you how to construct accurate mental representations of first principles in order to tackle fundamental engineering problems. Our goal isn't to help you find a job, but help you launch a career. Our goal isn't to teach you to code, but to teach you how to deconstruct and problem solve like an engineer.

By Software Engineers for Future Software Engineers

Launch School was founded by experienced software engineers. We know what it takes to not only break into software, but to build and grow a career as an engineer in the software industry. Our objective is to increase your lifetime earnings by millions of dollars. This is what makes Launch School unique and why we focus on the long-term results of a career. Our curriculum was created by software engineers for future software engineers — you.

Prior to Launch School, I had probably watched thousands of hours worth of tutorials and had actually worked professionally in web development for years, without having the clarity I do now. Launch School is definitely doing things the right way.

Steven Alston

I never imagined that I could switch to a completely different career in my 40s, completely unrelated to anything I've done before and without having to get a traditional degree, and LS is making that possible.

Wayne Olson

The Launch School experience has completely changed how I view my own potential and abilities, and how I view learning. I'm excited to apply the mastery approach, along with the techniques and methods I've now found work well for me, to many more fields over the rest of my life.

Alex Dzwonchyk

Overall, I thought the Core program was great! My confidence has gone up a lot since starting Core. I remember trying to read the documentation for Python and a few libraries and frameworks prior to Core and getting completely overwhelmed, but now I look at documentation and it's significantly more manageable.

Adam Trotta

One thing I've gained so far is a much greater ability to read documentation. I'm comfortable enough with the documentation for the Ruby language, Sinatra, and PostgreSQL that I hardly ever had to reach out to Launch School staff to ask a question. I could usually find everything I needed on my own. This gives me confidence in my ability to figure out what I need to find as well as where to find it.

Michael Rago

At the halfway point, I have noticed improvement in my ability to not only program, but to problem solve. I used to not be able to get a hold of a larger problem- now I can break them down into smaller more manageable pieces, solve them, and then put them together to solve the problem as a whole.

Chris Clifton

"We're one of the oldest and largest coding schools in the world."

Our Learning Goals

The key to unlocking higher level understanding and skills that last a career is focusing on fundamentals. We designed our curriculum with the following learning goals.

Fundamentals first, fundamentals throughout
A focus on learning things that don't change
Learn slowly and deliberately

Learn to be proficient, not just build awareness
Learn to understand problems, not solutions
Learn in a circular fashion

Our students love us, and if you are committed to building a career in software development, you will too

Sienna Wood

Denver

Software Engineer

Experts always return to fundamentals because they are the foundation on which everything else is built. Launch School’s core program embodies this principle by emphasizing mastery of fundamentals through purposeful individual study.

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Steve Kolock

New York

Front-end Developer

I got a different role making significantly more than twice what I had been making as a 'web specialist', putting me firmly in six-figure

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Letladi Sebesho

Johannesburg, South Africa

Full Stack Developer at Co-Foundy

This programme opened possibilities for me that would have taken me years to reach

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Sunny Beatteay

New York City

Software Engineer

From the first glance, it was apparent that Launch School had been founded by industry veterans. I have never encountered a curriculum more in-depth and rigorous

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A Serious Training Curriculum That's Designed to Launch a Career

Core Curriculum

Mastery of Fundamentals

Capstone

Launch Your Career

Complete the Core Curriculum courses and pass their assessments, and you'll have mastered the fundamentals. Participate in our Capstone Program, and you'll launch a career.