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.

I had a project I was working on before I decided to do Launch School where I was building an API in Rails using a gem. I had no idea what was going on underneath the gem, and it was impossible for me improve to the speed of the application. Now, I feel confident I could build the entire API using Ruby, Sinatra, and SQL, which would allow me to make significant speed improvements.
Larson Laidlaw
I remember my first tutorials, even good ones. I thought then that I was autonomous, but that feeling never lasts long. Now, after learning fundamentals, I'm never really stuck anymore. I still make a lot of mistakes, but nothing a search in the docs and a few well-placed debugging statements can't resolve.
Laurent Guinotte
Launch School teaches mastery for web development, but I truly believe it also paves the way for self growth in other areas of your life. After completing Core, my Launch School friends and I met up in Gather to chat. We all came to the same conclusion - Launch School changed our lives. That is another thing I will forever be grateful for.
Rachele Lang
Knowing when to move on and circle back at a later point, if necessary, has been a skill I did not expect to come away with from the curriculum, but stands out as one of the most useful since it’s so transferable to other areas of my life.
Kevin Counihan
I am totally blown away by, and beyond grateful for, the effectiveness and design of this curriculum. I feel like I've transformed as a programmer over this past year of studying. I'm fluent with code in a way I couldn't have imagined before starting.
Bethany Pietroniro
PEDAC is still useful after all this time!
Trisha C
"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.

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

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.

The Proof is in the Results

The average starting salary for 2022 Capstone graduates is

$119,433

(See Results & Outcomes for more details.)

Our graduates have been hired by industry leading companies and some of the most competitive startups

Start our preparatory courses now for free. When you’re ready for the real courses, it’s just

$199/month

Standard Program

$299/month

Deferred Payment Program More information

Continue reading about how our pedagogy works and why we're able to produce such amazing results. This is how we're different. You should really read this.

Our Pedagogy