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.

TAs were always willing to listen and help. Every TA I interacted with throughout the back-end courses was incredibly kind. I always felt the LS staff (and even fellow students) were in my corner rooting for my success. That is a rarity from my past educational experiences.
Jesse Smith
Launch School gave me the confidence and skills to be able to land my job as a Software Engineer - my dream job, location, and team (with a fantastic salary to add on top of that). Not only were my interviewers impressed with my Capstone project but they also were impressed with my understanding of the fundamentals. They even mentioned that a lot of engineers aren't solid on the fundamentals like I was! I'm forever grateful to Launch School for the curriculum, instructors, and support!
Emily Olszewski
What you guys have built here is something truly special, and I am so grateful to have been able to devote the past 10 months to this amazing program. I will never be able to repay you all for what you’ve done for me. You’ve armed me with the not only the tools necessary to thrive in such a competitive field, but in life.
Gabriel De Almeida
Having used Ruby for the first half of the course and then switching to Javascript, I feel immensely more confident in my ability to actually learn programming concepts/languages/frameworks. More than anything, I feel like Launch School has taught me how to learn programming, rather than a specific language.
Michael Jung
Launch School gave me confidence. My background is in statistical analysis and economics, and I always felt like I was just winging it at my job even after years of college and grad school. With Launch School, I was deeply learning something for the first time, and actually doing it with intention.
Fernanda Franco
Learning fundamentals has given me the abilities and confidence to get hired as an engineer at PayPal where I'm solving problems every day alongside smart and awesome people. The future is really bright for my career now and it's entirely thanks to my decision to start Launch School.
Alex Dzwonchyk
"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 2024 Capstone graduates is

$115,766

(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

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