LaunchSchool: An online school for Software Engineers

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.

The problem-solving approaches we've learned at Launch School have been the most valuable to my current career (lead product designer). PEDAC, CRC cards, and ERD's have helped shape how I design products and then explain and translate them to the engineers I work with.

Nabil Kazerouni

I began work on a web app for locating Messier objects (deep sky objects like galaxies, nebulas, etc.) during RB175. The foundations that I built during that course gave me the ability to read documentation and figure out how to do things that weren't covered explicitly in the curriculum.

Joshua Leath

The staff and student body are some of the most helpful groups of people I have ever encountered in a learning environment. I particularly enjoy how the early courses present you with countless opportunities for support (TA sessions, SPOT sessions, large problem sets, etc), but then wean you off a bit as you progress.

Derek Novak

When I started back in December 2019 I could only write some awfully entangled and impossible to understand VBA scripts for Excel. Today, my code is clean, well-structured and I can tackle complex problems and build applications from scratch by breaking down is simpler parts. Not only I've achieved a level of confidence and fluidity in JavaScript that I couldn't even imagine when I started Core but also I feel I leave Core with a very good foundation in programming fundamentals.

Raul De Hevia

What a great ride it's been! I feel more accomplished after ~12 months of LS than after 4 years of high school and in some ways 4 years of college.

Zachary DuBow

Launch School gave me a framework for learning and understanding software that I've been able to leverage every day in my job as a software enginner. The curriculum and pedagogy are rigorous for a reason; it instills a lifelong foundation from which to build knowledge and grow as an engineer throughout your career. Launch School fundamentally changed the way I learn new skills and how I approach problems.

Jack Aitken

"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.

READ MORE
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

READ MORE
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

READ MORE
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

READ MORE

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.