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 was given a lead position and a team for a major, logistically complex project our company received, despite not having experience in the domain itself. The first two weeks of the project were me wrangling everyone together for both explicit and implicit PEDAC sessions. Due to the discovery, planning and attitude-setting that came from those sessions our project came in under-time, on-budget, and with great praise from our client (the federal government).
Alexander Drover
Over the last 10 months I have developed both a robust set of foundational skills and a deep confidence in my ability to apply the learning framework taught at Launch School to improve all aspects of my life.
Will Lotherington
Learning fundamentals also taught me humility — some things need a lot of effort for a long time, and there are no shortcuts.
Andy Jakubowski
I had a pretty striking moment recently where it sort of hit me all at once how much I've learned and how much confidence and procedural knowledge I've built in the fundamentals; it made me see that I can do much more than I realized, and this from having just touched the surface of a different path.
Isaak
All of my professional experience has been in recruiting, which is basically sales. When I first joined Launch School, I wasn't sure if I had what it took to solve technical problems. However, I trusted the process. I'm now astounded by some of the more difficult problems I'm able to solve. A good education is supposed to be transformational. Launch School delivers on that promise.
Hernando Delgado
After completing the back-end portion of the core curriculum, I have much better clarity on a lot of the programming concepts, and have a better handle on my emotions as they relate to impostor syndrome when it comes to being able to program.
Matt Pringle
"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