You're not alone! If you've tried learning from other websites or videos and found it's not sticking, or you just feel utterly overwhelmed knowing where to start, then you're not alone!
The majority of courses out there suck. They promise you the world then massively underdeliver. They're boring, confusing, and they leave you feeling like you're not cut out for this.
We made this course to fix that. If you're looking for something fun and creative where you learn by actually making things, with support when you need it, then this might just be the course for you!
But over the last few years, I've seen a really worrying trend...
More and more people are trying to learn to code (🥳) but they seem to be struggling more than ever (😢). And they're struggling with things that should be pretty straightforward once you've been learning for a while. People just don't seem to be grasping the fundamentals.
So I started reading around to see if I could work out what was going on, and found a crazy statistic.
How could it be that so many people were trying to learn to code, but so few were actually succeeding?
I went investigating… 🕵️
I watched the most popular YouTube videos (🥱), tried the "best" online courses (😐), and even paid my friends to try to learn so I could see what happened (a mix of 😭😠🤬🙅♀️).
I dug into formal research, spoke to my friends in education, and pretty quickly came to a simple conclusion...
I started coding when I was 8. Back then, YouTube didn't exist. There weren't any "learn to code" websites. I didn't even have the internet. There was basically only one way to learn. Make stuff. Lots of stuff!
And make stuff I did! I started making games and then graduated to making little bots to play against. And as I grew older I made websites for me and my friends, and eventually for customers.
I created, I played, I experimented. I had fun!
And through this, I got really good. I learned the coder mindset, and I laid the foundations that I've built my whole career on.
But that's not how these modern courses teach. Giving you a space to practice and play and experiment is hard. It's much easier to just give you a video to watch, a quiz to take, and a certificate to print out.
But you won't learn that way. You'll be bored, frustrated, and like most other people, you'll probably quit 😞😡
The best coders are not the ones who know the most.
The best coders are the ones who have gained a total mastery of the basics. Once you've got the basics down, everything will become easy. You can go and learn whatever you want or need.
And the way to master the basics? Practice, practice, practice.
Take on different challenges. Solve different problems. And have fun learning your craft!
We've made a different type of course. One that teaches you the fundamentals of coding differently. It's focused on getting you building fun things, on solving interesting problems, on learning the coding mindset that will actually get you good at this.
Within 12 weeks, you'll go from zero to building games like Space Invaders, Tic Tac Toe, and Breakout. You'll be building bots that can solve mazes, and talking to real APIs like ChatGPT to build useful real-world projects.
☝️☝️☝️ You'll make all these in the first 12 weeks!
We've worked really hard to build a course that focusses on the important stuff. We've written our own programming language that gets out of your way and lets you focus on the actual coding.
We've made a kickass interface that's really fun and easy to use, but gets you coding fast. Everything is focused on giving you rock solid foundations, that will make it easy to learn any languages or technologies you want.
I'll teach you coding concepts using analogy and imagery, that will mean your brain actually absorbs the information and understands what's going on.
There are no abstract concepts in this course. There's no hand-waving. If something is complex, I take my time breaking it down until it's clear.
We've put together over 40 hours of live teaching for you to watch, where you can see me explaining the concepts of programming and answering questions from a real beginner audience.
We have a great community of alumni and mentors who are there to help you when you get stuck. And I'll be there too, making sure you get the most out of the course!
We've designed the course for total beginners and it's entirely focused on learning by doing. You'll be coding from day one, and you'll be coding a lot.
It's also perfect if you've been coding for a while but you don't feel like you've got a solid grasp on everything yet. About 50% of our students are in that category and love the course.
If that sounds exciting, then I'd love for you to join us! 💙
The course is split into two halves. The first teaches Coding Fundamentals. The second (optional) part teaches Front-end Web Development.
Takes 12-20 weeks
Takes ~12 weeks
From day one you'll be building fun things. You'll start by drawing, then animating, then making games, then building intelligence into your programs. Every level has lots of fun challenges!
Here are just a few of the fun things you'll make! 👇
At the end of the Bootcamp, we'll issue you an official certificate to recognise your participation and completion of the course.
Show off your skills on your resume and in the Certifications section of your LinkedIn profile.
Share your certificate in your network
These are some extracts from students' testimonials. Read the full versions here!
Seeing how much effort, thought, and even love is put into this course, it’s such a pleasure to be a student here. Every explanation, each exercise turn this course into a masterpiece. I really enjoy it.
As someone with no previous coding experience - I've been blown away with the quality of this course. I've come so far in the past weeks and reflecting on what I've achieved and how much I've learned has been phenomenal. My journey has been from a complete coding novice, to someone who is confident and excited to tackle complex logic problems in code!
I was brand new to coding and this course exceeded my wildest expectations and then some. In my humble opinion, it will be one of the best choices you will ever make!
From the moment I bought the course, I realized it would be different from anything I had ever experienced in terms of classes and studying. Learning while actually coding has made it pretty fun. Getting help and encouraging messages from the community, sharing their experiences, and knowing that you're not alone made things much easier. It's such a pleasure to be part of it!
Getting into programming always felt overwhelming. I often quit before I really got started. However, the course has provided an excellent, guided path to self-sufficiency, and I now feel capable of growing and learning more in the field.
This course has pushed me past what I thought were personal limitations, and in doing so, has increased my confidence and motivation. Know that when you get the certificate at the end of the course, it will be because you EARNED it!
I joined the course with some Python knowledge, looking to learn front-end languages. I’d been struggling with self-paced learning, so I signed up for the structure and accountability. The teaching style — full of effective analogies — really clicked with me. In just 10 weeks, I’ve learned new material and gained clarity on topics I thought I already understood. Fantastic mentors, teaching, community, and global cohort. The course has exceeded my expectations—I’d highly recommend it!
The course provided me an opportunity to learn from a bonafide master. The purchasing power parity discount made it even more affordable. Thank you for making it accessible.
I'd recommend this to anyone trying to become a better programmer. I have done a fair bit of tutorial material online to learn programming but this course does the best job in teaching you the fundamentals. This course has given me confidence in writing code and made it fun! 😄.
Before I started this course I didn't think I could do the exercises we do now. I thought I am not smart enough, that “this is not for me” and I didn’t expect anything which required so much effort to be here in the fundamentals of programming. But in the end, Jeremy shows it’s yet another skill that can be learnt, even in such a short period of time.
I had doubts that I would understand this kind of material, and yet as I look back to where I started, I have a deep appreciation for the incredible skills and knowledge I am now nurturing and growing. How I think about thinking, and about problem solving in general, has changed dramatically since undertaking this course. I can't wait to see what's next!
I joined this course with some coding experience, but the clarity and structure made everything click like never before and the lessons are perfectly paced, building concepts step-by-step in a way that feels natural and engaging. It's a transformative learning experience that leaves you feeling motivated and excited to keep pushing your coding skills to the next level.
Honestly, I had no expectations when I stumbled upon Exercism, but it turned out to be my greatest discovery of the year! Given the cost, I didn’t hesitate to join and give it a try. I had no experience whatsoever, and I’m very impressed with myself looking at what I can do! 100% recommended!
The course has been a game-changer for me.The pace is perfect: challenging yet not impossible. The exercises are very nice, and it is incredibly satisfying to see that in just a few weeks one can pass from simply moving a blob in a maze to program one that solve EVERY maze.
This course hasn't just taught basic structures and logic for programming, but it instills some basic tenets of the coder's mindset that will be invaluable on your journey (how to start from a blank screen, breaking big impossible challenges into the smallest solvable pieces, creating more efficient, readable, and maintainable code).
I have next to no coding experience yet have found this course to be so intelligently scaffolded, with concepts clearly explained and logically built one after the other, making the information accessible to learn.
This course gives you the tools to think through the process before even writing a single line of code which makes the actual coding part easier. Having a good mental model helps with understanding what's 'under the hood'
The resources are fantastic but it is Jeremy's knack of breaking things down into the smallest possible steps that has really helped things click for me. I've learned an unbelievable amount in a few short weeks and I'm now solving problems with code that I would never have thought possible!
Jeremy and the mentors have created an amazing resource like no other on the web. From the fun and sleek interface, to the live classes and labs or the discord discussions, it all comes together to make a superb learning experience.
Enrolling in this programming course was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The curriculum is well-structured, covering foundational programming concepts. The team is supportive, and truly invested in helping students succeed.
You will not believe how fantastic this course is! You learn to write code by writing code to solve problems that match--and push--your abilities. Jeremy is a master teacher. Exercism is the perfect environment.
For nearly a decade, I've repeatedly started online coding courses, but every time I run up against something that didn't make sense or a problem I just couldn't solve which stopped me in my tracks, meaning I have never completed a course, but now after years of trying, suddenly, coding feels possible.
Depending on whether you want to learn web development or some other speciality such as data science, we have two different options.
Build rock solid coding fundamentals, applicable to every speciality.
Anyone looking to develop rock solid coding fundamentals. Designed for absolute beginners or new devs wanting to reinforce their solid foundations.
3 months, part-time.
You'll have a solid understanding of coding fundamentals. You'll be ready to learn vocational skills like app development or data science.
Learn the fundamentals then specialise in front-end web development.
Anyone looking to become a web developer. Designed for absolute beginners or new devs wanting to reinforce their solid foundations.
6 months, part-time.
You'll be confident creating website front-ends from scratch and well on your way to a career in web development.
Exercism is a longstanding nonprofit that's helped over 2 million people level-up their coding skills.
We've grown entirely by word of mouth. Good friends tell their friends about Exercism!
We've been one of the most trusted resources for coding education for over a decade.
Our exercises are trusted by the coding community as the perfect way to level up!
Our unique mentoring program is one of the best ways to get tips from experts!
These are the questions we get asked the most. Your question not answered here? Ping us an email!
You gain access to the full Coding Fundamentals course as soon as your pay. You'll have access for life.
The Front-End Fundamentals course will run live from April 19th till mid-July. You'll also have access to the course materials beyond that date for life.
You can spend as long or as little as you like. In general, people who spend an 1-2 hours per day on the course get through each Level in 1-2 weeks.
The course is designed to be accessible to everyone, regardless of your background. We don't believe you need to be "smart" to learn to code. But you do need to put in the effort and be willing to be challenged.
But if you put in the effort, ask for help when you get stuck, and embrace the challenge, you'll be amazed at how far you can go in a short time.
There are no formal group activities. However, we encourage everyone to share their journey and explore programming together in our Discord server. Chatting about code is one of the best ways to improve your programming skills. Many of our students get together (virtually) for unofficial study groups - so you might like to join some of them! You can choose to opt-out of the community aspects if you prefer.
We're teaching you a special beginner-friendly language called JikiScript. It's a full, normal programming language, but it's been designed specifically to ensure you don't get bogged down by syntax or language oddities.
Once you've learnt JikiScript and understand the core programming concepts, you'll find it straight-forward to learn Python, JavaScript, or any other language using Exercism's free courses.
Most exercises can be completed by reaching a certain objective. However, they are not graded and your code isn't assessed or marked. We will explore some (anonymised) code in the weekly sessions and discuss how it could be improved, but our philosophy is that you should be in the trenches coding, not worrying about passing tests.
Firstly, please check your spam. If you still can't find anything, please email bootcamp@exercism.org and we'll check everything for you!
