Founders & Coders FAQ

What is Founders & Coders?
Founders & Coders is a community of freelance developers and educators who love building great software and helping others do the same.

What is the aim of the coding courses you run?
To give students sufficient skills in web development to join our community of freelancers, to find employment, or to work on their own web-based startup.

What will I learn?
You will learn how to create software and build web applications using JavaScript, Node.js, and a wide variety of libaries and tools.

How long do courses run for?
Eight weeks.

Where are courses based?
Wherever we can find space.

What are the hours of study?
Classes run Monday to Friday, 10am-6pm, but expect to study at least 50 hours per week.

How is the classroom organised?
Courses are project based with sixteen students working in four teams of four. Students take turns to deliver seminars, run code reviews and manage projects.

What are the main reasons I should take a course?
The skills it will give you. The quality of the learning experience. The Founders & Coders community.

How much does it cost?
There are no fees.

If these courses are so good, why are you offering them for free?
We are trying to build a community and we do not think we can do that by charging an entry fee.

Who are these courses suitable for?
There are no academic requirements, but not everyone will be suited to the style of learning our courses require. You need to be self-motivated, prepared to work long hours, and committed to collaborative working. Coding also requires a deep curiosity about how things work and a certain stubbornness in the face of repeated failure.

Are there any restrictions on who can apply?
Anyone over the age of 18 can apply.

Will I be a productive developer after the end of the course
We reckon that on average it takes about 1,000 hours to become a competent full-stack developer. That will take 20 weeks, working 50 hours a week. The eight-week course will give you a good foundation, but it won’t get you all the way there.

Can you help me after the course finishes?
At the end of the course, if you are serious about becoming a good developer, we will do what we can to find projects for you to work on. We are a community of freelancers and we cannot guarantee work or offer employment. What we can offer is mentoring and support while you find your feet.

I want to find employment as a web developer after the course. Can you help?
We have a small roster of employers who have already given jobs to our graduates and are accepting applications for internships from our students.

How long have courses been running?
We ran our first course in January 2014 for Collective Academy in Camden Town.

Can you give me a bit more information about the course content?
It is subject to change, but here is a brief run-down: development environments, source control, agile development, static websites, HTML, CSS, client-side programming, JavaScript, the DOM, AJAX, APIs, server-side programming, MVC, Databases, REST, build tools, testing, data visualisation, client-side applications, product development.

Which libraries and tools will we be using?
Again, it is subject to change, but here is a partial list: Git, Jekyll, Bootstrap, Sass, jQuery, Node.js, hapi, MongoDB, Mocha, Gulp, D3, AngularJS.