✏🖥 Attend your free session on June 6th!
We save you countless hours when training to become a software engineer because we teach you the important stuff first. First week free, then $70 to complete the rest of the month.
The class is primarily for homeschoolers and homeschool graduates ages 16-20, but anyone (within reason) can join as long as they are respectful to the other students.
Class will start on June 6th (Tuesday) at 10:30am Eastern Time. Class will be an hour per week and will be on each Tuesday at 10:30am Eastern Time (via Zoom). If you have any questions or if Tuesday can't work for you, please contact the teacher at benjamin@snowfox.dev
TBD syllabus (each month is a stand-alone theme, and the teacher and the students are involved in picking the topic for the month):
-
June: “Infinite complexity: How to make any program, no matter how
complex”
- Week 1: JavaScript Crash Course
- Week 2: Complex State
- Week 3: Object Oriented Programming vs. Functional Programming
- Week 4: Application of Previous Lectures
Future TBD months:
-
July: “Python: performance with lots of data”
- Week 1: Python Crash Course
- Week 2: Machine Learning and Data Science Week
- Week 3: Cybersecurity
- Week 4: Application of Previous Lectures
-
August: “Systems coding”
- Week 1: APIs
- Week 2: Lambdas and Modularity
- Week 3: Joe Armstrong and Fault Tolerant Systems
- Week 4: Application of Previous Lectures
- Week 5: Special week workshop—Cybersecurity and Capture the Flag
About the Teacher
Benjamin Pettett was homeschooled all 12 grades and has made his living through software engineering in the landscape industry and restaurant industry. He holds a BA in Computer Science from Thomas Edison State University. He and his wife (who was also homeschooled!) live in the the great Peach State of Georgia. They are followers of Jesus Christ, and they seek to tell others about Him.
Frequently Asked Questions
Could you elaborate on what it means to save countless hours by
learning the important stuff first?
As an example, the Strider balance bike is a bike
without pedals
intended for children as young as two years old (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9AhU_s1N8U). The bike’s purpose is to let children focus on what’s important:
balance. If balance and pedal pushing are complected, the process is
slower and more daunting. Then, when children are old enough to use
pedals, they can switch to that very quickly (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRKcLKyOjzU). In the same way, software engineering is much easier if you first
focus on the skills that give the greatest benefit (such skills
include working with complex state, interface IO, systems engineering,
Git, pure functions, how to use a terminal, etc.).
How does the class work?
An hour lecture will be given each week on Zoom. Then, I might Zoom
with students throughout the week who need help with various problems
(e.g. having trouble installing a code editor or stuck on a particular
problem in coding). Students can also email me questions throughout
the week via email. Classes are oriented around months; a theme will
be taught for a month, and then a new theme will be taught the next
month.
How much commitment is there per week?
The one hour Zoom meeting per week is the main commitment, but having
an additional 3-4 hours outside of class is nice to have. In other
words, the level of commitment is up to the student and his parents;
if the Zoom meeting is all they can do, that is okay, but if they have
time outside of class, then they can start putting their knowledge
into practice.
Who’s the class for?
The class is primarily for
homeschoolers and homeschool graduates ages 16-20, but anyone (within
reason) can join as long as they are respectful to the other students.
Is the class for complete beginners or seasoned programmers?
All the above! My style of teaching seeks to meet and challenge each
person at their current level of skill.
Are parents of students allowed to attend the Zoom meetings with
their children?
Absolutely!
Do I get a discount for referring a friend?
Yes! You and your friend each get a $10 discount for the first month
your friend pays for class. So, in a month, if you get 3 friends to
sign up, you get a $30 discount that month!
Will ChatGPT replace software engineers?
Simply put, ChatGPT is unimpressive when it comes to coding, so the
answer is no. ChatGPT writes verbose code that is sometimes incorrect,
and I’ve never seen it produce code that’s better than what someone
could already search for on Google.