Flatiron Pre-College Academy

This summer, model Karlie Kloss is sponsoring the Kode with Karlie Scholarship, giving 21 girls across the United States access to Flatiron School’s summer coding classes. Meet Lydia Herbst, the winner from Illinois, who is an aspiring marketer who dreams of traveling to London, England.

Describe yourself in one sentence.

I am a seventeen year old high school student from Illinois who is insightful, resourceful, and responsible.

How did you find out about the Kode with Karlie Scholarship?

When I saw Karlie's post on Instagram, I knew I had to apply for the Kode with Karlie scholarship.

What inspired you to learn to code?

I want to go into marketing; therefore, I have to understand coding on order to understand how technology influences business and marketing.

Why is it important for women your age to learn to code?

When I am heading off to college, applying to grad school, and eventually starting my career, having a background in coding can only be advantageous. This skill of creative and critical thinking will help young women, like myself, embrace the power of technology.

Who is your biggest role model?

I have always admired my Grandma, because though she had a rare lung disease, she always fought to live a full, meaningful life. She was the most selfless and compassionate person I have ever known. One of my favorite memories was the last time I saw her, and taught her how to use her new phone. When I finished teaching her how to use the camera, she said, "OK, Lydia, but where does the film come out?" Up until the very end, she was always trying to learn the newest ways to keep in touch with her grandchildren.

What are you most excited for this summer?

I cannot wait to spend two weeks in New York City with my twin sister while I attend Flatiron School. "It's been waiting for me."

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go

I hope to study abroad for a semester in London, so I can experience London as a student, rather than a tourist.

As you can see, our scholars don’t fit the typical mode of what you might think of as a coder. They’re passionate, athletic and creative. Want to join them this summer? Check out our course catalog to find a class near you!

So you'd like your kid to get a start on coding, but aren't sure where to start? A summer coding class is a stellar way to jumpstart a future in programming. In fact, we outlined five reasons your kid can't miss out on learning code, even if they aren't considering programming as a career. Still have some questions? Read on to learn about how Flatiron School's Pre-College Academy can benefit your teen.

1. Is there any prior coding knowledge required to sign up for classes? Nope! Our goal is to introduce programming to kids, some of whom never thought they would love computers. We invest a lot of time and resources early on to make sure students feel empowered and have the tools they need to gain life-long learning skills.

2. I'm in high school and I know several languages already, such as JavaScript, Python, and Ruby. What should I take at Flatiron? First off, that's very impressive. Although we have some students who start from scratch, we have others who start out at an advanced level as well. Some advanced students take our Intro to Software Engineering summer course because they usually haven't seen Ruby before. At this level of experience, you would benefit from taking our Intro to Software Engineering class, where students building full-scale web apps at the end of two weeks. We also have support for kids who have more experience, with advanced labs that we pull from the adult programs. In very select cases, some students will test out of the Intro class and be placed into our Advanced Software Engineering course.

3. What is a typical day in class like? Summer sessions run from 9 am-3 pm each day, and the students are rarely sitting still. Classes encourage a highly collaborative and highly social environment, and 98% of the time our students are either working in groups or in pairs. They're moving around, sharing whiteboards and screens, learning by doing, and getting hands-on experience. Participation and collaboration are key.

4. How do you determine what technologies to teach? The Flatiron School has a very tight feedback loop from the tech industry through our relationships with leading technology organizations. Our adult immersion teachers and a dedicated jobs placement team are in communication every single day with the hiring managers and CTO's of some of the leading engineering organizations in the world. Companies like Google, Intel, Kickstarter, Etsy, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times are continually giving us a sense of what they need and what they're looking for. Those conversations change the curriculum both for our adults and pre-college programs, so your students are learning the most in-demand methodologies.

5. What’s the best place to start? There are so many different technologies, it’s challenging to pick which is most important to learn. While there are data on the most popular coding languages today, it's most important for students to learn how to learn them, because they are continually changing. We give students exposure to both the front end and back end development experience. Ruby, for example, is in very high demand in the market, is good at teaching foundational concepts and is a back end language that you can connect to the front end with web frameworks. This makes it an ideal foundational language for our students.

There are plenty of classes to dive into this summer! For full course listings and more detailed information, check out our summer course catalogue.

Flatiron School is thrilled to announce a partnership with Black Girls Code to give young women access to a technical education this summer. Flatiron School and Black Girls Code will be offering two scholarships to young women to attend Flatiron School's Introduction to Software Engineering courses in the San Francisco Bay Area .

Coding is a tool for empowerment, and through this scholarship, Black Girls Code and Flatiron School will propel students to become innovators in STEM and leaders in their communities.

Who can apply?

Applicants must be:

Young women aged 13-18

Able to attend an in-person, two-week long course in San Francisco’s SOMA district

Dedicated to improving opportunities for themselves and other women of color through the power of code

How do I apply?

Applications for Summer 2015 are now open. Submit your application online by June 19, 2015 at 12:00PM PDT.

For details on the courses offered by the Flatiron School in San Francisco, visit Flatiron Pre-College Academy

At Flatiron School we encourage our students to think big, and we like to do the same.

It's the Pre-College Academy's first summer going national, and we are happy to announce that classes are beginning today in both Los Angeles and Greenwich, CT! We are thrilled to see what our students will be doing this summer, and we want you to join in on the fun, too. Follow us on Instagram and Snapchat, or check out our blog each week to learn about all the fantastic projects our students are making. Have an awesome picture or inspiring idea to share with us? Don't forget to join our Instagram contest, and tag photos with #learnlovecode to win a weekly prize.

Luckily there's still time to register for summer courses, and with 600 people who have signed up already, you'll be in good company. Dive into an immersive environment, where students will gain a comprehensive understanding of building web applications. Ruby, HTML, CSS, Sinatra—it's all here. Our talented summer teaching fellows emphasize hands-on experience and group collaboration, where students will build a foundation for programming skills in a fast-paced environment.

Learn more about the Pre-College classes available in your city. Still have some questions? Check out five common questions to see if Flatiron Pre-College Academy is a good fit for you or your child.

Identify a problem, then find a way to fix it.

That's what Flatiron pre-college students Pomeroy Mohabir, Alston Chau and James Li did when they noticed the stacks of trash lining New York City streets. Along with two other friends, they walked away as winners of the Microsoft Pro Surface Prize at the second annual "Dream It, Code It, Win It" contest. Their idea put into action? Connecting people with innovative ideas for repurposing trash.

Created as both a website and a mobile app, LifeCycle guides users to Pinterest to repurpose items that would have otherwise been tossed in the trash. Whereas similar apps focus on simply bringing items to a recycling center, this one puts emphasis on reusing them in a creative way. From duct-taped kiddie houses to bottle turned zipper pouch, users are able to browse through creative ideas for repurposing glass, cardboard, and plastic. Even better, they can access the ideas on the run, without internet access. With 70 million users on Pinterest and a dynamic page to boot, the content won't get stale, either.

Source: Mariposa Avenue. Leftover tin cans to build a lamp are just one of many ways LifeCycle connects its users to creative re-purposing projects.

These students aren't done yet, however. They're looking to add more to the project, such as a search bar, ratings, likes, and maybe even personal accounts. With a long list of other finalists, competitions like this show that learning to code isn't just to benefit the future of young students. It's also to benefit the world at large.

If you're looking to be the change you wish to see through coding, consider checking out Flatiron School's Pre-College courses coming up this Summer 2015!

It’s probably a question that has crossed your mind at least once: Why should my kid learn to code? From positive social change to acquiring lifelong skills, Director of Flatiron Pre-College Lyel Resner hosted a webinar to outline the benefits, which you can view here. Here are some of the top reasons your kids should be learning to code.

1. They will learn the language of transformational change

Take a moment to consider this fact: Of all the data produced in human history, 90% of it has been created in the last two years. So, what does this mean for your children’s future? Regardless of what type of career they land, tech has been woven into the fabric of every single industry — and it will only continue to become more integral with time. Whether your child wants to be a journalist, financial officer, fashion designer, or ER doctor, learning code will help them advance in ways they have yet to imagine.

2. It helps them to advance causes they care about

Even if your kid doesn’t want to become a computer scientist, gaining coding literacy will open myriad possibilities to act on their ideas. Learning to code is more than just sitting behind a screen and punching at a keyboard — in fact, movements for positive social change are one of the infinite uses of the medium. Consider Code for Good a scholarship competition at Flatiron School where teens innovated technology for everything from archiving Native American languages to detecting diseases in their early stages. When kids learn to code, they have the ability to leverage their newfound knowledge for change. And that means making the world a better place.

3. It explodes their sense of possibility

And we mean TNT, mind-blowing, explosion of possibility. Code is as much a mode of expression as oil on canvas or a pick on a guitar. It’s a medium that will tap into wells of creativity and analytical skills previously unknown to your child. Students feel empowered by the ability to build something of significance, and it gives them a different understanding of what exactly they’re capable of.

As Maya, a graduate of Flatiron School’s summer academy put it, “It is because of the course I took at Flatiron this past summer that I am now currently working toward a Computer Science Major at Pomona College. Flatiron showed me that being a developer lets me exercise both my creativity and coding skills, which is something I want to be doing for the rest of my life.”

Do you hear those fireworks? That’s your child’s mind expanding in a million colorful different directions.

4. They will learn to learn

If the proliferation of smartphones in the past few years has proven anything, it’s that technology does not stand still. As things continue to quickly evolve, one of the most necessary life skills to thrive in the 21st century is learning how to learn. As your kid learns how to code, they will learn how to be comfortable with uncertainty. They will learn how to be comfortable with failure. They will learn how to follow the bread crumbs to a solution. Most importantly, they will learn how to learn. That is an invaluable life skill that your kid will carry with them for life.

5. They’ll make lifelong friends and build a strong sense of community

Instructors at Flatiron School give high school students adult material because they know setting the bar high means they will rise to the occasion. It also means they are more likely to forge strong bonds with their peers as they work collaboratively to problem solve. Joining forces with a diverse group of people will help your child develop a heightened level of empathy — and that translates into deeper connections and better ideas. Students who are exposed to fellow dreamers leave with friends for life, and maybe someone to bounce their coding ideas off of as well.

Download our free ebook to find out more about how learning to code will benefit your child.

When you're learning software programming, having a place to practice your new skills is important. Your classrooms likely have computers configured with all the right programming languages and software.

When you're home, however, you probably have to set up your computer. It can get complicated really fast. You need to find out if the language you're learning is installed on your computer. If it is not, you need to figure out how to install the language and any additional software. If you want to build web applications, you'll also need to set up a web server and possibly databases on your computer.

Instead of wading into all this technical complexity, there is one unusual option to try: Koding.com. This service includes all the tools you might need to program in almost any language, taking away all the pains of setting up what we call a development environment. Plus, if you decide to build a software application, the service lets you add databases and share your project with others. They also make it easy to find an online community of other programmers where you can ask and answer questions.

It's also possible to share your code in real time to do pair programming with another person, which is a great way to learn and reinforce what you learn.

Koding is a cloud based development platform you access with your web browser. Instead of installing and configuring your software development on your computer and possiblly other computers, your environment is set up in minutes.

Here's what the main screen looks like:

Koding provides you with a free Amazon Web Services (AWS) virtual machine with an Ubuntu operating system and a number of languages built in, coding tools, root access, and the ability to work on projects with other people. The virtual machine includes a gigabyte of RAM, access to eight processors, and a subdomain.

Languages include Ruby, Go, Node.js, Python, PHP, Java, C, C++, Perl, and more. If you need a database, Koding provides the ability to click to start a MySQL, MongoDB, or Postgres server. If you're a real coder, you can set up with emacs or vim to edit files.

Koding also is more powerful and safer than running localhost or a virtual machine on your computer. For example, if you break system files, reinitializing your virtual machine leaves your home folder files intact as it rebuilds your system files.

For beginning programmers, Koding provides a powerful work environment with no real setup hassles. You can easily create a "Hello World!" file in your home directory, for example, view the result in your terminal or web browser pointed to your unique subdomain, then try more complicated code, view it in your browser, then tweak your code or move on to the next code you want to try.

Koding also provides tutorials for their integrated development environment (IDE) and terminal. You also can find online tutorials at TutsPlus, Koding's YouTube channel, and elsewhere. If you use Google OS, there's also a Google Chrome app which creates a link to make it easy to find Koding.

Aside from making your life easier by providing a place where you can practice coding outside the classroom, with no technical setup, perhaps the neatest part of the service are the sharing tools. You can share projects. You can share your editor. And you can find other programmers in an online community where you can ask and answer questions. Koding might be a great solution for keeping up your skills while you take classes and afterwards.

Want to get started coding? Learn more about Flatiron's Summer Coding Classes for High School Students. Courses are available in New York City, Austin, Texas, Boston, Chicago, Greenwich, Connecticut, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Two weeks ago, Karlie Kloss announced the Kode with Karlie Scholars, 21 girls across the United States who will be taking Flatiron School’s coding classes this summer — and then taking on the world. Mari Paine, the winner from Philadelphia, is a history fan and an accomplished photographer (check out her photos from her trip to Germany). Mari's vision for documenting collaboative history on the web is sure to be a hit in her coding class this summer. Read on to see why Mari is obsessed with making the web more accessible and engaging and why she's been binge-watching Elon Musk interviews while studying abroad in Europe.

Tell us who you are in one sentence.

Let’s just put it this way: when I first read this question my first thought was, “Ack, no one can be summed up in just one sentence,” followed by “Wait, didn’t William Faulker write a 1,200 word sentence in Absalom, Absalom! … maybe I could pull off something like that,” followed by “Ha!  Are you aware of how much homework you need to do???" — and I feel like this sums up who I am and what my life is like pretty well.

How did you find out about the Kode with Karlie Scholarship?

Pretty sure it was a .gif set on Tumblr, although it may have been on another website I check regularly.  I saw it featured in so many places, it's hard to remember where I saw it first!

What inspired you to learn to code?

I kept on encountering websites with amazing content but horrible layout and organization systems.  I had all these ideas as to how you could make them better and the information more accessible … recently this turned into me dreaming up my own websites that offered services that I would like to have or use but don’t yet exist.  

Why is it so important for women your age to learn to code?

For the same reasons why it’s important that women learn and do a slew of other things, like become engineers, politicians, businesspeople, scientists, mathematicians, doctors, philosophers, etc.: all of these stations have been historically dominated by men who have—intentionally or unintentionally—shut women out.  Now we’re making up for lost ground and finally starting to fill the seats in these realms.  Coding is no different, it’s just a newer profession—and by encouraging young girls to develop their interests and talents in it sooner rather than later, we help to break up the homogeneity of the boys only club by bringing new and innovative voices to contribute.  

Who is your biggest role model?

Haha, I know the correct answer is “my parents” but besides them my current figure of inspiration is Elon Musk.  I recently went on an Elon Musk interview binge and really admire his humility and dedication to doing ambitious things with the ultimate goal of helping humanity, not to make money.

What are you most excited for this summer?

Well I’ve actually been an exchange student in Europe for the entirety of the ’14-’15 school year, so I’m looking forward to coming back to the US and seeing my friends and family again, plus being able to drive my car (which I haven't done for almost 10 months, so that could mean a couple of refresher lessons with mom first) and reading a bunch of books that I bought before I left and had to leave behind.  And, you know, this awesome coding class I'll be taking ...

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Machu Picchu in Peru.  I’d also really like to visit Trinity College Library in Dublin.

As you can see, our scholars don’t fit the typical mode of what you might think of as a coder. They’re passionate, athletic and creative. Want to join them this summer? Check out our course catalog to find a class near you!

Karlie Kloss recently announced the [Kode with Karlie Scholars](http://go.flatironschool.com/kode-with-karlie-winners), 21 girls across the United States who will be taking Flatiron School’s coding classes this summer — and then taking on the world. Isabella Fons, the winner in Austin Texas who describes herself as a “running-obsessed, video making vegan from Texas." Isabella wowed us with her Vegan recipies from her Instagram and [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe8kvP7WxIlxwXRU2pCU04A). See where she'd love to travel and why girls make the internet awesome.

**How did you find out about the Kode with Karlie Scholarship?** I found out about the Kode with Karlie Scholarship from Karlie's Instagram, at school, in the bathroom.  **What inspired you to learn to code?** To be honest, I signed up for the AP Computer Science class at my school because it was the only 5 point elective for freshman and I wanted to get the extra GPA points, but I actually ended up loving the course! **Why is it so important for women your age to learn to code?** If you think about it, girl teenagers make up most of the internet - whether it be Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, etc. If girl teenagers actually learned how to code the technology they used, and used their skills to create new platforms, I think the internet would be a lot cooler than it already is. **Who is your biggest role model?** My biggest role model, besides my parents, would be pro runner and movie producer/writer/actor Alexi Pappas. Not only is she crazy fast, but she also graduated from an ivy league school, is producing a running-themed feature film, and is gearing up for the 2016 Olympics. She also posts awesome, clever tweets!  **What are you most excited for this summer** I am very excited to attend the Flatiron School's Intro to Software Engineering class this summer! However, I am also looking forward to being able to dedicate myself to training for my upcoming cross country season, making new videos for my Youtube channel, getting my driver's permit, and just relaxing and spending time with my friends without the stress of school. **If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?** I would love to go to Thailand and ride elephants!  

What is your dream job?

If I could have any job, without money being a factor, I would probably own my own running store or vegan bakery in a hip town like Austin or Portland!

As you can see, our scholars don’t fit the typical mode of what you might think of as a coder. They’re passionate, athletic and creative. Want to join them this summer? Check out our course catalog to find a class near you!

Two weeks ago, Karlie Kloss announced the Kode with Karlie Scholars, 21 girls across the United States who will be taking Flatiron School’s coding classes this summer — and then taking on the world. Our first Scholar Profile is with Amanda Southworth, who describes herself as a “Ukulele playing, figure skating, Doctor Who Watching, photo taking, coder,” from Southern California. Amanda wowed Karlie by writing a song about why she loves coding and singing it on her Ukulele. See how she got started coding and what she’d do on her first trip to Mars!

How did you find out about the Kode with Karlie Scholarship?

I saw an article on Buzzfeed about coding, and I've been coding for a while, so I automatically clicked on it. I saw it, and it was the Karlie Kloss, coding! I'm like, I know who Karlie Kloss is, I should enter! I did the exact same day.  

What inspired you to learn to code?

When I was in 6th grade, I was in the "wheel", which is where you go to a different elective every quarter. I started with Robots, and fell in love with Robot C. Pretty soon I had a passion to do more, and that led to C, and then HTML, and I have no idea where it will take me next, but wherever it is, I'm excited.

Why is it so important for women your age to learn to code?

When I went into Advanced Robotics in my school, I was one of the two girls there. I remember thinking, where are all the girls? I loved it, and as time came on, more girls came in, but not enough. It's still 7 girls with 27 guys, and I hope by doing this, more girls in my school will see how awesome it is to code, and go into robotics. 

Who is your biggest role model?

My biggest role models are probably my parents. My mom does so much to support me in coding and figure skating, and my dad stays by my side, and helps me through every bump in the road. 

What are you most excited for this summer?

I'm most excited for the coding class! I can't wait! 

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

If I could go anywhere, I'd go to Hawaii. Land of ukuleles, and beaches. Best. Place. Ever. 

If you were selected to be in program to go to mars, and live there, would you?

For me, YES. It would be super cool to be there and see what it is like. If I did go to mars, I'd bring a trampoline, so every time I'd bounce, I'd stay in the air for 30 seconds, and I'd do that all day.

As you can see, our scholars don’t fit the typical mode of what you might think of as a coder. They’re passionate, athletic and creative. Want to join them this summer? Check out our course catalog to find a class near you!

This is a guest post by Reuben Ogbonna, one of Flatiron School's Summer Teaching Fellows in New York City. You can follow his experience teaching Math and Computer Science on his blog

In 2012, tech blogger and entrepreneur Jeff Atwood spoke out against the increasing number of Americans taking an interest in computer programming. He authored a post entitled, “Please Don’t Learn to Code” in which he lists a number of reasons why more code-literate Americans do not make for a better workforce or society. Of the many logical flaws present in his article, the one that stands out the most is his argument that the “’everyone should learn to code’ movement… puts the method before the problem.” He argues that before a person learns to code, he should first determine the problem he wishes to solve with code. While this argument may hold true for some, we should be thankful that schools do not operate under this philosophy. According to this logic, we would allow students to choose which books they would like to read before we ever taught them how. In Atwood’s world, students would have to commit to a pre-medical career track before they were allowed to take courses in biology and chemistry.

These examples are laughable for the exact same reasons Atwood’s argument is: we teach students essential life skills BEFORE they encounter critical problems so that they are equipped to handle them when they do arise. Moreover, it is during the learning process that we actually discover many of the problems that we might, one day, work to solve. If a student waited until he developed a passion for aeronautics in college to begin learning foundational math, the daunting task of learning algebra, trigonometry, calculus, etc. would undoubtedly discourage that student from ever pursuing it as a career. Moreover, if a student never took the time to engage with higher level mathematics, he likely would never have an opportunity to develop such a passion to begin with. In the same vein, it was David Karp’s study of HTML at age 11 that eventually led him down the path to creating Tumblr and becoming the multimillionaire tech entrepreneur that he is today. If he waited until he stumbled upon the idea to begin learning to code, then the site, as we know it, would likely not exist.

I am an 8th grade math teacher at an all-boys school in Brooklyn, NY. I chose this path because I wanted to empower young men of color to become world leaders and problem solvers. Although only teenagers, my boys have brilliant ideas that I believe could transform their communities. In addition to mathematics, literacy, and leadership development, code literacy could be the lever that helps to bring these ideas into fruition. Thus, in addition to my numerous responsibilities as a teacher, I am learning to code (and to teach code) through the Flatiron School Computer Science Education Fellowship so that I may better equip my young boys to be change agents for their communities and for the world.

Want to see how you can use your skills to code? Join the Flatiron School's Pre-College Academy this summer.

There are lots of ways to use your computer to goof around--besides surfing Facebook, of courses. There are some fun hacks to show your parents how much you know about computers and others are clever ways to amuse friends.

You will need command line interface (CLI) software, a tool software developers use to control computers by typing commands. These tools are also called console emulators or terminal software.

Apple computers include an application called Terminal that gives you access to the command line. You can find it in the Applications > Utilities folder. For Apple computers, you also should install Homebrew with Terminal to make installing software packages easy with a command line tool. Linux includes xterm and gnome-terminal.

If you're ready with your terminal software up and running, here are 3 fun things to do with your computer.

1 Let's begin by installing fortune. It's simple to install. With your terminal software open, install fortune with these commands. For Apple computers, using Homebrew, type:

brew install fortune

For Debian version of Linux like Ubuntu type:

sudo apt-get fortune

For Red Hat, Amazon Linux, CentOS, and similar versions of Linux, type:

sudo yum fortune

When fortune is installed, get your fortune by typing this command:

fortune

You'll see something amazing like this:

Isn't that the truth?

2 cowsay is a small program that runs on any computer. With your terminal software open, install cowsay with these commands. For Apple, using Homebrew, type:

brew install cowsay

For Debian version of Linux like Ubuntu type:

sudo apt-get cowsay

For Red Hat, Amazon Linux, CentOS, and similar versions of Linux, type:

sudo yum cowsay

When cowsay is installed, make your cow say fun stuff like this:

cowsay I love cows!

Your terminal software will display something like this:

2.5 Since we all know cows love fortune-telling, how about mashing the two? Type this command:

fortune | cowsay

That's a | (pipe) character, usually found on the far right side of your keyboard, sharing space with the \ (backslash) character. The pipe character tells your computer to output (pipe) the results of your fortune command to cowsay. And, of course, your cow is more than happy to spout wisdom like this:

3.5 The next fun thing to try is called sl. With your terminal software open, install sl with these commands. For Apple, using Homebrew, type:

brew install sl

For Debian version of Linux like Ubuntu type:

sudo apt-get sl

For Red Hat, Amazon Linux, CentOS, and similar versions of Linux, type:

sudo yum sl

Now type this command to start sl:

sl

It's that easy. I won't spoil the surprise by showing you what you'll see in your terminal software. The animation will return you to your terminal.

Bonus fun: type this command in your terminal prompt:

rev

Now type anything you want and press enter. What you type will be reversed. To escape, type the Ctrl and C keys at the same time.

More bonus fun: With your terminal software open, install cmatrix with these commands. For Apple, using Homebrew, type:

brew install cmatrix

For Debian version of Linux like Ubuntu type:

sudo apt-get cmatrix

For Red Hat, Amazon Linux, CentOS, and similar versions of Linux, type:

sudo yum cmatrix

Now type this command:

cmatrix

It's the falling code effect from The Matrix. To escape, type the Ctrl and C keys at the same time.

Want to see how you can use your creative skills to Hack? Join the Flatiron School's Pre-College Academy this summer.

In April we announced the Kode with Karlie Scholarship which offers free tuition to Flation School’s Pre-College academy to girls around the United States. Karlie Kloss, model, entrepreneur and founder of the Kode with Karlie Scholarship, was overwhelmed with the responses from young women who want to use their programming skills to change their communities and transform their world.

We received over 600 video submissions from young women around the world and were truly inspired by the girls thoughtfulness, creativity, persistence and drive to help the world through programming. We awarded the Kode with Karlie Scholarship to 21 future women leaders. You can watch their winning entries and learn more about the winners at the Kode with Karlie Winners page.

If you would like to join the winners this summer in our summer courses, you can view all of our open seats here (http://precollege.flatironschool.com)

Congratulations to all the winners!

Emily Yu, Chester PA Beatrix Jones, Studio City, LA Chelsea Abidin, Sebastian, FL Erin McClusky, Mooresville, NC Gretchen Hubbard, Austin, TX Ayushi Sangoi, Metuchin, NJ Amanda Southworth, Palm Desert, CA Leilani Jones, Atlanta, GA Mari Paine, Quarryville, PA Juvaria, Shahid, Comack, NY Cindy Zhou, New York, NY Patricia Edou, Oak Ridge, TN Michelle Doan, Lawrenceville, GA Isabella Fons, Katy, TX Thea McKenna, Plantation, FL Jewell Brown, Freeport, NY Louisa Bay, Providence, RI Sowmya Patapati, Mahwah, NJ Lydia Herbst, Woodstock, IL Hannah Breall, Sonoma, CA Briana Bazan, Austin, TX

Want to join the winners this summer? Request a catalogue to see our summer courses.

“What is a hack? It’s knowing a technology so well, that you can manipulate it and steer it to do things it was never intended to do. What hackers do is very similar to [the skateboarder’s] creative process. Connecting disparate information and they bring it together in a way that people don’t expect. It’s the heart of engineering, the heart of a creative community. An innovative community. And the open source community -- the basic ethos of it -- is take what other people do, make it better and give it back so we all rise further.” Rodney Mullen

Love Skateboarding? You might like Hacking!

If you’re a skateboarder, you’ve probably heard of Rodney Mullen, who many consider to be the Godfather of street skating. Mullen is credited as the creator of a number of skateboarding tricks, including the flatground ollie, a key trick in street skateboarding.

And Rodney Mullen believes Skateboarders are Hackers.

But why?

If you’re a skateboarder, you probably know why! Skateboarding is a creative sport and experts invent new tricks by combining and refining old moves. These are all exhibited in skating competitions, in skate movies and on the street, where skaters take those stunts, practice them and then use those to create new tricks and inspire their friends.

Yes, skateboarders are creatives! They’re alternative athletes engaged in a street sport. Some of the most influential people in skateboarding are not those who won the most trophies but those who helped shape the sport by inventing new moves and creating new ways to challenge others on the board.

And they’re just like “Hackers”, or the term we now use for coders. Hackers, are coders who try to discover new ways of solving problems, or “hacks”, so they can make a difference, for example like how to figure out if a girl in your class is single (Facebook), or how to send an ephemeral photo to your best friend (Snapchat). Hackers develop creative solutions to solving problems, just in the way skaters invent new moves to overcome obstacles in public spaces.

Hacking gives you a new way to overcome obstacles and solve new problems. Just in the same way Skateboarders can “hack” existing moves and concepts in skateboarding, you too can learn to “hack” concepts in computer science, using your creativity to solve problems.

Want to see how you can use your creative skills to Hack? Join the Flatiron School's Pre-College Academy this summer.

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If you are a creature of habit, you know what an algorithm is even if you don't know. Do you drop your backpack inside the front door, for example, or in your room, in the same place when you come in from school every day? That's an algorithm.

Your backpack drop algorithm could look something like this:

Walk up to front door

Open front door

Walk inside to your room

Drop your backpack on the floor

If your mom or dad yell at you to pick up your backpack off the floor every day, they could be part of your algorithm, too, and not know it.

Of course, your backpack drop algorithm is a little different from the definition of algorithm in computer science. But the essential details are the same. An algorithm is a set of unambiguous crystal clear tasks performed in a specific order.

In computer science, however, an algorithm are used to solve computation problems. How and where you drop your backpack every day has little to do with math or solving a problem beyond how to get rid of your backpack after school.

Algorithms are everywhere in computing and computer science. Starting up your computer is an algorithm that involves a power switch which triggers a low level operating system to start your computer hardware which triggers your operating system to start. If you use Facebook or Snapchat, what you see on screen also is determined by an algorithm.

Algorithms that drive online communities like Facebook and Twitter are the most invisible but interesting algorithms. What do you think are possible inputs used by these algorithms? These are some of the inputs that might make up an algorithm that decides what information to display to you:

How many friends you share your posts with

What your friends have shared in the past 10 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day

All of your “Likes” and “Favorites”

All the “Likes” and “Favorites” you share in common with your friends

What has happened in the world in the past 10 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day

What other people who are not your friends are looking at and “Liking”

Imagine you have 20 friends and 15 of them have liked a video. The algorithm might decide you should see this video because, if so many of your friends like the video, chances are you will like it, too. The algorithm might say, "If more than 10 of your friends like content, then show all your friends the content."

One of the coolest parts of social algorithms, like the one that runs Facebook’s news feed, is what they hide from you. If Facebook’s news feed did not have an algorithm to “hide” certain posts from you based on your preferences, you would be able to see everything and decide what to read. However, there are not enough hours in the day. The algorithm is designed to make a best guess on what you want to see, making it easier for you to read the stuff you like.

Now imagine if the algorithm was designed to show you only what someone else wants you to see. That might be called propaganda, or a kind of mind control. Unless you know the algorithm, or someone has confirmed the algorithm is as open as possible, online community algorithms risk closing off possibilities to see, read, think about, and share information. It definitely is not a problem when people share cat videos. But it might be an issue with seeing news about your local community or discussing a problem in your community with friends and neighbors.

There also are algorithms that are closer to human activity. For example, imagine the algorithms that run the giant robots that build cars. Their algorithm involves telling their parts what to do and in what order, for example, open and close a hand, lift or drop a hand, move a hand to the right or left, up or down. And robot algorithms also might use sensors to determine what to do based on temperature, their location, and other factors.

In computer science, some common algorithms involve sorting data efficiently. For example, how might a computer turn 8 3 4 9 1 2 into 1 2 3 4 8 9? One way is to use a bubble sort to evaluate each pair of numbers in order. Of course, bubble sorts work best with Hungarian folk dancing, as you can see in this video

This summer, Flatiron School is thrilled to be partnering with Google to bring high-quality tech education to high school students through Google’s Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI). CSSI is a three-week introduction to computer science for graduating high school seniors with a passion for technology. It’s an intensive, interactive, hands-on and fun program that seeks to inspire the tech leaders and innovators of tomorrow by supporting the study of computer science, software engineering and other closely related subjects.

This partnership brings together Flatiron School’s instructors and Google’s Engineers to deliver coursework based on real-world software engineering tools. Throughout the course, students will get an inside look at some of Google’s emerging technologies and design and develop their very own applications with fellow participants to showcase to Googlers in local offices.

Throughout the course, students will get an inside look at some of Google’s emerging technologies and design and develop their very own applications with fellow participants to showcase to Googlers in local offices.

“By leveraging the innovative teaching methods and learning platforms developed at Flatiron School, combined with the technical experience and culture of Google’s engineering teams, students will have the benefit of professional teaching and real-world expertise - a hugely valuable kind of technical education for young adults” said Flatiron School co-founder and CEO Adam Enbar.

Throughout the CSSI program, students will interact with educational materials Google and Flatiron School have developed in partnership, and use Flatiron School’s proprietary learning management system, which allows students to learn computer science fundamentals using the same tools in use by technology companies around the world like Git, Bash and Python.

“High school students are smart, passionate and motivated. When we respect their intelligence, and challenge them to learn the theory and practice of programming using the same tools that engineers around the world use, they not only rise to the occasion, they embrace technology in a fundamentally creative and powerful way.” said Flatiron School Co-founder and Dean, Avi Flombaum.

The program will take place in Google offices in Cambridge, Chicago, Mountain View, Seattle and New York City, and we’re excited to see the projects the students build and the relationships they forge through their time at Google.

What do you do after learning to code at Flatiron School? Naturally, you become an international superstar and share your knowledge with the world! This past April, three of Flatiron School's pre-college graduates Caroline Clancy, Malachi Pyram and Ghulam Abbas presented their drone projects at Railsconf in Atlanta. Railsconf is the largest gathering of Ruby on Rails Developers in the world, so getting a chance to speak at the Keynote address in front of over 1500 Rails Developers is a big feat. Learn more about their summer at Flatiron and see their Drones take off! (scroll to 8:25:10 to watch the magic!)