Stanford| Code in Place
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A free, intro-coding course from Stanford University with thousands of teachers
Class starts April 21st, 2025
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Learn content from Stanford's flagship course CS106A, online for free, with the support from thousands of teachers.

Who? Learners, with no programming experience, and time to dedicate to learning.
Where? Anywhere with internet.
What? Learn the first half of Stanford's intro to Python course, CS106A.
When? Class starts 21st April 2025. Student applications due 9th April 2025.
Certification? Yes. Build a sharable portfolio of your code, hosted by Stanford.
How much work? At least 7 hours each week for 6 weeks. Set your own schedule.

CS106A is one of the most popular courses at Stanford University, taken by almost 1,600 students every year. It has been developed over the last 30 years by an amazing team, including Nick Parlante, Eric Roberts and more. The course teaches the fundamentals of computer programming using the widely-used Python programming language. This course is for everyone from humanists, social scientists, to hardcore engineers.

What makes Code in Place special? We recruit and train one volunteer teacher for every 10 students in order to create a vibrant community of teaching and learning. We believe that the magnitude of people who want to teach computer science is large and may be roughly proportional to the magnitude of people who want to learn. Why? Teaching is joyful and teaching is the best way to learn both content and team leading skills. We do hope this course inspires more human-centered learning for all. Here are the main course components:

Exciting Assignments

The ultimate joy of programming is to build things that you are proud of. Build neat projects, from scratch and get creative. Publish your work and share.

Stanford Lecture Videos

A laptop on a picnic table with three users, the three instructors of code in place, on a video call.
Learn the skills and techniques necessary to become an amazing coder from our Stanford professors Mehran Sahami and Chris Piech.

A Big Community

Screenshot of a social platform interface with a post by someone announcing a part-time job as a coding instructor. The post is in the 'General' section, has a love reaction, and several views. There are congratulatory comments below the post.Join with folks who are trying to learn to program, at the same time as you. Ask questions to our section leaders. Help each other grow.

Section Every Week

A screenshot of seven smiling people on a video call during a Code in Place section meeting.Meet weekly with 10 students for a more personalized learning experience. Sections are lead by our team of section leaders from around the world.

Syllabus

In Code in Place you will learn the fundamentals of Python programming including: control flow, loops and conditionals, console programs with variables, graphics, lists and dictionaries.

Week #
Topic
You Build
Unit
Week 1Control Flow with KarelWelcome KarelKarel
Week 2The Art of CodingPuzzle KarelKarel
Week 3Console ProgramsSandcastlesConsole
Week 4Understanding VariablesKhansole AcademyConsole
Week 5GraphicsRandom ArtGraphics
Week 6Lists + DictionariesWorld's Hardest GameGraphics
Beyond Code in PlaceContinue LearningFinal ProjectCreativity

Past Offerings

We have hosted Code in Place four times, in 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024. It was an inspiring experience. Tens of thousands students have been introduced to the wonderful world of programming in Python. Many new teachers had their first experience in front of students. Friendships were made across countries.

It was perhaps the single course with the largest number of teachers ever. Across four offerings we had over:

4,000 section leaders teach

40,000 students

1:10 student to section leader ratio

Learn CS106A Material

Students and section leaders came from around the world, and represented a broad distribution of backgrounds. Everyone is welcome is one of our mottos.

A global map of students from Code in Place 2020, the first of two offerings.

Map of students from Code in Place 2020, the first of two offerings. The course had 10,000 students in the first offering and 12,000 in the second.

Would you recommend the course to a friend? In the first two offerings of Code in Place, 99.5% of students said they would. Students were asked: "On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend Code in Place to a friend who wants to program", the average recommender strength was 9.7.

What did you like about Code in Place?
Organization forum, small and concise lectures, the community, and you guys. Your teaching was amazing!
Student in Code in Place
What would you say to someone thinking of taking the course?
Coding might seem like a scary hurdle but all things good for you usually scare you a bit. Once you started to understand all the things that you can use coding for (little or big) you will feel that with time you can achieve so much. It is EXTREMELY rewarding see your work become something that is very much your own. Almost artistic in a way.
Student in Code in Place
Cookies baked by one of the Code in Place students.

Cookies baked by one of the Code in Place students. The special ingredient of Code in Place was our community of students and teachers.

Who Can Teach?

Code in Place Section Leaders come from a wide range of backgrounds. We have had:

  • Retired teachers
  • Programmers in industry
  • University students studying computer science
  • and even past Code in Place students who have continued their learning
We have learned that folks from all contexts can be exceptional educators. The prerequisite is that you know the first half of CS106A (Python up through lists and dictionaries). If you are accepted we will train you on the art of computer science education. You need to have at least 2 hours each week over the 6 week period.

Frequently Asked Questions

It is fun and you will learn a new way of thinking! Coding is perhaps the closest thing we have in this world to magic -- you get to use the power of computers to make your imagination come to life. What a great joy and useful skill.

Yes.

You are part of the group of students following along the course as it progresses. Following along means you get to join in on live conversations, ask questions about lecture and section.

Yes! Unless you already know how to code. We have taught similar material all around the world, to people of all backgrounds.

It seems like the right thing to do. We also love to teach.

Code in Place did start in response to the pandemic. It was a community service built to give high quality education to the world for free. Through the journey, we fell in love with teaching with people from around the world and to such wonderful students. So, we are going to keep going.

We are seriously into disability accommodations. Please join! Do let us know if you can't access the learning experiences.

There are none! Well actually, you need to be able to turn on a computer. Or, honestly you probably only need to be able to recognize if a computer is on. It is helpful if you already know some basic arithmetic, e.g. what is multiplication?

The primary content is in English, and sections will be in English too. But there have been students in our course with a wide range of English background, from beginners to native speakers. We are very into internationalization and in the future hope to make Code in Place work in any language.

No. The main difference is that we are not massive, and our space is limited by availibility. Code in Place is a relatively different experience, involving live interactive teaching in small groups.

Our students are all over the world, so there's always someone learning in Code in Place. We'll have sections running at all hours between Wednesday and Friday, and you can sign up for whichever time best suits your schedule.

In the News

Forbes.comStanford To Again Offer Its Groundbreaking Online Code In Place CourseMarch 20, 2024
Stanford NewsFamous Coding Course Free OnlineMarch 22, 2021
Stanford DailyCode in Place makes CS accessible to thousands worldwideJune 8, 2020
Wired TechSupportChris Answers Coding Questions From TwitterOct 4, 2022
Scientific American10,000 Students from 120 Countries Embrace the Joy of CodingMarch 14, 2021
Scientific AmericanHelp Profs Teach Stanford's Popular Intro to Coding CourseMarch 31, 2020
New York TimesCan A.I. Grade Your Next Test?July 20, 2021
School's In PodcastMaking a large class feel smallSept 14, 2021
SIGCSEOnline Section Leading for Scalable Human-Centered LearningFeb 13, 2021
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