No strings attached: Learn programming via this 24-year-old's foundation at zero cost. Beat that!

EdTech, EdTech, everywhere, which one do we choose?

If this is your woe, trust us when we say it's the woe of many others, especially after the pandemic. They ask you to sign up, take your email ID and then spam your inbox. Hence, what caught our attention when it comes to The Programming Foundation is not just the fact that it was started by a 24-year-old, but also that one doesn't need to register or download anything — it's a completely open-source platform. You don't even have to share your name. Big plus in the times when a company's privacy policy, thanks to WhatsApp, is the talk of the town, don't you think?

"We are here to democratise Computer Science education. Also, we want to spread awareness about the various programming languages so that the ones who are disadvantaged and hence, left behind, can catch up," says Subhajeet Mukherjee, Founder and President. The foundation was started in Kolkata, but shifted base to Silicon Valley, CA with the founder in February 2020. Very soon they registered themselves as a non-profit and started on their mission after onboarding Theodore Rolle as Secretary and Technical Advisor.

READ ALSO: Google's flagship team programming competition to go virtual due to pandemic

Just visit their website that offers Unix, C and Python. Click on any module and you can learn within the website itself, just start programming right away. Take for example their Unix module — after understanding the Unix structure which is explained to you clearly and concisely in text format, you can start coding instantly. You can even do this on your phone. If you need help, there are several volunteers who have signed up to help the users. "It was these volunteers who learnt programming on our website and built an open-source tool called Reach For Help which connected those who wanted help and those who were ready to give help via a portal. This came to be of huge help during the lockdown," explains the entrepreneur.

Theodore Rolle | (Pic: The Programming Foundation)

Honestly, it's truly as simple as it sounds. An open-source platform where you can code right away, no conditions applied. No personal information is needed, it's all anonymous. Another point to note is that since you don’t have to download an app or watch a video, data consumption is also at an all-time low, making it easier for the underprivileged to learn.

It's this simplicity that has attracted over 25,000 visitors since The Programming Foundation's launch. After completing the module, a 10-question quiz is given to assess where you stand. Talking about their volunteers' programme, Subhajeet says that volunteers are involved in building the platform so that they can gain the experience they will need in the future and lend a virtual helping hand to all those who are learning via the portal. "We realised that programming is taught via drag and drop tools in educational institutions or uses redundant languages like HTML, but it doesn't equip the student enough. Hence, the foundation’s work will continue," he shares. They will very soon introduce new languages too, so do lookout.

Next up, the foundation is aware that what makes laptops a lot more expensive is the processor. So much so that a large laportion of the profits from selling the ptop goes to the company that manufactured its processor. "We want to build an open-source software that will go a long way in decreasing the cost," informs Subhajeet. But, of course, this is their long-term big hairy audacious goal. For now, they are happy to facilitate the learning of programming.

For more on them, check out theprogrammingfoundation.org