Three very similar compressed software development training programs have emerged in the last few months: Code Academy (not to be confused with the startup Codecademy) in Chicago, Dev Bootcamp in the Bay Area, and Hacker School in New York City. All offer a short (two or three month), project-based learning program geared toward acquiring real-world development skills. Hacker School is free and aimed at proficient programmers trying to advance their skills, while Dev Bootcamp and Code Academy are aimed at motivated students in a broad range of skill levels, including beginners. All three involve placement of graduating students at software companies as a revenue source. As the historical model of education continues to come into contact with disruptive technologies, those technologies strike increasingly close to the heart of education’s basic value proposition. Institutions like University of Phoenix leverage the internet to provide students with degrees more flexibly and inexpensively. This means lower profit margins per student for Phoenix, but much greater scalability than the traditional university model. Khan Academy and similar online learning programs ignore the degree/certification aspect. Instead, they aim a level deeper—at the actual provision of knowledge and learning—as the target of their technological optimization.