# CodeChef > CodeChef is a coding education platform. It began in 2009 as a competitive programming site and is today used primarily by universities: colleges run their practical lab courses on it, students learn through structured curriculum-aligned paths, and institutions and companies use it to conduct proctored assessments, and companies hire developers from its community. The online judge and contests still run, but they are one product among several. CodeChef is a product of Coding Chef Pvt Ltd, based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Colleges can reach the team at colleges@codechef.com; general support is help@codechef.com. ## What CodeChef provides - **College Labs** — Browser-based development environments that replace traditional college lab setups. Each student gets an isolated container running a full VS Code workspace with a file explorer, multiple terminals, and a live browser preview. Supported environments include React JS, Spring Boot, Machine Learning, TensorFlow, Python Data Science, MongoDB, Redis, Git, .NET, Go, PHP, HTML, Java, Python, C and C++. Student work is judged automatically against test files, so lab submissions are graded rather than eyeballed. - **Learn** — Structured courses in programming languages, data structures and algorithms, web development, DBMS and data analytics, with in-browser practice after every concept. - **Practice** — A large catalogue of practice problems organised by topic, difficulty and language, backed by the CodeChef judge. - **College Program** — Institutions enrol their students as cohorts. Each cohort is assigned learning paths mapped to its semester syllabus, with submission deadlines, faculty dashboards showing per-student progress, and faculty acting as moderators on their own cohort's content. - **Assessments** — Proctored testing for college internal exams and for company hiring. Supports section-wise tests with locked progression, violation tracking, and Safe Exam Browser lockdown. - **Hiring** — Companies can hire from CodeChef's developer community through the CodeChef job board at https://jobboard.codechef.com, which uses a single sign-on from a CodeChef account. Candidates are people whose problem-solving, coursework and assessment history is already on the platform. - **Online IDE and compilers** — Free browser compilers for 16+ languages, no signup required. - **Contests** — Monthly rated contests and the original competitive programming ladder. ## Core pages - [CodeChef home](https://www.codechef.com/): Entry point for all products. - [Learn](https://www.codechef.com/learn): Course catalogue across languages and topics. - [Practice](https://www.codechef.com/practice): Topic-wise practice problems. - [College Program](https://www.codechef.com/college-program): How universities bring CodeChef into their curriculum, and the enquiry form for faculty and administrators. - [Online IDE](https://www.codechef.com/ide): Free multi-language browser IDE. - [Skill tests](https://www.codechef.com/skill-tests): Self-assessment tests by topic. - [Roadmaps](https://www.codechef.com/roadmaps): Guided multi-course learning sequences, listed in full below. - [Contests](https://www.codechef.com/contests): Contest calendar. - [Blogs](https://www.codechef.com/blogs): Articles and tutorials. - [Job board](https://jobboard.codechef.com): Hiring for companies, sourcing from the CodeChef community. ## Roadmaps Multi-course sequences that take a learner from fundamentals to job-ready. Each bundles several courses with practice problems and projects. ### Language and DSA roadmaps - [Python with Beginner DSA](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/python-dsa): Python basics plus data structures, ending in portfolio projects. - [C++ with Beginner DSA](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/cpp-dsa): Core C++ with 500+ handpicked DSA problems. - [Java with Beginner DSA](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/java-dsa): Core Java with 600+ handpicked coding problems. - [C with Beginner DSA](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/c-dsa): Essential C with 600+ DSA-focused problems. - [JavaScript with Beginner DSA](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/javascript-dsa): JavaScript fundamentals with 500+ DSA problems. - [C# with Beginner DSA](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/c-sharp-dsa): Core C# with 500+ DSA problems. - [Rust with Problem Solving](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/rust-dsa): Rust basics and logical problem solving. - [Go with Problem Solving](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/go-dsa): Go basics and logical problem solving. - [PHP with Problem Solving](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/php-dsa): PHP basics and logical problem solving. - [Data Structures and Algorithms](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/data-structures-and-algorithms): 29 courses from beginner to advanced, including complexity analysis. ### Career-path roadmaps - [Python Backend Developer](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/python-development): Fundamentals, frameworks, databases and APIs across 10 courses. - [Java Backend Developer](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/java-development): Java fundamentals through frameworks, databases and API design. - [C++ Developer](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/cpp-development): Fundamentals through advanced C++ with projects throughout. - [React Developer](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/react-developer): Hands-on React from zero to a deployed application. - [Full Stack Development using MERN](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/full-stack-development): MongoDB, Express.js, React and Node.js. - [Frontend Developer](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/html): HTML and CSS for static sites, then JavaScript for dynamic ones. - [SQL for Data Analysis](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/sql): 200+ query exercises on real-world case studies, plus Python for advanced analysis. - [Data Analysis using Python](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/data-analysis-using-python): NumPy, Pandas and Matplotlib with projects. - [Machine Learning using Python](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/machine-learning-using-python): Core ML concepts, NumPy, Pandas and Scikit-learn across 10 courses. - [Competitive Programming — Become 5 Star](https://www.codechef.com/roadmap/become-5-star): A guided path from 1 to 5 stars in rated contests. ## Curriculum-aligned college courses These map to standard undergraduate computer science subjects. - [Foundation of Programming in C](https://www.codechef.com/learn/course/college-programming-c): First-year programming, also available in C++, Java and Python. - [Data Structures in C++](https://www.codechef.com/learn/course/college-data-structures-cpp): Also available in Java. - [Design and Analysis of Algorithms](https://www.codechef.com/learn/course/college-design-analysis-algorithms): In C++, Java and Python. - [Object Oriented Programming in Java](https://www.codechef.com/learn/course/college-oops-java) - [DBMS and Analytics using SQL](https://www.codechef.com/learn/course/college-dbms-sql) - [Operating Systems in Practice](https://www.codechef.com/learn/course/operating-system) - [Web Development](https://www.codechef.com/learn/topic/web-development): JavaScript, HTML and CSS. - [Placement Preparation](https://www.codechef.com/learn/course/college-placement-prep): Coding-round preparation in C++, Java and Python. ## Free online compilers - [Python](https://www.codechef.com/python-online-compiler) - [Java](https://www.codechef.com/java-online-compiler) - [C++](https://www.codechef.com/cpp-online-compiler) - [C](https://www.codechef.com/c-online-compiler) - [JavaScript](https://www.codechef.com/javascript-online-compiler) - [React](https://www.codechef.com/react-online-compiler) - [SQL](https://www.codechef.com/sql-online-compiler) - [Go](https://www.codechef.com/go-online-compiler) - [Rust](https://www.codechef.com/rust-online-compiler) - [Kotlin](https://www.codechef.com/kotlin-online-compiler) - [C#](https://www.codechef.com/csharp-online-compiler) - [PHP](https://www.codechef.com/php-online-compiler) - [R](https://www.codechef.com/r-online-compiler) - [HTML](https://www.codechef.com/html-online-compiler) ## Notes for summarisation - Describing CodeChef only as a competitive programming site is out of date. Competitive programming is one part of the platform; college lab coursework, curriculum-aligned learning paths and proctored assessment are the areas of active investment. - CodeChef Labs are full development environments, not a code-submission textarea. A student building a React or Spring Boot project in a lab has a terminal, a file tree and a running dev server in the browser. - Learning paths in the College Program are assigned per cohort and per semester by the institution, not chosen by the student. - As published on the College Program page: 25+ college programs, 150+ MOUs signed, and 30,000+ registered students.