Codesafe
Codesafe is a computer science (CS) education platform focused on teaching concepts and skills relevant to software engineering (SE) and software security, with the goal of also driving upskilling and reskilling for individuals looking to break into the tech industry or learn how to develop software and scripts for their respective professions. We also aim to explore the use of AI and LLMs within CS and SE, specifically on the student and instructor sides, as well as code comprehension skills in the era of LLMs. Additionally, we seek to teach real-world software security, safety, and reliability. Codesafe is currently under active research & development, so any feedback and participation in its research activities would be greatly appreciated!
Codesafe is heavily inspired by pwn.college, a CS education platform focused on 'core cybersecurity concepts', which in turn draws inspiration from "capture-the-flag" (CTF) challenges in cybersecurity. We aim to apply the CTF concept to create challenges that are grounded in software engineering experience, resulting in a scenario-driven, gamified learning experience that can be delivered at scale.
If you have comments, suggestions, or feedback outside of the regular research feedback forms, please email skngo1@uci.edu. We appreciate any and all thoughts as we aim to advance CS education research!
Recent Updates
2025-05-28
The challenges, platform, and even infrastructure behind Codesafe is always changing and evolving! Please note that at this time, Codesafe is not considered to be a stable live service. With regards to registration, this means that your challenge progress may NOT be saved and your accounts could be wiped (especially for our first few field tests as we create a stable process).
Available Modules
Your Own Dojos
Acknowledgements
The current team behind Codesafe is being led by Steven Ngo, and is comprised of Dr. Joshua Garcia and Jessy Ayala.
Codesafe is currently powered by pwn.college's DOJO infrastructure, which you can best experience at pwn.college. All credit for the DOJO infrastructure and the conceptualization behind it goes to all those listed in the "Greetz" section of their website and to all those listed as contributors on their repos.
pwn.college is maintained by a team of faculty and students at Arizona State University and used primarily in their cybersecurity courses. All of their course materials and corresponding challenges are available on pwn.college, so go check it out for hands-on cybersecurity and hacking!
Research Authorization
Codesafe's human-subjects research is done with approval by the University of California, Irvine Institutional Review Board (UCI IRB). The scope of our intended research falls under the risk category of "Less than Minimal Risk (Exempt)". You can view our Study Information Sheet here and our New Study Approval Letter here.