A visit to 42, the free US coding school | Ars Technica

Ars Technica's Cyrus Farivar visited 42, the US branch of the tuition-free French coding school in Fremont, CA. At 42, students live and learn coding for free in a teacher-free, peer environment.

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A visit to 42, the free US coding school | Ars Technica

[ademhodzic]

I actually went to a free bootcamp here in Bosnia that works simmilarly to this and I can tell you it was awesome expirience. I even got a job after 8 months!!

[BangMaster]

You know, when i was a kid, my Father always used to tell me this one thing
"Nothing is free in this world"

[heloufra]

I watched this video before I went to the piscine and after it, it was more good than I have expected

[chamithjanaka]

I'm Chamith from sri lanka. Really love this work. There is so many people out there want to learn to code but don't have money, or a Computer or both. I wish if i was born in USA. Unfortunately it's not also i don't have money to go to USA, How ever thank you guys for leting me know, there is very good people in this world. Keep This Up.

[miracleshappen]

This is my dream of a collaborative society coming true!

[tomxlawson]

I think part of the reason for the success of this idea is that it puts old wine in new bottles. It reminds me very much of the experience felt by students doing a PhD.

[XenoContact]

This is a good idea, it was recently implemented where I live by a similar group of people. However, I think there should be some sort of tutoring, something like a book written by the school or something that takes you through the very basics because if I were for example to take the initiative to learn thermodynamics on my own I wouldn't know where to begin or how to proceed.

[brodel]

Campus is currently closed for the remainder of 2021.

[ReasonNLogic]

So... it’s not a school. Just an exclusive hangout.

[devonrusinek]

I did the Piscine, but failed. I had no C coding experience and did not pass one assignment or exam. I had a few roommates who worked together. They had passed almost every assignment and exam. They did not pass the Piscine. I had a friend who did the Piscine in 2016 with no C coding experience. He passed the Piscine, but I don't know what his experience was like. Alot of people there doing the Piscine had either prior coding experience or prior Piscine experience. Networking is a major component or else you will fall.

[aVEzPz]

0:34 anyone else notice the "windows logo" on the mac?

[carlospitcher]

I read lots of critiques like "Nothing is free blablablabla"
First of all, this project is not free, it is privately financed by a french business man named Xavier Niel... You might like the guy or not (it doesn't really matter).
And his objective is quite clear... that the students leaving this university help it finance it afterwards. That simple... not free. But as a young student, you are not in debt and certanly not obliged to pay for many of the stupid things universities force you to. I almost forgot, if you don't want to finance it... you don't have to. However, it turns out, most people will give a hand.

It seems to be a good alternative, or at least interesting.

Oh... and the piscine is not at all a summer camp, many students fail it and have to leave. So the selection is quite harsh. We will see the results in a near future I hope. And if this model works out properly, it will be an interesting experiment.

[Requiem]

the ultimate answer to the ultimate question

[Luftbubblan]

This is so cool :D Wish we had it here. Sure i know some basic coding already but id love to study with like minded people around me. Also, if this was possible here i wouldn't need to waste 2-3years getting my grades up prior to study what i want.

[nlneth]

You guys are doing great just make sure to keep up

[Kassannova]

42 was great! I went there over the summer and vlogged most of the experience.

[arifhossain]

i love that idea, and want to learn form that school .

[saurabhmoharir]

So many iMacs! That also for free. Great Initiative! But How they get money to maintain it? From where they pay electricty bills, internet bills, etc?

[iGer]

This must be the proudest achievement of France for the last decades. The original parisian 42 school is a goddamn revolution in our archaic academic programs

[TheAdamGore]

2:27 Lol gotta love a note from a programmer.