42 (school)

Xavier Niel, one of the founders of 42

Announced on March 26, 2013, 42 was opened in Paris on July 15, 2013, for the selection phase called La Piscine (the swimming-pool).

On May 17, 2016, 42 announced plans to open a second campus in Fremont, California.[13] The Fremont campus was closed in 2020.[14]

As of 2023, 47 campuses have been opened in 26 countries.[15]

42 already had big supporters in tech like Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey, and Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield. Spiegel called it a school from the future, and Dorsey gave a glowing endorsement, saying "We are always looking for great engineers from any background and any education like 42."[16]

Paul Graham founder of Y combinator stated on Twitter "My God is 42 impressive. This is not another programming bootcamp. It's another MIT."[17]

The mode of operation of 42 was notably inspired by that of Epitech  : selection using "swimming pool" sessions and teaching according to the project mode

The candidate must be at least 18 years old or hold a baccalaureate (it is possible to start an application for candidates in the year of their baccalaureate). No diploma is required for applicants over 18 years of age. In 2015, an experiment took place with Pôle Emploi to train a group of around thirty unemployed seniors in programming for ten months . This training has since been renewed each year.

The first selection is made using a series of logic and memory tests on the institution's website intended to assess the students' abilities to learn computer science. The second selection is called the “pool”. It is an intensive four-week selection process during which the applicant must carry out practical work in the C Language language as well as community service , sometimes considered by students as a degrading punishment. Under the eye of the educational team who scrutinizes all their actions from the jar (office of the educational team) using big data.

Registration for training is free and concerns each year about 850 students in Paris.

There are no lectures or practical work supervised by professors. Students are free to organize their days to carry out the projects proposed by the teaching team. The establishment is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The training provided is intended to be inspired by the changes brought about by the Internet with a pedagogy qualified as "peer to peer". Depending on the course chosen by the student, it delivers an RNCP title of level 6 or level 7 or a certificate not recognized by the French State.

The first projects are mainly focused on development in C language in a UNIX platform environment . Depending on their level, the student can enroll in two-week educational “pools” to discover new programming paradigms: web in PHP , object-oriented in C++ , functional in OCaml and Unity . Other projects introduce students to computer security , mobile development and the network [ref. necessary] .

The investment was made by Xavier Niel: 70 million euros, including 20 million for the creation of the Parisian establishment and 50 million to cover its operating costs for 10 years. The objective when creating 42 is to allow the creation of 150 companies each year, including five Internet giants, in the hope that these young shoots pay their apprenticeship tax to the establishment. At the start of 2015, Nicolas Sadirac said "If we are not able to generate five big successes per year, it is because we will have failed. Then there will be no more reason to finance us."

42 Network is a network of partner institutions funded by institutions, companies and investors around the world. In 2020, Sophie Vigier announced that 33 establishments are open on 5 continents and in 22 countries. The educational curriculum of these establishments is based on a common core, but the campuses can adapt their projects to the labor pools in which they are located.

On December 6, 2017, Xavier Niel announces the creation of a 42 school in Algiers, during Emmanuel Macron's visit to Algeria. This announcement has not yet been followed by an opening.

In 2018 Corinne Vigreux announced to open Codam coding college as part of 42 in Amsterdam.

In June 2019, 42 announced the opening of eleven new campuses by 2020, including 42 Rio, 42 São Paulo, 42 Jakarta, 42 Yerevan, 42 Tokyo, 42 Bogota, 42 Angoulême, 42 Madrid, and 42 Quebec.

In December 2022, 42 Berlin commenced operations.[18]

List of Schools in 42 Network[19]

Name	Location	Year Founded
42 Yerevan	Armenia, Yerevan	2020
42 Adelaide	Australia, Adelaide	2021
42 Vienna	Austria, Vienna	2022
19 (Antwerp)	Belgium, Antwerp
19 (Brussels)	Belgium, Brussels
42 Belo Horizonte	Brazil, Belo Horizonte
42 Rio	Brazil, Rio de Janeiro
42 São Paulo	Brazil, São Paulo
42 Québec	Canada, Québec	2021[20]
42 Prague	Czech Republic, Prague	2022
Hive	Finland, Helsinki	2019[21]
42 Angoulême	France, Angoulême
42 Le Havre	France, Le Havre
42 Lyon	France, Lyon
42 Mulhouse	France, Mulhouse
42 Nice	France, Nice	2020[22]
42 Paris	France, Paris	2013
42 Perpignan Occitanie	France, Perpignan
42 Berlin	Germany, Berlin
42 Heilbronn	Germany, Heilbronn
42 Wolfsburg	Germany, Wolfsburg
42 Firenze	Italy, Florence
42 Roma	Italy, Rome
42 Tokyo	Japan, Tokyo
42 Amman	Jordan, Amman
42 Luxembourg	Luxembourg, Luxembourg
42 Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
1337 Ben Guérir	Morocco, Ben Guérir
1337 Khouribga	Morocco, Khouribga
42 Lisboa	Portugal, Lisbon
42 Porto	Portugal, Porto
School 21	Russia, Kazan
School 21	Russia, Moscow
42 Singapore	Singapore, Singapore
42 Seoul	South Korea, Seoul
42 Alicante	Spain, Alicante
42 Barcelona	Spain, Barcelona
42 Madrid	Spain, Madrid
42 Málaga	Spain, Málaga
42 Urduliz	Spain, Urduliz
42 Lausanne	Switzerland, Lausanne
42 Bangkok	Thailand, Bangkok
Codam	Netherlands, Amsterdam
42 Istanbul	Turkey, Istanbul
42 Kocaeli	Turkey, Kocaeli
42 Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi
42 London	United Kingdom, London
1337 Med	Morocco, Tétouan

• Official website (in French)
• Official website (in English)