The Piscine is the last phase before full admission to the 42 Berlin program. It’s 4 weeks long and designed to gear you up to learn the basics of programming with peers like you. The Piscine is a chance for you to learn programming from scratch or dive deeper into your skillset and find out whether 42 Berlin is a good fit for you. Think of the Piscine as a very condensed version of the curriculum, where you will trial out our methods, learn a lot of code & meet a lot of people. The Piscine is challenging and it will test the skills you have or want to create. This is all part of the ride.
For a month, you are encouraged to use 7 days a week to learn code and be fully immersed in our methods. After, you will know if 42 Berlin is for you.
All experience levels welcomed. It is a very challenging experience, but the Piscine teaches code from scratch.
Aside from learning how to code, the Piscine will teach you a lot about yourself. Interpersonal and technical challenges will throw you in the deep end of problem solving that is applicable to every part of life.
For a month, you are encouraged to use 7 days a week to learn code and be fully immersed in our methods. After, you will know if 42 Berlin is for you.
All experience levels welcomed. It is a very challenging experience, but the Piscine teaches code from scratch.
Aside from learning how to code, the Piscine will teach you a lot about yourself. Interpersonal and technical challenges will throw you in the deep end of problem solving that is applicable to every part of life.
The veil of mystery is a big part of the beauty of the Piscine experience. However, here’s a few things we’ll let you in on before you join.
Piscine exercises are grouped in modules. These modules let you focus on one specific concept. Rather than watching tutorials and copying what you see on a screen, you come up with solutions to problems by yourself and test your newly-gained knowledge in a practice-based context.
In addition to an automated evaluation, all modules must be evaluated by other candidates in the Piscine. This is what we call peer-evaluation. This is an opportunity to discover other ways to program and discuss topics tackled in the exercise. Even if the assessor and the assessed are not at the same level, everyone can benefit from this experience: peer evaluations are when you learn the most from your experience in the Piscine
During weekends, mandatory work groups let students collaborate on projects. We call these “rushes”. Rushes are evaluated by the pedagogical staff or advanced students participating in educational activities. Advice given during the evaluations is precious and offers you thorough feedback about the way you code.
Once a week, a machine exam is proposed. You must solve increasingly difficult problems in a limited time in order to test your level and use what you’ve learned. You will not get any help here. This is an opportunity to observe your progress and achievements and go beyond. You will find solutions to problems you were absolutely clueless about days or weeks before.
The Piscine is not just about work. Events are set up for candidates to meet and start bonding. Nobody knows one another in the beginning, but more often than not, work groups turn into friend groups.
42 Berlin 2023
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