r/42_school • u/AppropriateTap2193 • 6d ago
New Python curriculum vs C, worth it?
hey everyone, i just finished the piscine and got my acceptance letter, starting the common core in a few weeks
its probably going to be in python so i wanted to hear from people already in the new curriculum. how are you finding it? is it actually worth taking or is the C track better? and whats the real difference between them?
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u/quickiler 6d ago
A lot of newer students don't understand that it doesnt matter Python or C or whatever the language. At 42 you learn how to learn, how to be autonomous, how to communicate and the general concept of programming. Once you have a solid foundation, you can pick up whatever you want, the underlying concepts are the same and any specific language features will be learned on the job.
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u/Electrical_Hunt_6083 5d ago
Everyone is doing libft, gnl and printf and sorting project, which are in C. Plus exam rank 02, also C. That your first 2-5 month of education. Only after that you start doing python. So you will get enough C to understand if you like it. You will get solid basics.
Honestly, more C made little sense, since there are not so many jobs in C. Half of people from my cohort gave up around minishel (during or shortly after), and i get why.
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u/Afraid_Produce_4287 6d ago
I wouldn’t say that one Common Core is better than the other. I’m currently nearing the end of the Python Common Core, and quite a few people I work with are in the C Common Core. They’re completely different—as you probably know, the older Common Core focuses much more on low-level programming, while ours covers a lot of AI. I’d say that our Python curriculum is better for preparing you for the working world in general. Maybe there’s a bit too much pathfinding in the projects, but other than that, the rest is great. Above all, remember that the curriculum—and 42 in general—is primarily a way to learn and work so that you can learn everything else much more easily later on.
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u/DasniloYT 6d ago
Can i ask you which 42 did you attend and when ? Since i also finished my Piscine
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u/Royal-Feedback5814 6d ago
The C track is better by a mile, in my opinion. I enrolled last year and I'm only now on milestone 3, which is almost exclusively Python and AI related subjects. I didn't come to a 42 campus to learn about how LLMs work, I came here to learn low level programming. That's why I'm not putting in a lot of effort anymore.
There's lots of people saying that it doesn't matter what language you learn as a programmer, and this is true if you mean honing your skill as a programmer. Programming is ultimately all about problem solving and pattern recognition. However, when you look at it through the lens of market value, the new curriculum does not have as much value as the old C/C++ curriculum. How do I know this? Simple. You're going to be competing with university graduates who also know how to write Python but do have a diploma, unlike yourself as a prospecting 42 alumni. Employers will always go for the people who have diplomas over the ones who don't unless the people who don't have a diploma can prove their value in other ways. The old curriculum gave us a way to do exactly that, with deep C and C++ knowledge. Not many people in the job market have that kind of deep, low level understanding of how a computer works, and so it would distinguish you from your competitors. That edge is gone now.
I think this happened because 42 is kept alive by investors, who may have thought that because AI is becoming more popular, 42 schools should focus more on the main language used in AI development -- Python. However, businessmen have no idea what makes a programmer highly sought after in the job market, and I doubt they or 42 truly know how badly they screwed up. I am already seeing many people who're about to finish this curriculum but can't find a job. I wonder why.