First-hand experience / 2018–2021
From 42 Paris to My Jungly, the 42 Network, and 42 Lisboa.
I entered 42 Paris as a self-taught web developer. Before Lisboa, I worked as a full-stack developer at My Jungly in Paris, then on the student intranet with the 42 Network development team inside the Paris Bocal. I moved from that role into the founding 42 Lisboa team.
- 2018–20
- Project-based training at 42 Paris
- 2020
- Full-stack development at My Jungly, Paris
- 2020
- 42 Network student intranet · Paris Bocal
- 2020–21
- IT & Pedagogy and full-stack work at 42 Lisboa
The sequence matters
I was first a 42 Paris student, then a full-stack developer at My Jungly, then part of the 42 Network development team in the Paris Bocal, working on the student intranet. Only after that did I join the founding team in Lisboa.
Before Paris
I did not arrive through a conventional computer-science path.
I had learned web development on my own. That gave me enough confidence to build, but it did not remove the gaps that appear when a problem moves outside the tutorials and tools you already know.
42 Paris appealed to me because the work began with problems rather than lectures. The environment did not promise to eliminate uncertainty. It made uncertainty part of the daily material.
Inside the method
Projects changed the question I asked when I was stuck.
The weak question is “where is the lesson that tells me what to type?” The more useful questions are smaller: what do I know, what is failing, what evidence can I collect, what assumption can I test, and how would I explain this choice to another person?
Peer evaluation mattered because working code was not the end of the conversation. You had to make the reasoning visible. Explaining a decision often exposed the part you had copied mentally without really understanding.
My Jungly, Paris
Full-stack work outside 42 widened the product context.
At My Jungly in Paris, I worked as a full-stack developer in a digital studio environment. It was a separate professional stage between my time as a 42 student and my return to the 42 ecosystem.
That work added a commercial product context to what I had learned through projects at 42 Paris.
42 Network / Paris Bocal
I worked on the student intranet with the network development team.
The Bocal is the operational and pedagogical core of 42 Paris: the place students go with technical problems or questions about their curriculum, and where the campus staff teams work. I joined the development team there and worked on the student intranet.
The intranet is part of the learning environment, not a back-office extra. Students use it to follow their curriculum progress and skills. Working on it put full-stack product decisions close to the everyday reality of a self-directed school.
42 Lisboa
Using the system was different from helping operate a campus.
42 Lisboa needed more than a website and rows of computers. Candidates had to move from application to check-in, Piscine onboarding, selection, student status, and daily campus life. Staff and volunteers needed the right access. The local setup also had to remain compatible with the wider network.
I adapted and maintained the Rails-based campus tooling, worked on authentication and role-based permissions, supported the candidate journey, and stayed close to the first Piscines and live campus operations. When a repeated operational problem surfaced, it became product feedback.
What stayed
The most durable lesson was not a programming language.
The technologies in my work have changed repeatedly—from Rails and campus systems to Ethereum, Bitcoin products, and AI workflows. The useful habit is still the same: reduce an unfamiliar system until I can observe it, ask better questions, test a smaller claim, and explain the trade-off.
42 did not make every later problem easy. It made being temporarily lost feel like a normal part of serious technical work.
Comparison
The 42 model from a student and staff perspective
| Moment | Student view at 42 Paris | Staff/operator view at 42 Lisboa |
|---|---|---|
| A blocked project | Research, test, ask a peer, retry | Find whether tooling, permissions, guidance, or operations created the block |
| Peer evaluation | Explain and defend the work | Keep the systems and spaces available for evaluation to happen |
| Autonomy | Choose how and when to progress | Build enough structure for that freedom to remain usable |
| Campus platform | A place to see status and work | A live product serving candidates, students, volunteers, and staff |
| Feedback | A review of one solution | A signal that may require software or workflow changes |
Common questions
From 42 Paris to My Jungly, the 42 Network, and 42 Lisboa.
When was David at 42 Paris?
David’s documented training period at 42 Paris is 2018 to 2020.
What did David do at 42 Network?
He worked on the student intranet with the 42 Network development team inside the 42 Paris Bocal, the campus’s operational and pedagogical hub.
What did David do before 42 Lisboa?
He worked as a full-stack developer at My Jungly in Paris, then on the 42 Network student intranet with the development team in the Paris Bocal before joining the Lisboa founding team.
What did David do at 42 Lisboa?
He worked on the founding IT & Pedagogy team as a full-stack developer, covering campus tooling, candidate and student workflows, permissions, onboarding, the first Piscines, and daily launch support.
Was David a teacher at 42?
No. 42 does not use the conventional teacher-led model, and David does not describe his Lisboa role as a teaching position.
Does David speak for 42?
No. This site is independent. Official network and campus pages remain the authority for current admissions, curriculum, credentials, and policy.
Can David influence 42 admissions?
No. His preparation work is independent and has no role in campus selection.
Where can I see the launch evidence?
The separate 42 Lisboa case study links the official campus, contemporary reporting, and the network’s account of the first-year progress.
Sources and boundaries
Check the details that can change.
This is an independent guide. The network and each campus remain the authority for admissions, dates, curriculum, credentials, and rules.