Wendy and Wen Kai have spent 70 hours a week studying coding. No, they are not university students. They are HTX engineers who were challenging themselves to qualify for 42SG and succeeded!
Unlike regular coding bootcamps, 42SG adopts the “3 No’s” – no textbooks, classes, and teachers. Instead, participants will learn coding through gamified hands-on projects and peer learning. Due to its innovative pedagogy, 42SG has become famous in the local coding scene despite possessing a stringent selection criterion. The initial selection stage of the programme requires individuals to pass an online 2-hour logic game. Only then will applicants be selected to attend the 26-day Piscine. Entry into 42SG’s exclusive core programme is even more difficult to secure, being reserved for those who have triumphed over the arduous Piscine.
Passing through the gauntlet
In late June 2023, Wendy Huang, Senior Principal Engineer (Ops Systems Support) and Chin Wen Kai, Engineer (Specialised Systems), attended a briefing session on the launch of 42SG. Fascinated by the unconventional nature of 42SG, they proceeded to participate in the online logic game. After passing the test, they were then invited to attend the Piscine.
The Piscine was no walk in the park. Participants were expected to pick up fundamentals of the C programming language. Those who advance to the core programme will also learn the C++ and Typescript programming languages. In addition to the daunting study sessions, Wendy and Wen Kai also faced weekly examinations. These closed-book examinations required participants to write a C language programme. In other words, while most of us have gotten comfortable referring to our notes and the Internet for help, Wendy and Wen Kai had to rely on memory alone. These exams were not short either. The first three exams were four hours each while the final exam lasted an astounding eight hours.
“We had to block out everything for the 26 days of the Piscine,” says Wen Kai. He also adds that the support from HTX to grant them paid time-off for their studies, and unwavering support from his supervisors and colleagues at Platform Systems were instrumental in bolstering his decision to embark on this journey with 42SG.
Wendy shared that the support from HTX and colleagues helped her learn the C programming language at a “comfortable pace while giving me time to befriend other coders”.
The light at the end of the tunnel – The core programme
Double the insights: Catch Wendy and Wen Kai’s social media interview here! (Photo: HTX)
This time off from work was invaluable in helping Wendy and Wen Kai survive the arduous Piscine. In fact, out of the 3,000 participants who had applied for 42SG, only 190 candidates survived the Piscine to join 42SG’s core programme. Indeed, SUTD President Professor Chong Tow Chong lauds HTX for being “the first enterprise amongst the list of 42SG partners to officially launch a scheme supporting its officers upskilling through 42SG.” He believes that “this strong support with full pay and flexibility of work is a clear demonstration of HTX’s commitment to upskill its officers.”
Wen Kai is now completing the core programme full-time while Wendy is working at HTX full-time and completing the core programme part-time. The core programme has a strict deadline of 600 days for completion (regardless of whether students study full or part-time). By the end of the core programme, Wen Kai and Wendy will be equipped with the skills required to create a web-based multiplayer game for their final project.
“Wendy and Wen Kai are progressing well and are on track to completing the core programme in 12 months, which most students would take 15-18 months to complete! Wendy and Wen Kai’s growing technical and soft skills highlight their commitment to acquiring skills with full support from HTX,” adds Professor Chong.
Here at HTX, we wish Wendy and Wen Kai all the best for their studies at 42SG and look forward to their transformation into software engineers!