2. It all depends the kind of projects you want to work on. In

Programming projects are great for some things, but not so much for others. The problem when learning CS with projects is that you face two difficulties at once. One is the "technology" side: syntax, bugs, programming environment and so on. The other are the concepts you're trying to learn. For instance, I wouldn't want to learn 3D graphics and C++ at the same time.

Actually, my main grief with 42 is that it is presented as something revolutionary, which it isn't. And very little information is given on the website. There's is some sketch of a curriculum that is clearly out of reach for ordinary students. It's unclear how the teaching is going to be organized, or even who the staff is.