I really enjoyed this class last semester. Coming from a someone who has a lot of previous programming experience, I would say the class is easy. However, if it is the first time you code, you will probably struggle to keep up with the pace of the professor. The lectures are clear but do go over the time limit (bless the 1.5x speed feature). The assignments are fine, they surely spent a lot of time designing them. The marking scheme of this course is what makes it imo not a great intro to programming class. The weekly quizzes are extremely hard (often 50% average) and for someone who was some experience before coming into this course, most of the stuff that is presented is really tricky and never approached in class. They try to find the most far fetched example just to bring the class ave...read more

If you don't have any experience before, practice practice practice before taking this course. Read over any python intro book and practice some easy question on the basic topics.

This is definitely the most poorly designed course I have ever taken. It seems that the professor has attempted to do everything in their power to not have a repeat class average of the previous semester. To begin with, the biweekly quizzes are nearly impossible. They take 2.5 hours and have scored class averages just above 50%. They often contain material which appears to go well beyond the difficulty of what is seen in class and on even optional exercises. Regarding the assignments, they are doable and reasonably difficult, though extremely time consuming, with them taking about 15-20 hours to do. On top of that, the grading is ridiculous. If you make a tiny error somewhere in the code you automatically lose at least 10%, and if you want to request a regrade its a deduction of 15% on you...read more

Relatively easy and interesting course content ruined by a terrible course design and a horrible evaluation scheme.

To lower the class average, professors made the Winter term significantly more difficult - to the point where biweekly quiz averages are in the mid 50s. I’ve spent about 30-40 hours per assignment (there are 3). On those assignments, one simple typo costs you 15%. When a technical error came up, I was told numerous times that ‘You should’ve submitted on time’ without even acknowledging my proof of submission. This class is EXTREMELY logistical - for presentation/feedback sessions, if you don’t attend, but still submit a feedback report, you will automatically get sent to the Academic Integrity Office. Giulia is very responsive on Piazza (responded quickly enough to clarify a quiz question) whereas Jonathon has never responded to an email. If not for wanting to go to med school, I’d S/U thi...read more

If you have a background in CS and are not worried about learning Python, it’s an easy class. Trying to learn and complete class work simultaneously at the difficulty they make it, is a pain.

This comment is coming from someone who already had a background in CS before taking 202. I'll be honest, from all the horror stories I've heard about this class, I was pleasantly surprised at how manageable it was in the Fall. That being said the class average that term was an A-, which was an anomaly for the profs and TAs at the time. I've heard that this class has gotten much harder. Considering how I wouldn't even call the fall term introductory I can imagine this class being very challenging for people who are completely new to coding. The language has been changed to Python, which I think is a huge step up but don't let the simplicity of the first few weeks fool you. The content ramps up a few weeks down the line and you'll have to put a lot of hours in to even keep up.

Don't take this class if you want an easy A unless you're very comfortable with compsci. If you need to take 202 make sure you brush up on logic puzzles before attending your first class, since moving to a programming language gets really daunting when you have to learn many things at once. Lastly, make a "cheat sheet" of all the code bits you've learned in class for doing specific things.

I took this class because I was interested in learning how to do basic code. As this is an intro class, I expected the class to be challenging but still manageable. It's definitely still an interesting course, but there are several points that make me feel like I definitely made a mistake in not dropping it during add/drop week: ** I'm definitely not a CS kid, and these are my experiences during the course, so definitely take it with a grain of salt** 1. My friend took this class in the Fall semester. Sometimes they'd ask me how the class is going and whatnot and have said that they feel that the class has gotten significantly harder compared to when they took it. The profs made the course harder to bring down the class average, as the average was "too high" during fall. Imagine having ...read more

If you have a background in CS, it'll probably be pretty easy for you; if you are completely new like I am/was, be prepared to dedicate a lot of time to this course...