Admittedly, like most CIS courses, there is no true confident way to study for the material presented in class. The text book can occassionally be helpful to clarify minor misunderstandings, yet outside of that you're at the mercy of the professors either unclear instructions. Very often you'll find yourself working to complete assignments without caring whether you have properly computed the desired results. Learning can very easily take a back seat in this course. This is primarily due to programming assignments, which while it is understandable why it is present in the course it often hurts students ability to digest the material and use it during the time an exam comes along.

The material of this class is important, however, there is easily more acessible ways of learning what is provided in this course elsewhere. Leetcode and AlgoMonster are great at making sure you understand the basics. Using either of these on a daily basis can even lead to a strong mastery over Algorithms and Data Structures. Unfortunately, assuming you're a CIS Major, this course is a requirement for all who want a B.A or B.S. Which means, regardless of the higher quality of the other resources covering the material, it will be at best misleading and at worst wrong. This is common trend upon CIS SUNY Potsdam courses, this course unfortunately fall into that same trap.

Unsure what to say here. The professor obviously cares about the material, yet that is the most I can suggest regarding Professor Grabowski. Personally speaking, I found them rather difficult to request assistance from due to their rather intimidating or at times nonchalant attitude. That being said, she knows her stuff, so if you're able to get past that aspect of the Professor you'll very much have an easier time during office hours.

how useless the textbook became after three weeks into the semester.