It was a good class. Very well structured. I did need to supplement the lectures with youtube videos sometimes.

I had little experience in programming before I took this class, so this helped me get some fundamentals.

The professor knows what she's doing. She'll present the information in a very straightforward way.

Start projects early, put in the work, and you'll be fine.

If you have any prior programming experience this class will be a cakewalk. Projects and labs can be submitted multiple times before the deadline so you have chances to gain back points you missed on your first attempt.

Intro to programming with Python. Ultimately a very fundamental course.

Professor moved very slowly in the course and I struggled to pay attention. Halfway through the semester, I started skipping the lecture and watching the recording at double speed once it was posted.

Use the exam study guides. Start projects early.

Class was structured in a good way, in terms of projects being a large part of your grade. Just attend lectures and read zybooks and you will be fine

This class teaches you programming fundamentals in python, useful for cs majors

Zhou was extremely helpful and would explain content very well

Maybe some python experience would be nice, but this class is made for beginners

The class is structured very nicely. Easy extra credit. 4 projects. weekly quizzes and labs. 3 tests (including the final). Everything is pretty straight-forward

Intro to Java.

Prof Zhou is super patient and will explain anything that is asked. She asks questions that show up on tests and quizzes.

Pay attention to her test reviews. And join the class group chat on Slack (the one with the ta's and prof).

Very very not beginner friendly. Especially if you don't like coding. The labs are fairly easy since your have a partner who usually knows what they're doing. Projects are a doozy though, I ended up getting a tutor for a while.

Quiz every other Friday, labs every discussion class, and 3 exams. I found programming to be extremally difficult and it didn't help that the lectures were pretty much useless. I went for maybe the first month then once I realized I wasn't getting anything she was explaining I just sort of gave up and taught myself Python on Youtube.

I've heard she's alright but most everyone I talk to never went to lecture.

If you don't enjoying programming or are taking it thinking it's going to be an easy A, don't take the course at all.

For a first programming class, its not too beginner friendly imo. Some of the projects can difficult especially the last two where we made a Pokeman rip off and Sudoku from scratch, but if you pay attention and actually try then it shouldnt be too bad. I cant say too much about the lectures because i havnt been to class in 3 months because i self taught myself Python in the summer which was good enough to pass the class. Every time i didnt understand something or needed help, I would look back at the zoom recordings Zhou would post online. Its an alright course for someone that never coded before, but it felt slow to me and boring.

idk, i didnt go to class lol. She was good ig

FOR PROJECT 4, MAKE SURE TO GRAB A GOOD TEAM. This project will make you stress, not sleep, regret everything, and make you hate your major and life. Nah im jk, but its pretty hard and stressful so make sure to grab a good team to do it with so you wont being doing the whole thing by yourself. I also recommend going to Zhou's hour offices 1 hour early because it gets PACK fast. One time i waited 2 hours to get help and when it was my turn, Zhou left because office hours was over. She leaves right on time and doesnt stay for extra minutes so make sure to get there early so youll be the first one in line. The TA office hours are alright but everyone needs help so youll be waiting for a long time. In-Person is better than the Zoom office hours but do whatever you want. And one big piece of ad...read more

For a first programming class, its not too beginner friendly imo. Some of the projects can difficult especially the last two where we made a Pokeman rip off and Sudoku from scratch, but if you pay attention and actually try then it shouldnt be too bad. I cant say too much about the lectures because i havnt been to class in 3 months because i self taught myself Python in the summer which was good enough to pass the class. Every time i didnt understand something or needed help, I would look back at the zoom recordings Zhou would post online. Its an alright course for someone that never coded before, but it felt slow to me and boring.

idk, i didnt go to class lol. She was good ig

FOR PROJECT 4, MAKE SURE TO GRAB A GOOD TEAM. This project will make you stress, not sleep, regret everything, and make you hate your major and life. Nah im jk, but its pretty hard and stressful so make sure to grab a good team to do it with so you wont being doing the whole thing by yourself. I also recommend going to Zhou's hour offices 1 hour early because it gets PACK fast. One time i waited 2 hours to get help and when it was my turn, Zhou left because office hours was over. She leaves right on time and doesnt stay for extra minutes so make sure to get there early so youll be the first one in line. The TA office hours are alright but everyone needs help so youll be waiting for a long time. In-Person is better than the Zoom office hours but do whatever you want. And one big piece of ad...read more

Not very beginner friendly. If you do not have prior experience it's very hard to follow. Professor is nice and TA's are usually helpful.

Not too bad with prior programming experience, but without experience, it's a big challenge. The online textbook helps a lot. Most important thing is to make time for the labs and projects as they will take a while.

Intro to Java. Weekly quizzes and labs. Two exams. Major project assignments.

Not too bad of a professor, she helps out whenever its needed and she's pretty responsive. Watching her practice questions were definitely useful as well as they would correlate with the quizzes.

Try to gain some experience or get familiar with Java. Take a lot of time to practice, study, and retain the information you learn.

Easy and really boring if you have prior programming experience, hard if you don't have any. You mostly have to teach yourself the material and read the textbook.

Intro to Programming with Java

Her teaching style is a flipped classroom, where you watch lectures at home and do exercises in class. Having to do that makes this class feel very tedious since she doesn't really teach content during class and only answers questions. That said, you could probably just skip class entirely and get by just reading the textbook.

Definitely a fun course, however this is coming from someone with prior coding experience in high school. I have heard that the class can be a bit challenging for people new to coding, but as long as you read over the Zybooks and do the activities you should do fine.

9 Quizzes, 9 Labs, 4 Projects, 3 Exams (including final) Content is super useful if you're a CS major, Outside of that probably not. It will set the stage for your conceptual understanding for coding and how software works. Many programming languages may have different syntax/features, but concepts will generally be similar.

I've heard Zhou is good, she posts recordings of lectures online. I wouldn't know though I never went to a single lecture.

If you don't have prior coding experience be prepared to do the assigned bookwork. Even if you do, its still a good idea to go over it.