CS 1110

I took 1110 because programming is extremely useful and I had heard good things about the class. If you love programming and want to devote a majority of your time to it, then take this class, otherwise it is not worth it. Luther is a really nice guy, but the course is very disorganized-by test time many people would not even know what they had to know and basic concepts had not been explained. Luther gives you specific examples of code instead of getting you to understand how the method works. Many times I would get help on homework and learn you were supposed to do it a way that he hadn't been taught. The class is very easy at first but right after the withdraw deadline the difficulty increases a lot with no warning, and I spent the rest of the semester extremely frustrated with the difference between what was taught in lecture and what was expected on assignments. Many of the assignment write-ups are unclear and not well written, sometimes half of doing your homework is just trying to understand what they want. On the final, an entire question had to be taken out because no one could understand what they wanted. On that note, tests are generally graded fairly but Tychon. does not provide much (if any) review materials, the week leading up to the test people were still trying to figure out what would even be on it/ how it would be formatted. Another poster said to learn some programming over the summer in order to do well and they are right, but that should not be necessary in an intro level class. Some of the TAs are helpful, but a lot of them don't know what they're doing. The system at office hours is designed poorly. It is done on a queue system, but not on when you arrive, but how much you get help(more times=farther down on queue). So you are penalized for getting help! I would sit there for two hours and not move from position 40 or get a TA that didn't know how to help me.. Lab is only graded on attendance so it is easy but not very useful. In response to someone who said that another poster who made a negative review was just a bad coder, I want to end by saying that I am a science major with a 3.9 GPA, so while I was not the best in the class I am a smart person. Many of my friends who took this class were frustrated by the disorganization and the way it was run.

I am honestly very surprised at all of the negative reviews. I took this class because I was interested in being a CS major, and this class completely solidified that decision for me. I have never enjoyed a class so much since I have been at UVA. Tychonievich is a great lecturer. He's quirky, fun, and cares about his students. He finds a way to explain things in a way that is very easy to understand. I had 0 coding experience before this class and came out with an A-. I think a lot of it just has to do with how much you care about succeeding in the class, and how your brain works (put me in a history class, and I fail miserably). I'd have to say I disagree with previous people who reviewed and said the homework assignments don't correlate with lectures...there were days in class leading up to the homework where he would essentially give us the code we needed to know for homework. He never outright said 'hey, this is for your homework', but I often found myself working on the code for homework and thinking "oh, this is exactly like what he covered in class the other day" and then I knew exactly what to do. I WILL say the class does get much harder about halfway through the semester, and it can take you by surprise. But overall, great class. I cannot recommend it enough.

I love this course and Tychonievich does a great job with it. He is very animated and emphatic in class; its very hard to not pay attention. I took this class looking for something different and I discovered I love CS and I'm hopefully going to pursue a CS major now. Tychonievich starts at the baiscs and really makes the material easy to understand. The amount of homework is manageable and the assignments are actually helpful. I consider textbook readings optional. I did well without them and think the lectures cover the necessary material very well. Also, all lectures are recorded and posted online which is a very helpful study tool. Great class, great professor, highly recommend.

Professor Tychonievich was a great professor, and I deeply enjoyed the class. He clearly seemed to care about the success of students. The tests in the class are very fair, and they are graded pretty fairly in my opinion. The exam is easier than the assignments, so don't be afraid of the tests. Just study and understand the topics and you will be fine. Some people complain about the variance in helpfuness of TAs, but that is not really a big problem for me in my opinion. In my view, the biggest problem of the class is the availability of office hours. Some of the later assignments are difficult, and it is a bit frustrating and disheartening to wait 30 minutes and then get 3 minutes with a TA for help. The time you spend on the assignments will increase exponentially as you get further into the class so be aware. I got pretty stressed out for the last few assignments as a result of this.

I highly recommend this course with Tychonievich. Every lecture is completely optional because he posts every lecture online with all of the code, so if you're really busy one day you can just skip the lecture and watch it at a time thats more convenient for you. Tychonievich is very enthusiastic and quirky which makes the lectures pretty interesting. Like many other people have said, the difficulty of the course picks up about half way through, but its definitely manageable. For the first half of the semester the amount of work per week is probably 0 to 20 minutes, but after that, you might spend 30 min to an hour on a weekly assignment. You just have to be willing to put some more effort in and maybe go to a couple office hours, either with him or the TAs. In his OH he is very willing to help and will explain concepts over and over again until you understand them. Also there is a free online textbook that we had readings for, but I never did them and got by just fine. I had 0 prior knowledge of programming, but I am still ending with an A and didn't think the course was terribly difficult. Take this class with Tychonievich if you can.

This course is definitely great with Professor Tychonievich, not only because he's enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable but because he posts videos of all his lectures online, so going to lecture is completely optional. I took this class because I want to be a CS major and as someone coming in with no programming experience, this class was not as hard as I expected it to be and I'm definitely continuing to Java because of it. The material started out easy and got progressively difficult towards the end - my friends and I would be stressed and stay up working on assignments by the end of the semester, but the experience in coding you learn is so helpful for the future and the feeling you get when you run your code and it works is indescribable. The exams (on PAPER) were something I was definitely not used to, and they were pretty difficult for me, as they tested on harder concepts that students have not necessarily seen before. If you review all subjects before the exam and try some of the practices from the textbook, though, you'll be prepared for whatever they throw at you. I disagree with most of the reviewers that OH/TAs were unhelpful - every time I had a problem with my code I went to OH and did not have to wait long for a TA to help me. I never came out of OH with an unsolved issue. Overall, I'd suggest this course to beginners at coding, even if you aren't interested in majoring in CS.

Great class, even better brofessor. Couldn't say enough nice things about Tychonievich; the guy is a legend. He genuinely enjoys teaching CS and makes this class a manageable introduction to programming. Pretty easy A if you do the homework on time

I REALLY enjoyed this course and highly recommend Tych as a professor. He's really enthusiastic about the topic and is super quirky so lectures is always super engaging. His lectures are online and I think it's a useful tool to have but wouldn't recommend skipping frequently because finding the motivation to listen to multiple hours of online lecture is hard. I started out in the class kind of hating it and feeling like it was hard but about halfway through the semester it all clicked for me and I found it really rewarding, especially the game project at the end of the semester. I am a rising fourth year so I can't pursue a minor in CS but I will be taking 2102, 2110, and 2150 before I graduate because of how much I enjoyed the class!

Great way to introduce yourself to coding! Luckily, the exams are worth 50% of your grade so you got other assignments to yank that grade up #yanksquad. This class doesn't require any outside reading (but it might help) and you can 100% succeed by just watching the online lectures/ going to class. Yo... I never showed up and still got an A because the online lectures let you replay, pause, and take notes at your own pace.. catch me eatin sushi in hello kitty pajamas while watching them vids. Other than exams, you're lowkey graded on trying your best and having a diligent work ethic more than actually being a ~master~ coder. Luther explains things real good and tries to make boring topics interesting (sometimes it works). Overall, great way to introduce yourself to coding and understanding its importance

I personally did not enjoy this course whatsoever. The professor goes through the lectures way too fast and although they are recorded and I was able to rewatch them, I still could not understand the material. Neither he nor the TAs offer that much help. The TAs also do not seem to know what is happening during lab and are little to no help at all. The professor, during the second half of the course, tends to teach new coding material after the assignment on them is due. He also does not seem to care about the fact that different students learn different ways and seems to have a mindset of "if you get it, you get it. If you don't get it, then you don't get it." Luther is not understanding when it comes to rounding up grades no matter your reasoning is. In fact, he wouldn't round up a grade of 79.8, which, to me, is diabolical.