CS 2102

For those who have learned real analysis in math, it' s super easy. I did not do hw (all rely on my partner ) and use 4 hours to go over the midterm and 3 hours for final. Probably b/c Edwards is leaving so he becomes more lenient? The final was so easy and average is quite high(88-ish?) Easy A for me.

Discrete is pretty different from any other course most students have taken. With Edwards begins with logic, truth tables, then transitions to actual math proofs, then sets. Edwards is super passionate about this subject and clearly puts hours into preparing his slides. A lot of the sentiment towards this class is because Edwards doesn't go easy on his students. He truly loves this stuff and wants his students to enjoy at the high level he does. The problem sets are pretty difficult so you should START EARLY and GO TO TA OFFICE HOURS to work on it. What really makes this course worthwhile are the "Ah Ha" moments when you understand the proof, because they again, they aren't easy. Edwards said in the beginning of the semester that his Exams would not be easy.....and he was right. They were very hard, but if you thoroughly understood all the problems from class and the problem set, it was....still pretty hard lol. But as you can tell from the grade distribution it wasn't impossible. Edwards is moving and will not be teaching at UVA, so this course will definitely be easier. That said, he was a really awesome dude who really loved discrete and will be missed (by some of us lol).

I would like to preface this review with the fact that this course has many issues. I think it is incredibly unfair that the same course (CS 2102) taught by different professors can be so completely different in terms of difficulty, course material and policies. This semester other teachers allowed open notes midterms and ungraded homework assignments. This is Edwards last semester but this class was horrible. To be fair it is very difficult to teach this subject, and for me, it unfortunately didn't click. That being said, however, I don't think Edwards is a good teacher. He moves very quickly through material as if we've seen it before. He repeatedly was unhappy with us for not putting in the effort or working hard on the in class problems, when in reality, a large percentage of the class didn't know what was going on so they couldn't solve the problem. He would intentionally not go over problems in class if it looked like we didn't care. I went to office hours for help and I felt incredibly inferior. Overall, this course is very difficult, and Edwards made it more difficult than it needed to be. I don't recommend this class at all. Wound up doing great in the class in the end because of a crazy curve put on the final, (was hoping for a C-, thought the exam was super difficult, got a A on it) but the good final grade really wasn't even worth the stress of the class.

Definitely one of the worse CS requirements. Annoying problem sets that make you BS things you don't really know or found through Google. He grades pretty leniently on the problem sets though, so you have a lot of freedom in the wording as long as you get the conclusion right. Exams were stressful but not impossible. We also had to do some group project with making your own problem and stuff which was nothing too bad. I just forgot to turn them in sometimes lol. Came out with a good grade, and it seems like a precursor to Algo (CS 4102) so expect more of this later.

God awful course. I didn't mind the workload (there are problem sets every week) but the exams were terrible. Class averages were usually in the low 70s for exams, and no curve was added. In addition to problem sets, we also had to do portfolio problems and an RSA encryption assignment. The portfolio problems were mostly grade buffers, but still a pain to do. RSA was also fun, but also a pain considering most of the TAs didn't know how to do it, and there were little support resources for learning. It's a more difficult class than it honestly needs to be, and it decimated my GPA. Take it with Evans - I don't know how much more you'll learn, but I've heard he's really generous about grades, and you don't have to do all of this extra work. Edwards was a cool guy, but generally unhelpful.

tl;dr take it with Evans, save yourself a world of regret.

The first thing I will say about this class is that don't let it fool you: the first three weeks seem pretty easy, but then when you start learning proofs, this class gets way harder. After about week 4, it's proofs the rest of the class. Homework is weekly and difficult. Start early on it and find a partner you can consistently work with, because you are allowed to work with a partner. You have the whole week to do a problem set of about 10 questions, so start on them early in the week.

Then there's the portfolio. This thing makes no sense at all and I personally hated it because it's incredibly complicated and not really useful at all, but it's worth a fair amount of your grade so take it seriously. The TA's in this class can be picky at times over very small details which is annoying. There is one midterm and one final in this class, both of which are very challenging even if you've studied for 10 hours, but the best advice I can give for those is to study all of the rules for proofs.

On the bright side, Professor Edwards is a really nice guy, and wants to have all of his students succeed, and he'll answer questions very quickly if you email him. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this course to anyone unless you're doing it for a major/minor requirement.

WOW. I had really low expectations from my friends for this class, but overall I enjoyed it a lot. The class is essentially an introduction of higher level math (proofs, number theory, set theory, etc.) and it teaches you how to use logic and think mathematically. I enjoyed working on the problem sets each week and they got harder as the semester progressed. My advice is to stay on top of lectures and psets throughout the semester. The material speeds up half way through.

Yeah... this class was kinda some arse. Make sure you know how to do all the problems. Sometimes it's more helpful doing the problems yourself before working with your group just to make sure you don't rely on them and actually figure out how to do the problems. The weekly practice sets are hella long though so it's kinda annoying. Edwards is pretty dry so it's not like it's easy to pay attention in class either. But overall, just expect to teach yourself. The material isn't too bad and it's very reasonable to get an A / A-, but yeah I failed tho, so don't be like me lol.

The difficulty of the class mostly stems from the fact that discrete math is very hard to teach. There are a lot of things that you need to intuitively "know." However, as long as you do well on the homeworks, you'll be fine. I got a B+ while my partner for the homeworks got a B, even though he did 20% worse on both exams. So really, as long as you put in the time, you'll be fine even if you don't really understand discrete math.

Most of the people who are leaving negative reviews I would imagine likely didn't try /very/ hard in this class (or as much as they should have). The exams are somewhat difficult and may seem confusing, however Professor Edwards provides all of the needed material online and there are practice problems in the book. I will admit that I found this class somewhat difficult and boring mostly due to the fact that this class is after all, a requirement based around mathematical proofs and logical reasoning.

This however should not be mistaken as to being a problem with the Professor. Edwards is in all honesty one of the most genuine and caring Professors I have met, and he really does want everyone to succeed. If you talk to him he will always respond, and he is VERY prompt with his e-mails. He does look out for his students and understands any complications you have, (i.e he will give you an extension if your partner never responded to the portfolio).

This class is only as hard as you want it to be. Get started on your homework assignments early, and do the posted readings before class. If you really make an attempt to do well you will, and I recommend that you do the homework sets independently (without the aid of a partner) if at all possible, as it will help you on the midterms/exams.

If it means anything, my anecdote is that my partner never responded to me and Dr. Edwards personally responded to my portfolio as my temporary partner, and e-mailed me back the feedback in only about two hours after I send him the email, while we were taking our final. Edwards really does care about each student and I honestly do believe that he is a good professor, though I don't think that many will find this class very interesting. (But that's not Edwards's fault)