CS 2110

Having experience with Java from AP CSA, I found this course to be quite easy, as about half of the semester covers the same topics as AP CSA. Homeworks account for the greatest part of your grade at 25% in total. Furthermore, the two midterms only account for 10% of your grade each. So, doing well on homeworks would be more beneficial than trying to get 100s on all the tests. Also, there are daily in-class activities and labs which are both quite easy to complete and are both relatively big parts of your grade in comparison to tests/quizzes; so doing well on those would also be beneficial to your grade.

Definitely harder than CS 1110 but the transition was not too brutal. I did not have any experience with Java before the class and the professors did a good job helping us get adjusted. The first couple weeks of the semester was probably pretty boring for those who already had a background in Java. Apostolellis really liked class interaction even though we were in chem 402 and often asked for volunteers so don't sit in the front if you aren't planning on participating. He was a fine lecturer, but there are definitely better professors for this course, although all of the professors are happy to help any student in the course. I went to Basit's office hours a couple of times and would definitely recommend her (plus she has the best powerpoints). The professors change up the assignments each semester so the TAs can't help like they did in CS 1110 since they haven't solved the problem yet, but they are happy to work with you through the homework or a concept. Labs were definitely harder than the homework but if you didn't complete the lab in the class then the TAs gave you the answer and didn't have to finish. Pick a TA or 2 that you like and that works with your schedule each week because not every TA is as strong and Thorton can get super busy at times.

Not gonna lie. I went to like a week of Apostolellis' class and then gave up and started going to other lectures b/c I couldn't understand the guy. Nothing on him, he definitely seems really smart - but if you can, take this class with Basit (literally the sweetest person ever, amazing teacher) or Stone(also really nice, and teaching style is more distinct b/c he works at the hospital so kinda does his own thing). I've heard good things about McBurney, too. This class isn't that much of a step up from 1110 in terms of difficulty, but definitely don't take it if you're not passionate about CS. It's a lot more work with hour 45 min labs and daily in-class activities, and probably will feel tedious if you're not actually interested in learning the stuff for the sake of learning.

Let me start by saying that this class is NOT similar to CS111x. The intro course is meant to be accessible to everyone, and I think the professors do a good job achieving that goal, but you should not take 2110 unless you're strongly interested in majoring/minoring in CS. It steps up significantly in both workload and difficulty, which can be hard to manage especially if you didn't do AP in high school (which I didn't). There are homework assignments about every two weeks, along with weekly quizzes, weekly labs, daily activities, and two midterms and a final. Quizzes, labs, and activities are fine, you don't need to study or practice for them. Homeworks are variable--a couple of them took me like an hour, and others took several long days. Go to office hours for homework, and go early since they get very busy right before the due date. Finally, exams are pretty reasonable but make sure you understand concepts in addition to just being able to write code (most of the points are conceptual multiple choice questions and only a small part is actually programming).

Really well structured course with plenty of help available at all times. Definitely recommend this to anyone who's even thinking of majoring in CS. I've heard that generally people think Prof Apostolellis is not the best professor, but I think he actually tries to make class engaging (which most people, including me, didn't appreciate enough at 9am), so I'll give that to him.

This class is a good next step after an Intro course but can be kind of scatterbrained. Hits a lot of topics in different areas and sort of jumps around. IF YOU WANT TO BE A CS MAJOR, TAKE THE PILOT COURSES (DSA, COA) AND NOT THIS!!! Panagiotis is a good professor and really tries to help students understand.