CS 2150

Hard, time intensive class, but very worthwhile. The labs are a large part of the course, but they are all geared at teaching you what you are expected to know.

Way too much work. I could have learned the same amount, which was a fair amount, with 2/3 the work or less. If you have ever seen It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Professor Bloomfield looks and sounds just like Dennis. He is also a prick like Dennis

Bloomfield is the MAN. One of best Profs at UVA. Class has a crazy work load. However, you will use everything you learn in this class in real life.

Extremely difficult class, but you will learn a lot. Necessary for any CS major, and with good reason. You WILL be asked about data structures in other classes and in interviews. You have to divide the work up throughout the week, otherwise staying up every Monday to finish the labs are required. Ask for help regularly, and be prepared to be a little miserable. If you do the work, then the tests are the rest of the grade and they aren't too bad. You will be rewarded for your hard work, especially with Bloomfield. Take it with him.

Okay, so most of these reviews are people complaining about the workload for this course. Deal with it. From the first five minutes of the very first lecture, Professor Bloomfield makes it crystal clear that he expects a lot out of his students. The fact is that you learn things in this class that you are asked about in advanced courses and job interviews, and I believe successful completion of this course puts a student above the curve when it comes to an intricate knowledge of data structures. And with regard to difficulty/workload, I started my CS major with absolutely zero programming experience and I never felt overwhelmed (except for lab 6, that thing sucked). The prelabs are released on Thursday and are due on Tuesday morning, so the trick is to just get over yourself and start the prelabs early. Same deal with the postlabs, don't wait till Friday morning to start. You probably won't finish, and even if you do, you'll be lucky to get a fair grade. Seriously, it's a lot of work, but its not impossible. Aside from all of the CS things you learn in this class, you also definitely have the chance to fine-tune your time management skills. TL;DR: It's really not that bad.

Bloomfield is an excellent teacher and 2150 under his direction is probably the most you will learn as a UVA CS or CPE major.

This class is hard, not going to lie; but there is a certain quality to it that makes it one of the most worthwhile courses in the department despite its difficulty. This class is a gateway class to the other CS courses, and you definitely do learn a lot of material that spans from assembly language x86, to C/C++, to data structure analysis and implementation. If you attend his lectures, review the previous exams, and frequently review his powerpoint slides, you can get a decent grade if not an A. The labs are relatively simple, but watch out for the 6th and 10th labs, they take the most time (hash table and huffman tree labs). The later labs, in total 12, so from lab 6 and onwards, they take more time so plan out your weekends wisely.

Great course, not as difficult as people make it out to be.

My favorite class that I've taken so far. Professor Bloomfield is enthusiastic, engaging, fun, and he makes difficult concepts easy to understand. The class is a LOT of work (10-15 hours/week, I'd say), especially the Tree and Hash labs. But, in the end, it's VERY worth it and you'll learn a ton. The TA's are extremely helpful. Go to office hours. Seriously, you won't be able to succeed in this class without asking for help. The tests are pretty straight forward. A lot of the learning in class comes from actually applying what is covered in lecture. I definitely recommend this class.

This class was very time consuming, the material was not too hard but putting it in practice was tough. Bloomfield is a great professor and this is one of the most useful courses at the university. Be prepared to dedicate plenty of time to the weekly labs, and office hours.