CS 4414

If Felix Lin is teaching OS TAKE IT WITH HIM - hands down one of the most accommodating and approachable professors in the department. Though he is still pretty new to UVA, he has already revamped the OS curriculum, eliminating mundane quizzes and readings in favor of project-based learning. The project websites and walkthroughs were very easy to navigate and since lectures were mainly used for project Q&A, it was never hard to get a question answered. I am not a big fan of low-level stuff but I enjoyed taking this class with Professor Lin.

Take this class with Felix Lin! OS is a notoriously hard class in the CS department, but Prof Lin definitely makes things a lot better. From what I have heard (and you can read the reviews of other professors), this version of OS is significantly easier. Lin is a super nice guy and is very accomodating. We got extensions on probably 80% of our assignments (I wouldn't bank on this in the future, but if you ask, Prof Lin will definitely be willing to help you out). The lectures can be dry and the assignments are pretty confusing at times--overall though, very doable.

There are no tests in this class. Your only grades are projects and participation. The projects are essentially broken up into assignments with one due roughly every week. The projects usually consist of a Q&A section and a coding section. Professor Lin will go over the majority of the Q&A part in lecture, so they're pretty straightforward if you pay attention (or just watch the recordings). The coding can get tricky. Piazza is super helpful though, plus the response time is pretty quick. For the harder coding assignments, the TAs will also give you credit for demonstrating understanding even if your code doesn't completely work.

The grading is also very generous. The grading cutoffs this sem were:
80% A-
60% B-
50% C-
40% D-

The splits between A+/A/A-, B+/B/B-, etc are essentially determined by the distribution of grades within each cutoff, so roughly half the people above 80% get an A and people in the bottom half get an A-. He will bump you up automatically if your grade is close enough to the person directly above you in ranking.

I wouldn't call this class an easy A, but it is for sure a lot less suffering than other OS classes. #tCFspring2021