An introduction to programming and data analysis for the physical sciences. Topics include syntax, good coding practice, basic algorithmic structure, plotting, basic data analysis, numerical root-finding and integration.
2
UnitsOptional
Grading1, 2, 3
PasstimeNone
Level LimitLetters and science
CollegeYour first homework assignment is on things you haven't even learned yet and all your next assignments will also be on things you haven't learned yet because the prof spends the whole lecture talking about ChatGPT. I cried through 5 assignments, contemplated sewer slide, then achieved happiness again when I decided to stop caring and just retake.
Class wasn't super well made tbh. Homeworks took forever and were daunting but they were graded fairly easily. Lectures were okay but I think he encouraged the use of AI a little too much to be honest. Not the worst class ever but it wasn't particularly well structured
Was excited to learn how to code until this professor brushed over all the basics in fifteen minutes. Lectures are so fast paced and dull. If you are new to coding and want to succeed you will have to teach yourself everything or use ChatGPT (professor encourages but on most homework it will barely help). Terribly planned course and professor.
Any coding I learned this quarter was not due to Dr. Hennawi's teaching. Rather than the basics, our first lecture was all about how to use AI, which was not useful on our very long homework. I'd frequently spend entire days on the assignments, which at first had little to do with the lecture material. It got slightly better as the quarter went on.
Does lots of in class demonstrations. Very helpful to see during his office hours, fair tests, average on the final for the class was an 80, which is very high for a physics final. Likes to use an out of print older version of textbook, but all problems online and new textbook has same stuff in it.
Great professor, but terrible class. Hennawi's lectures were structured and clear, closely following the textbook. However, the textbook itself, the 4th edition of RHK, was awful; Hennawi claimed he had no better option. His exams nonetheless did a decent job of testing understanding of the material. Overall, a frustrating class.