Be prepared to lose lots of points due to minor errors. Dr. Matni does not explain things clearly, he will pose questions to your question and expect you to figure it out instead of just answering you. Some hw and quiz questions are chosen purely to trick you and not to see what you've learned, Dr. Matni even admits that himself in lecture.

Failed to set up autograder - Constantly make mistake in slides - Being mean on Piazza - Trick students - Worst professor -

Third class w/ Matni. Def my fav prof in CS dept. Good: -You learn the material for real if you pay attention, no need for youtube etc -Labs are set up well and clearly specify the requirements -Funny and helpful Bad: -Tough if you dont pay attention, but all his classes are required so you really should if you want your degree to mean anything

He thinks making students fail due to not being careful enough interesting. Definitely avoid him

He tricks students... The quiz is not testing how you learnt, testing how prudence you are instead

absolutely the worst professor. quiz and homework are easy but all about word games. he is like the worst elementary school teacher.

One of my favorite professors at UCSB! Since I took a summer class with Dr. Matni, I only had three weeks in his class however I learned more in those three weeks than I have in other 10 week classes. He is very accessible and lectures are engaging and entertaining. Would definitely take future classes with him!

Ive had professor Matni for Comm 88 and 169. I can honestly say hes my favorite professor at UCSB. His lectures are engaging, hes funny, and super helpful. He might come off as tough but if you go to office hours and ask for help, he will go above and beyond. Amazing professor and person! He is a must take as a comm major

One of my favorite professor in UCSB.

Great professor

Ziad Matni is seriously one of the most thoughtful, kind and funny professors especially in pre-comm classes. He posts lectures online, but it is super important to go to class because his iclicker questions are extra credit and he supplements the lecture slides with important info for the tests. Midterm and final are hard, but he is helpful.

Very thorough in his lectures. Grading was fair, definitely not difficult but also not a total pushover. Matni was pretty understanding and down to earth as a person. He seems passionate about his job. He had a few pop quizzes, but they weren't particularly difficult.

Hes pretty average professor, not too hard not too easy. Went to three lectures throughout the entire quarter and ended with a B+. The lectures are posted online and Iclicker was extra credit. Midterm/Final was based off of the lectures making the book optional or you could use it for more information. Tests were easier than Mullin's. Nice guy

If you can, I would def choose him over Mullin. He is very nice and helpful when you go to his office hours. He keeps tracks on who comes to his OH. So go if you can!

Not super nice but he's awesome on his lectures as he explains CS basics very clearly. 2 midterms & 1 final are fair if u do study based on slides. Lots of hw & labs so the study load might be heavy, but TAs & tutors are very accessible & helpful in open lab times. There's an assigned teammate for 1 project & some labs though u can sometimes solo.

His exams primarily focus on material from lecture, making the textbook essentially optional. Some of the labs must be done w partners, which is somewhat annoying since everyone in the class starts with different levels of programming experience. Overall Matni is a solid choice for CS8; he is a very clear (and funny) lecturer

Very nice person! Easy grader! He makes the lectures interesting and his slides are really clear! He kind of likes to have some multiple choice for definition or description on the exam so make sure to go over the slides for important terms. High average for two midterms. Final is a little bit hard but he curves. Office hour and open lab help.

Take his class if you are CS major otherwise avoid since his hws and exams pays attention to the details which would be helpful for CS major students. For other majors, just take it from some other instructors that are being easier in grading.

Matni was one of the best profs I've had here. He cares about the students and helping you understand the material and was very clear with his grading. He was always accessible outside of class and picked up the slack of having awful TA's. He wants you to do well if you're willing to put in the effort.

Matni seems like a nice guy but is actually really mean and condescending toward his students. The piazza page is where you can ask questions to receive backhanded and snarky comments about how you "would've known if you showed up to lecture." He often makes mistakes in his lecture slides and practice midterms that end up going unnoticed.

Uses an app that replaces clicker for extra credit. Tests are only based on lecture, but textbook is helpful for clearer understanding. Research paper is based on a study performed in groups and grade depends on ta. Tests are kind of tricky w/ multiple right answers, but you need to pick what HE would pick. Go to ta office hrs to do better on paper

Professor Matni is a very interesting lecturer. While he is clear, it is almost too much so. He makes a point to dumb down every idea he makes. There is a term paper that you write after conducting a group experiment, and the papers are competitively graded, which can be an issue. He also has a midterm & final with terribly formatted questions.

The final exam was the hardest exam I've taken in my entire life. That being said, Matni is a really great prof. He is intelligent, clear, and knows how to teach. He's definitely on the harder side in terms of profs, but its a fair trade-off because you will learn SO MUCH from him. The only prof I had this quarter who actually cared about his job.

Matni is clear during lecture, the issue is with his exams. He asks confusing questions on his exams and purposefully makes his questions difficult to answer, but if you ask for clarification, he will give it to you.