Professor Matni's lectures are about as good as they get: thorough explanations and practical examples. The labs and homework assignments are simple, but I don't think the homework helped me understand the content as well as the lectures did. Exams were challenging, but within reason.
His lectures are amazing, such a charismatic guy. Felt like homework and labs did not prepare me that well for the final, studying lecture slides and lecture code did though. Overall felt like I digested the contest of CS32 really well because of how good his lectures are. He is sytnax heavy on his tests so be aware of that.
Matni is one of the best CS professors I've ever had at UCSB. His lectures are super informative, very easy to learn from, and his class is very easy to follow and his tests are straightforward from that. He remembered me a full quarter later because I asked dumb questions in lecture and I respect him immensely.
Best lower div cs professor
You either love him or hate him. He is a tough grader, with questions that are fairly doable. If you want to succeed in any of his classes my advice is to finish the HW and Labs early so you can relax as procrastinating on them can lead to a lot of pain and stress. His lectures are fun he has a dry sense of humor which can rub people the wrong way.
Great lecturer for beginning computer science majors. Connects with students and has great insight.
Very good lectures. All the labs and homework were related to the lectures, so they were usually not too bad, but you did feel like you were learning. Pretty fair difficulty midterm and final, only thing is that they're worth 30% and 35%, so make sure to study. I think the class was pretty good though, no real complaints.
Good stuff, good prof!
Matni does a really good job at explaining lecture material/making class engaging, and it's clear that he cares about his students (he learned my name after I answered only 2 questions in class). Assignments are straightforward with consistent deadlines, HW answers come from the textbook, and ULAs/TAs were a great resource for me. 100% recommend.
Very organized class structure, clear grading criteria, very informational and engaging lectures. Also dropped a quiz for us. Can't really say anything bad
Matni's lectures are engaging, and the homework is challenging but helpful. Unstuckstudy is a great study tool alongside the free textbook. Attend class, stay organized, and you'll do well.
Awesome prof. Definitely would recommend this course. Very engaging lectures that were very helpful for the quizzes/final. Only semi-difficult part were the short 15 minute quizzes, but if you prepare a small amount, you should be fine. He does drop lowest hw, quiz, and lab grade which is a plus. The final is pretty straightforward.
Very engaging lecturer and made the class material easy to digest with jokes and lots of examples/demos. I read the textbook but it was definitely not necessary, as he covered the material well in class. The quizzes were pretty basic, I only significantly studied for the final, which was very reasonable.
The best C.S. teacher for learning the fundamentals. He teaches at a good pace and has helpful code demos. iclicker participation is only 2% of your grade. The difficulty comes from the quizzes. You only get 15 minutes and some questions are hard.
Professor Matni is a wonderful teacher and provides a very well-rounded understanding of the basics of C++ and problem solving! His lectures are useful and interactive, and the provided worksheets are very helpful! He is also really easily accessible, and very understanding! As long as you do your best, listen, and respect his time, you're golden!
Professor Matni is an excellent professor. He drops the lowest quiz score, lab score, and homework grade. His lectures are easy to follow along with and he is very funny and engaging. He clearly wants his students to succeed—his quizzes/final were all really fair and not too difficult. I wish I could have him for all my CS courses.
His exams were really reasonable- just make sure you go through all the lectures beforehand. The homework sometimes took a long time ~4-5 hours but they are good practice and it's easy to find help. His lectures were also good- overall a good professor to take 64 with.
Only gripe is you can tell if he thinks your question is stupid and that HW is graded harshly. Matni was really good at getting the content to go into our heads, and the HW helped in really cementing down that knowledge. Did not have to spend that much time on this class, but make sure to triple check your HWs
Matni is a great CS professor. My third class with him and he is still great. He gives great lectures with in depth examples. The class is really straightforward and really well organized. My only gripe is that the homework is really long and hard sometimes. The exams are usually much easier than the HW and he allows an entire cheat sheet.
Matni rocks!! He is an incredible lecturer who is very clear about the material presented. He is very open to questions and is clear with his answers. Exams are moderately tough but definitely doable if you go to lecture and study the homework well. He's super funny during lecture and truly, truly cares about his students.
This is my second class with him and Matni is great. His lectures are really helpful and likes to do in depth examples. He also has so many resources such as class notes, helpful sections, and actually great TAs/ULAs. The material is difficult, but he wants to help you. The homework can be long and difficult though. Really fair quizzes and final.
Intelligent and caring professor, understandable lectures, but very fast paced, hard labs and hard final. CS32 was pretty great with him but 111 had a weekly quiz that was hard and I felt the final was too focused on small details, but he allows a cheat sheet. Both are fast paced, but CS32 has easier material so putting in the work got me an A.
Really lenient on grading assignments and tests, doesn't curve tests or grade in general but easy to get an A as long as you know lecture material well. Great lecturer, class was always interesting with Matni.
Stay completely still when taking quizzes or exams because he likes to assume you are cheating and make the rest of the quarter unpleasant for you.