Took CS16 fall quarter as a CE major, he's the GOAT! Super engaging and helpful lecturer, really explains concepts well. Work diligently on the labs (that really aren't that hard!), because being fuzzy on these basic concepts will hurt you in the future. Definitely attend all the lectures that you can.
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.
Prof Matni is my def favorite professor at UCSB. I loved coming to his class; his lectures were engaging in a refreshing way post-covid. Slides are easy to follow & he has this great energy that made class fun and interesting. Plus he is hilarious. Tests are ~fairly~ straightforward but sometimes tricky wording. A lovely man overall. Recommend!
Professor Matni is the best comm professor I had at UCSB. He is funny, engaging, and cares about his students. His lectures are all easy to follow along and understand, and he is clearly very prepared and passionate about the material. Class participation is graded but Matni is great at encouraging it and creating a welcoming classroom environment
This is my 2nd course with Matni since I enjoy his lecture style (similar to D. Mullin). He was receptive to student requests about COVID and his office hours were great. Lectures (always recorded) and readings were engaging and interesting. Grading included attendance, various assignments (including a group project), and a midterm + final exam.
Had him over the summer and thought he was such an amazing professor. I enjoyed his lectures and his assignments are thorough and clear.
Thought this class would be brutal based off the ratings but it was such a fun class. His lectures are so clear and he explains everything thoroughly
Prof Matni is one of the best Comm professors I've had. He makes lecture material very clear, tests accurately reflect lecture and reading material, and he just makes class interesting all around. Would love to take another class with him in the future
Dr. Matni is condescending often times when you ask him a question. He grades very strict and will purposefully put questions on tests and quizzes to trick you.
Dr. Matni is an amazing professor. His lectures are very helpful and fun to watch, and they cover everything in the textbook. He answers questions clearly on piazza and during lecture. Homework, labs, and quizzes are sometimes a little bit too much, but they are pretty easy and are good exercises. Overall a really enjoyable class.
He is a good lecturer that genuinely wants students to do well. The quizzes can be tricky though and they are a difficult but fair. He is very clear in terms of what is due at what time each week & actively encourages students to come to office hours. Prof Matni is very enthusiastic & has a great sense of humor too!
Solid professor, clear and organized lectures. Homework, quiz and labs simple. (1 each per week) Gave extra credit for (basically) free. Don't worry about the final. If you've taken APCS, this class is probably no problem at all. (A bit too simple of a curriculum, perhaps; it's not a lot of content).
I liked Matni a lot! He was really lenient on students during the pandemic and he dropped the lowest quiz gradehe also gave us an extra credit opportunity on the labs. I thought the final was pretty easy but still a good review of the course material.
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.
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
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.
Prof. Matni was an amazing CS professor who truly made the material easy to learn. The labs were definitely a time commitment, but otherwise the homework was pretty easy. I didn't really go to class, but it's usually a good idea to attend lecture because he goes over concepts and shows us how everything works with his code. def would take his class
I really liked Professor Matni. This class has a pretty heavy workload (two homeworks and one lab every week) but it's definitely not impossible, plus most of your grade is based on homework and labs so tests aren't too much pressure. He made the material interesting and easy to learn and was really nice and accessible outside of class.
Matni is good as professors go but can get on my nerves. Wakes up sleeping students and embarrasses them during class(how does this accomplish anything?). CS16 has WAY more & WAY tougher homework and labs than CS8. My partner and I spent an average of 5 hours on the labs each week. Put in the work and you will pass easily, but it is time consuming.