Professor Kharitonova's CMPSC9 class can be challenging, but manageable if you stay on top of the labs and use resources like the textbook and office hours. I found unstuck ai to be a helpful study tool alongside the class materials. Overall, it's a rewarding course if you're willing to put in the effort.

Terrible. Do not take this class with her if you could help it.

Absolutely terrible professor. Doesn't respond to emails at all. The amount of work is almost impossible and you'll be spending all your time on this class alone so hopefully your other classes are easy. It's also most likely she's using fake accounts with fake positive reviews to boost her score on here so beware.

Nice lady but there's so much homework for an intro class. Material is delivered way too fast and there's way too much work. Grading isn't really fair and not forgiving either. She's also really suspicious of cheating so be careful. Final proj took forever and was pretty pointless because it entailed a bunch of advanced features, you had to fill in

Had her for 8 and 9, review focuses on 9. Labs were important but very difficult; later ones took many hours to complete. Professor was a little quiet in lectures but explained material decently. Curved grades at end of course (twice, I'm pretty sure). Exams were tricky but doable; focuses on lab concepts.

I really liked Kharitonova! I think there is a lot of overhating towards her. Going to lecture is very important, and you will for sure need to go to understand concepts if you want a high grade. Labs can also be a bit strenuous at times but if you start early it is not that big of a deal. She is a very sweet professor

Her lectures do not line up with the quizzes and labs. Expect to spend 5+ hours on labs a week trying to figure it out. The TA hardly spoke English and was unhelpful. She will accuse you of cheating. You will have to learn everything on your own. NOT a beginner class. She drained me of my will to live.

Changed the course outline, having cumulative final instead of final project. Tough grader, will play word tricks and mark you down if you got one part incorrect. Unclear instructions and it's hard to understand what she is asking for. Strongly recommend to befriend your cs friends to understand concepts.

Very overhated professor, lectures were very clear and helpful and grading is fair. Labs get slightly involved/difficult later in the quarter, but if you get started early and go to office hours for help, you can finish them easily and learn a lot from them. One midterm and final, each will be doable if you read the textbook/pay attention.

Passing this class is very doable, get started on the labs early, and read the textbook. Lectures are helpful, I don't understand how some people here say they aren't. They clarify topics in the reading and often show you how to do the labs for the week. Just pay attention and hold yourself accountable. Struggling is part of the learning process.

Terrible. If I could give negative stars I would. Doesn't respond to emails. Not sympathetic at all. Didn't curve and refused to do so despite being a couple points away from passing the class. Not understanding and doesn't teach well at all. I've had some bad professors but they are saints compared to her.

If you read the assigned chapters and complete the labs early then the course isn't too difficult. The TAs hold office hours almost every day and to help hold yourself accountable you can go sit in the classroom where they're holding office hours to work on your labs (that's what I did). Prof emphasizes topics on tests so you know what to expect.

lectures were not helpful, labs were too hard(on top of homework). She didn't answer to emails. Final was WAY harder than the practice final, with topics which were barely covered in class. on the very last day the grading turned out to be more strict than the usual scale and didn't count the extra credit lab which took us hours to complete.

This class destroyed my interest in programming. The labs (20% of your total grade) take up to 10 hours per week. While it is clear that Prof K is passionate about CS, her teaching can be confusing. The exams are graded quite harshly and many of questions are things not covered in lecture and only briefly mentioned in the textbook.

She is not a good teacher. Everything she says is overcomplicated. She tells you something won't be on the final and then proceeds to put it on the final. She says she will upload lectures then doesn't upload lectures. She doesn't respond to student questions.

too difficult by far

(meant to rate 5 difficulty) $90 online textbook for coding and quizzes insanely hard. self study class with lots of homework and activites takes so many hours per week. doesnt teach and reads off slides. is so paranoid about cheating.

Does not care about her students. Unreasonable expectations for a beginner class.

I've had Prof. K twice now (for CS8 and CS9) and to be honest she is the worst professor I've ever had at UCSB. Especially in CS9, 70% of your grade is based on difficult midterms and finals, and she gives labs (that take 10 hours each) every week on top of homework. Not to mention she rarely gives feedback and the TAs are not helpful either.

Completely disconnected from the students and what we need to succeed. Her lectures are terribly paced and cover very little of what she said is necessary on the exam. Cannot get a good reply out of her outside of class, so I recommend to stay away and take her courses from another professor or from another school

There are terrible quizzes every week. Attendance is required even with replays.

Prof was usually in good spirits and tried to incorporate a pomodoro timer into lectures so students would get breaks. However grade was heavily influenced by broken pop quizzes which would often catch students on semantics or typos rather than ever checking for understanding.

This class completely drained me of my will to live. Teacher is insane for thinking these are even remotely beginner level projects. She spends more time every day in class threatening all of us with failing than teaching anything. Attendance is mandatory but she just reads off slides. Expect to be teaching yourself with the textbook every day.