Coming into this class with no coding experience I was pretty scared, but Cai was pretty good with easing into the class and material. Although his slides are organized and he gives some basic examples using the covered concepts, I definitely would have struggled much more to get an A in the class without the help of other more experienced people and open note midterm and final due to being online (the midterm was two projects we had to code, and the final was multiple small questions - both were 24hr windows). The homework assignments and exams were definitely fair, but throughout the quarter I would have to relearn some concepts through youtube or other means because Cai's lectures just don't go in-depth enough, or he doesn't give great examples.

I can tell Cai cares that we actually learn, but he can definitely be intimidating to go to ask questions to in office hours or over email or in class. Especially when his camera was off the whole quarter.

Honestly, Professor Cai is a really good professor. Not sure why his ratings are low. I had no experience with CS and enjoyed taking this course. He makes CS very applicable, is kind and understanding of circumstances, and overall VERY CHILL.

Loved Cai. Pretty good lecturer and always explained concepts pretty well, especially given the online format. I thought that homework was pretty easy and the exams weren't too difficult as well. I do have a decent amount of coding experience though, so that probably factored in. Overall though, seeing as most of the PIC 10A teachers seem to have rather bad reviews, I'd recommend taking this class with Cai if you get the chance.

Pretty good professor. His slides are really clean and well organized, I haven't taken his final yet but most of the grade was HW and the midterm was extremely fair.

Easy class if you just logically plough through the material. The homework assignments professor gave were all fair, according to what was being taught in lecture. The written midterm wasn't so fun because you had to take real extra care about syntax while writing it down and I was a little out of time, but I think generally speaking it's necessary to put those things into good coding habit so overall not too bad. The TAs gave good extra practice during discussion.
Overall just a solid good intro to programming class.

DO NOT TAKE THIS PROF!!!!! I hated this class. The professor was so unclear and super unhelpful, the average grade on the midterm was around 50% and he refused to grade it claiming we hadn't tried on the exam. I tried to get help from the professor but he was horrible at communication and offered 0 good advice. I dropped the class because he offered no accommodations for covid. LITERALLY AVOID THIS PROFESSOR AT ALL COSTS.

Cai is a good professor, and knows the material well. His slides were informative, and I feel like I learned a lot from this class. That said, it was not an easy class. Our first midterm had an average of a 68% which was then curved up to a 75%. Aside from the difficulty of tests, Cai also had a thick accent, and I found him very difficult to understand. My TA Willaim Garland was the goat, and taught us everything. Overall, I'd be hesitant to take another PIC course with Cai, but would probably do it if need be. If you can get someone else, do it. If not, I at least feel like I learned a lot.

I would take any other professor than Cai. Although the homework load was light, if you come into this class with no coding experience (as I did) you will most likely struggle. I felt completely unprepared for the midterm and did pretty badly. The midterm average was in the 60s if that gives you any idea as to how the class was doing. The professor was extremely unhelpful when I visited his office during hours. He basically told me I would just have to understand the material better to do better on the final. I decided to persevere through the class, however, I got covid week 8 and he did not accept any accommodations for covid so I had to drop the class. Would not take his class again.

I had zero coding experience before coming into this class, and I don't think my coding skills have changed much after taking this class. The professor wasn't very clear in what he was teaching, and it truly felt like this course was advancing way too quickly, especially for beginners. Maybe someone with previous coding experience could enjoy this course more than I did, but I struggled so hard understanding the course material. I got lost so many times, and I had to spend so much time relearning the material on my own. Although Professor Cai generously dropped the lowest assignment grade and gave 24 hours to complete the midterm and final, this course was still extremely challenging for me.

This was my first time doing computing... in fact, I didn't even know what programming even meant before I took this class. It was a great class for me to figure out how everything works. The first half of the quarter was pretty easy and actually really fun. I was really enjoying it. Cai is pretty hard to understand because of his accent, but all his lectures are recorded so I can go back through and pause to figure out what he's saying. Also, his slides are through so it's not too bad. The second half was definitely harder but I got through it. The final was pretty rough but he gives 24 hours and I'm pretty sure he curved it.