I really liked this class. I am not a CS major or anything adjacent and thought I've coded before, my previous experience compared to others is minimal. I feel like this class was very fair and accessible. There are some reviews here saying Stahl is mean and not accommodating and I couldn't disagree more. Stahl is extremely caring -- I turned in a project that didn't build (I would have gotten a 2) but he emailed me before the due date letting me know about this issue. Super nice! He is super good with e-mail and got back to me about taking the midterm an alternate time super quick. Advice: if you ever get a horrible score on a project (I got a 15 once) do not just leave it; email him and he will change it to something much more reasonable (I ended up getting a 95 on this project). I didn't go to lectures because they were 6-8 pm during winter. But I usually watched them and they were helpful like 50% of the time. I will agree that sometimes it gets boring, but I think that's expected when learning CS mechanics. Class time helps you a ton with projects though. For projects (40% of your grade) I would definitely say start early. Every time I started a project I was stressed and was like how can I do this in a week and then it ended up being fine. Going to UPE or a TA usually really helps if you're super confused. I had no idea how to start projects 5 or 7 but I went to UPE / a TA and got it done in a few hours. Use Codeboard and look at the project discussion boards because they help a lot. Also tests I feel like are pretty fair. I was so stressed for the final and the midterm but I ended up getting an A and A- on both. For tests, don't be afraid to ask him if it will be on the test, he will tell you. Saved so much time not studying pointers, overloading, etc. Study the content he lists as fair game and you'll be good. Overall, super accessible and fair in my opinion. I don't find CS easy and didn't find this class easy but I still managed to do okay!

Howard was not the greatest teacher. He would often have long-winded explanations, and went at a very slow pace. In fact, he would introduce a topic to you, and you'd forget what he's talking about because of the slow pace of his lectures.

The discussions were better than the lectures; in 2 hours, I learned more than 4 hours spent in the lecture during the week. If Hunter is TAing again, please go to his discussion! He is one of the best TAs I've had. The LAs are also very very helpful.

Projects did not take long. For some projects, you could get it done in one sitting. The midterms were weird... Howard is not the best examiner, and even he admits it.

Overall, I would take this class again. Attend office hours frequently and discuss the project materials with others, and you'll be perfectly fine.

Lectures for me were a bit slow (though I had prior coding experience) but Howard is really approachable and easygoing. Projects were pretty straightforward (especially if you've programmed before) and directions/expectations were all laid out. He explains everything, including which software to use to code your projects and how he wants you to submit them.

pray to the bald norwegian god, blop blop, walk the arrow, goated prof love this man and his dog

I came into this class with 0 coding experience, so I think I had a more difficult time than others (it definitely helps having prior experience; if you don't be prepared to put in extra work). Stahl is a very nice, understanding professor but as a lecturer he is very boring. His slides aren't the most helpful and coupled with the 2 hour lectures it was very easy to drift off. The projects were reasonable, with project 3 being the most time consuming/hardest. If you put in the hours and pay great attention to detail, you should be able to score well on all of them, but the projects do take a decent amount of time (the discussion boards on every project were super helpful--I would often go there to read other people's questions/answers clarifying specific parts about the project). That being said, tests are a little different in that you need to know C++ down to every bit. I wasn't prepared for this on the midterm and basically tanked my grade, but reading the textbook helped me majorly score better on the final. I recommend forgetting about the project and really getting to know C++ as a language for this. This class was really difficult to me as everything was super new and unfamiliar, but Stahl is a nice guy to start out your C++ journey with.

Stahl did his job, nothing more, nothing less. I started the class with 6 weeks of zoom lectures, and 4 final weeks back in-person, and frankly, in person was the most boring thing I've ever attended. It was disengaging, slow, and gloom. I will say that I did learn what was needed for CS31, and it is not hard to do well in this class, but it was a slow and tough process to adhere to.

Stahl was a great guy and very nice, but his lectures worked the same as melatonin gummies. They literally made me fall asleep every time. I don't think I attended more than three lectures in the entire quarter and learned almost entirely from the discussion. However, his tests were pretty fairly made and reflected what we were learning from the projects. The projects were also manageable and he often extended the deadline. He even ended up changing one of my project grades from a literal F- to a C after I spoke with him and clarified some things. Overall, he's a very sweet man, but it was just a really boring class overall and I feel like I learned more from outside the class.

Overall, I did not find this class too difficult. You do have to put a lot of time into the projects, but you will walk out with a great understanding of C++. Only reason I got an A- was because I did not study for the midterm.
Project grades are based on wether or not you pass all test cases, and Stahl supplies you most of them before you turn it in. Getting 100% on all the projects is very doable. Although, you do have to study for the exams quite a bit, as there's a multiple choice section that requires a lot of practice to remember without a compiler.
If you put in some effort, you will succeed!

Pretty much the easiest class I've ever taken.

I went into this class with no coding experience at all, and Stahl taught pretty well, but I definitely learned more by just doing the projects. The online midterm was super easy, and the final was also relatively easy but definitely required you to actually understand the coding part (moreso than the midterm). Projects 3 and 7 had me wanting to die for a little bit but I finished them (mostly) by myself.
I did not go to a single lecture in person and I'm glad because he talks sooooo slow and I understood him better at 2x.
Overall I thought Stahl was really nice and good at answering project-related questions. Would recommend!!!!!