Professor Burgin is a very kind person. His lecture is unclear sometimes, but you can always get his help outside class. His exams are not easy, but you'll get good grade if you really UNDERSTAND the homework. He is always available outside classes and you always can ask for his help. I think he really cares for students.

I took CS181 with Professor Burgin in 2016 summer. Professor Burgin is a really nice person. "I will answer as many questions as you have" is the most frequent sentences said by him. He did explain everything as long as you asked him. He is really knowledgable about the materials taught in CS181, so he can give you some satisfactory answer no matter what questions you have for the course material. Also, he gave students chance to retake the midterm, which was really helpful. He did care about students. We had several requests about the homework deadline and grades issues, and after talking with him, he agreed! Therefore, as long as your request is reasonable and will help you as a student, there is a good chance that he would agree. He has his own style of teaching. It might take a while to get used to it, but after you get used to it, you will gain a lot from his class and love the way he teaches. Also, he gave out a lot of extra points if you pay attention to the lecture, answer the questions asked by him, or spot some mistakes(like a typo) he made in class. Get involved in his class, do the homework, and I am sure you will get a good grade from him!

I took CS180 with Professor Burgin over the summer. We had only 8 weeks of class (minus one week for finals) to cover what was already dense enough material due to the nature of this class. I struggled a lot during the class, but overall I learned A LOT as well. This is definitely one class you should take if you want to elevate yourself above the 'I know how to code' title - as you will learn how to solve real-world problems.

//Lectures//
Professor Burgin could strike you a bit slow from the beginning. We spent two classes covering the topic of stable matching, which I heard was usually breezed through only as an example of the importance of smart algorithms. However, coming from a math-extensive background, Prof. Burgin used the example to introduce some common notations you'd probably encountered in Math61 (Discrete Structures) so that you don't get lost later on in his lectures. Lectures were not podcasted, and they were not necessarily mandatory but by going to lectures, you'd get a better sense of the focus of the exams. Prof. Burgin loves having people asking questions which is a plus. The lecture material is dense so interrupting the professor anytime you have a question, as you might save your classmates as well.

//Exams//
The midterm and final were difficult. Not that I was surprised since the course itself is difficult. However, the problems are very practical and very useful if you figure out how to solve these types of problems. The homeworks prepare you for the exams though. Not that they are all the same, but if you have worked out the homework on your own, you should be fine on the exams. Prof. Burgin in his lectures and on the exams stressed the importance of proof of correctness and proof of efficiency. This is where you use your knowledge from Math 61 (proof by induction or contradiction) to show that your algorithm is correct. It is a big concept though not to say it is not hard, just requires a lot of practice during the course.

//Homework//
There were 3 homeworks for us, and our TAs asked us to type them instead of handwrite them down. Best way to go about it is to use LATEX, but if you don't get time for that then don't bother. The problems prepare you for the exam so definitely work through them on your own, with your peers, and with the professor during his office hours. Proof of correctness and efficiency are very essential such that if you are lacking either one, you are expecting 10 - 20 points at least marked off from your homework. Great problems though I'd say. They help you think about the application of different algorithms in a practical way.

//Grading System//
There was only A/B/C/F available for this class. No plus/minus. Only consisted of homework, midterm and the final. The TA's would first grade them and hand them to the professor, and the professor would check if the grades were correct. You could always go to the professor if you think you don't deserve the grades you got or you would like to dispute something, Prof. Burgin is very open to discussion. Just be patient and convey your idea slowly and he'll definitely take the time to review your homework/exams.

//Side comments//
1) There were people not satisfied with Prof. Burgin when I took the class because of some topics skipped and the communication was not the best. I have to say though, at times I do feel that it is hard to ask the TA's about anything because they would just shoot right back and said the professor didn't tell them anything. I was still able to email professor about my questions or go to his office hours. However, the responses on Piazza by the TA's were most of the time disappointing as we don't really know what was expected at the beginning.

2) Again, grading was pretty harsh if I haven't said it. 10-20 points could be lost just because your algorithm is not the most efficient one. Some students were pretty riled up and confronted the professor (in a very rude way tbh) but the professor was pretty chill about it. I mean, the workload is so low we only had three homeworks (each with 3 problems only) and around 2 weeks for each homework, there's really nothing he could do to make the grading not that harsh due to detail you know. It's not a class where everyone is expected to get an A.

3) Professor Burgin is a slow yet thoughtful and considerate man. Just by the way he talks you could tell he practices logic. Doesn't make sense? Quick example: On the first day of class, he said to us, "I'd answer every question you have." But as more and more people started going to his office hours to dispute grades, he said "I'd like to change my statement. I'd answer 'any' question you have, not 'every'." Yes, he practices logic that it embodies in his teaching. However, he is also very kind and thoughtful and cares about the growth of his students. Really, if you ask him about his past, he'd spend 3 hours telling you without a pause. He has passion in this field and in teaching, but you just have to be open-minded and adjust yourself to make the most out of this class. When you ask him to look at your algorithm, he really does look at them and work them out in his mind (extremely brilliant as well as he could see right away why your algorithm would not work). He makes himself available to questions and comments, and is the complete opposite of intimidating. So if you are thinking about taking this class with Prof. Burgin, do it. You not only grow a lot from the material, but also take away the patience and problem-solving skills from Prof. Burgin.

I took Professor Burgin's CS 181 during the summer and I have to say he is great, even though there are both pros and cons. He is really knowledgeable into the materials of CS181, so he could explain every single concept with profound explanations. He really concerns about his students, as he would always stay after the lecture to answer all the questions from students. However, the problem for his class is that sometimes his delivery is not clear. In many time his delivery for a concept is not smooth, and students could get lost during the lecture. But he really compensated this problem by being really helpful after the class, especially during the office hour. Like I said, he would answer all the questions. So it's ok if the students get lost or feel uncomfortable during the lecture, because if they don't understand the material, they could always ask Professor Burgin after the class. The exams are fair. as they show how good we comprehend the materials covered the lecture. Some questions may be tricky, and complicated, but Professor Burgin is very lenient to the partial credits. In fact, he would give us a chance to retake the midterm if the midterm didn't go well. The final was very tricky, as it really measures how well we understand the concepts. You have to make sure that you grasp what you get from the lecture, and be flexible to apply them in some situations that you have never seen before. What I appreciate the most from his class is that it really allows me to think logically. You will get many things useful that you help you to think like a programmer.

He was very helpful. If you want to success in his class you must pay attention to the lecture, and if you don't understand a part, ask him during the lecture. He explains concepts in different ways until you understand it.

His office hours are so helpful. If you need help with homework, go to his office hours.

If you do the homework and pay attention to the lecture, you will get good grade in this class.

Take his class, you will not regret it. He is very knowledgeable and knows how to teach. Some students complain that he is boring, but common we are not in stand-up comedy show. It is a class, and his main goal is teaching which he is doing great.

Professor Burgin is definitely the WORST professor that I have encountered in UCLA. I took CS180 with him for summer session A. He is simply not qualified to teach this class. His class is heavily mathematically based and does not prepare you for the questions you might have in a future interview. He chose to cover the topics that are less relevant and skipped over a few of the most important topics in algorithm. This is a eight-week class and he spend the first two weeks covering just stable matching. I will let your imagination run wild on how terrible he is. His lecture was such a excruciating pain to sit through. He talks extremely slowly at a speed of one syllable per second. With his monotonic and hypnotizing voice, he is more skilled in putting people to sleep than he is in teaching. Also his grading scheme is absurd. You receive a B if your overall scores fall into the range of 75% to 89 %. That is to say a person who did not turn in one of the three assignments (10% each) can receive the same grade as you. Also, it is extremely hard to get an A in his class since the average on his tests are high 60's and he follows a straight scale with no curve. During one of his OH's, a student who got an 88(the average was around high 60) on his midterm decided to drop the class before the final. Instead of asking the student's incentive to drop the class, Burgin basically complimented himself saying "I will let you drop because I am so caring of my students." WTF he does not give a sh*t. At the end of the day, I learn much more from TA Buxin Zhao than from him. Zhao's discussion was geared towards actual interview questions. He also shared his knowledge on how to get internship and gave valuable career advice. All those helpful tips he gave were considered as distractions by professor Burgin. Burgin even banned him from giving future advice and recommending good interview books so that he could "stay on track". All in all, avoid this professor at all cost. It is a waste of your time and money.

He is really helpful. He explains in full details, and you don't understand it, he will try to explain in other ways, and keep explaining until you understand. Ask him as many question as you come across he will answer all. He is very patient.

Take his class. Attend to lecture. If you want to buy the book for extra help is OK but not necessary. Everything is well explained in lectures. If you pay full attention to lectures and do homework you will get B, and if you are type of people who don't make silly mistakes on tests so you will get A by just attending to lecture and doing homework.

His goal is teach us not torture us. He always suggests the simplest solution.

Professor Burgin is one of the best teachers I have every had. Don't hesitate take his class immediately. You are lucky to be in his class.

Best lecturer, very patient and will repeat same problem several times until students understand. participate in his lectures and B is guaranteed. If you do a little more at home then you will get A.

Prof. Burgin has a very solid background in mathematics, which makes his lecture very math inclined (this course itself is very math inclined I think). He knows the material very well. In fact, by the end of the quarter , he will teach you some more advanced topics, some of which were actually introduced by himself. In terms of competence, he is probably one of the most knowledgeable people in this specific field.

In terms of teaching, depending on your interest in the topics, you may find his lecture a little boring (as in many math courses, which are just repeated definitions, lemmas, theorems, and corollaries over and over). Some of the proofs are long and complete, but it usually suffices to only memorize the lemmas and theorems and to understand how to apply them. (It's still recommended that you pay attention to the proofs for your own learning. It'll also increase your chance of earning extra credits). He is always happy to answer questions. He can stay more than one hour with you in his office after the class until he answers all your questions.

In terms of grading. He does not curve (not when I was in his 181 class). But his midterm and final were quite easy and it wasn't difficult at all to get 90%+. He even gave us a chance to retake the midterm for a higher grade. And the extra credits are not difficult to earn, either. If you pay attention in his class, you can easily earn 10+ extra credit points by the end. I got an easy A and so did everyone I knew in this class.

As in many math courses, the books are usually not necessary if you take notes. But the book usually gives more intuition and examples on the object.

So first off i will say that I took computer Science 181 two times, i took it with sherestov (he is great) but i had to retake the class and i took it with burgin.

So for sherestov he tested x4 and had 80% tests 20% hw and about no partial credit, straight scale with a little curve, i didn't end up so good. He did teach really well though! But the tests were just not good for me.

I took this class with burgin and from the knowledge from the previous class, i can say he is a good guy and an ok lecturer, he goes over more of the proofs and more in depth. He also goes into some other topics that were not covered in the other class. He talks very slow and sometimes may be a little hard to understand, but he is always open to questions. If any topics don't make sense I just read the book, or went on youtube to review.(EXCEPT THE LAST TOPICS which i will mention in a bit)

So i got a F with Sherestov and a B with Burgin.

Burgin grading is
0-30 F
30-49 D
50-74 C
75-90 B
90-100 A

I can say passing this class will be easy, getting a B is completely doable, but A is a little tough to get since it is straight scale.

Our grading break down was
-----
Hw 30% (3 hw assignments)
Midterm 30%
Final 40%

i got about 87% on Hw's
85% on Midterm and
the final Score i don't know but IT WAS HARD

His hws are a bit hard, and you want to work on it, but they were really close to what was asked on the midterm and final.

The midterm was fairly easy but the final was REALLY hard. However, if he sees that your trying and you understand the concepts and elaborate he does give partial credit. (MUCH MORE THAN SHERESTOV)

He also gives EXTRA CREDIT that is not 1-to-1 but a percentage of how much extra credit you get, but these points help your grade and let you retake your midterm and choose what grade was higher if you accumulated enough points!!! All you have to do is answer his questions in his class which range from easy to hard.

We did not have a TA so all questions and discussion was run by the prof as more lecture/discussion.

Don't miss out the last few lectures he was the one that "invented" or "researched" these topics and you will not find anything really on super recursive things so go to class

ALSO OPEN NOTES ON TESTS FOR US AT LEAST YAYY!!!!

Overal he is a great guy, sometimes a bit hard in lecture but he is always open to questions, if you need more help or just want the basics without the proof just read the book or watch some youtube stuff, simple enough.

TLDR: I got F then got B in his class, grading is nice (EXPECT getting B, HARD TO GET A)(straight curve modified ), extra credit and open notes for us, midterm: easy->medium, final: hard, hw :medium->hard, not the best lecturer but nice and will answer your questions. need more help read the book or go on youtube.

Overall give him like a 8.1/10