Eggert is a fun lecturer and exam questions generally come from lecture, so just show up and actually think actively about the material and you'll be ok there. The workload is mainly concentrated in the quarter long group project - make sure you get a good group (seriously), and if you want to prepare for something before the quarter starts, make it that. Assignments aren't bad, the instructions hold your hand pretty hard and apparently the discussions are useful for that too.

Eggert might be a good researcher, but def not a good professor.

As a student who recently completed Professor Eggert's COM SCI 35L - Software Construction Laboratory class, I can attest to the fact that this is one of the most challenging and rewarding computer science classes I have ever taken. The course is known for its difficulty, and it certainly lived up to its reputation. However, the skills and knowledge I gained from the course were well worth the effort I put in.

One of the things that sets this course apart from others is the emphasis on hands-on learning. The six "lab" assignments cover a variety of topics that are loosely related to what is covered during lecture. This means that a significant amount of learning takes place outside of class. For example, the first lab assignment involves learning how to use Linux and the Emacs text editor, which are essential tools for software development. Later labs involve working with Python, Javascript, React, Git, C, and lower-level Git. Each of these topics is important in its own right, and I appreciated the opportunity to learn them in a practical context.

The group project is also a valuable learning experience. Students work in teams to develop a full-stack web application using Javascript and React. This project requires students to apply the skills and concepts they learned during the labs, as well as additional knowledge about web development. It also requires effective communication and collaboration, as each team member is responsible for a different part of the project.

The exams are by far the most difficult part of the course. Professor Eggert makes his exams with the intention of a 50% average, which means that they are intentionally challenging. However, I found that paying attention to the topics and overarching ideas during lecture was helpful in preparing for the exams. While the questions themselves often required me to think beyond those ideas, having a solid understanding of the big picture was essential. Professor Eggert's exams test your intuition behind certain computer science topics rather than specific, concrete concepts. This means that they require a deeper understanding of the material than a typical exam would.

Outside of class, Professor Eggert is known globally for maintaining the time zone database, known as tzdb. I found it fascinating that my professor was a recognized authority on such an important and widely used resource. This speaks to the level of expertise and knowledge that he brings to the classroom.

Overall, I would highly recommend Professor Eggert's COM SCI 35L - Software Construction Laboratory class to any computer science student who is up for a challenge. The course is intense in terms of workload, but the skills and knowledge gained are invaluable. The hands-on labs and group project provide practical experience with essential tools and technologies, and the exams push students to think deeply about computer science topics. Professor Eggert's expertise and passion for the subject make him an excellent instructor, and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from him.

Very tough, but still worth taking even if your major doesn't require it.

Professor Eggert's teaching style is jumping around random topics. Honestly, thought a lot of the information that you learn is very applicable for a real software engineering job, however it was a lot to digest in the format it was taught. Grading wise, I received an A-, but the curve on the final was definitely a big help. Eggert doesn't reveal the curve statistics, but I definitely walked out of that final with a 40% or less, but got curved to an 85%. Not sure if the midterm is curved. Another big portion of your grade is the group project, and I believe the score you receive is completely dependent on the ta grading your project.

This class is hard. If you reach out for genuine help though, the teaching team is there to help you. Make sure you get a good group for the project and make sure you start taking good notes at the very beginning. The exams are open note, but no electronics, so do yourself a favor and write down every word you hear Eggert utter (half figurative). Ask for help! from your peers and from the teaching team.

First of all, this class is very difficult. The assignments take time to figure out, and Dr. Eggert's tests are notoriously unpredictable and difficult. Plus, the assignment grading was super slow this quarter, with 3/6 assignments returned as of the start of finals week. I went into this class expecting the worst, but I actually learned a lot coming out of it. Though he doesn't give you much help on assignments, Dr. Eggert's lectures are incredibly engaging because of how much he knows about everything (he also casually throws insults at random stuff like mac users and c++ without intention, which is also pretty funny). Besides, the TAs are very helpful in terms of guiding you through assignments. By the end of the class, you will likely have learned many useful concepts and tools for industry (aside from emacs, sorry Eggert) as long as you try your hardest on all assignments. Plan around this class if you wish to take it - don't take this class with another difficult class. Plus, Dr. Eggert writes the assignments, but the TAs grade them with their own rubrics, so pay attention to Piazza posts about the assignments. Though grading is incredibly slow, the TAs (at least for this qtr) seem to be pretty lenient and won't give you too much of a hard time as long as you adhere to their rubric. Make sure you do your best on all the assignments cuz you are not getting 'em back until weeks 9-10. It was a very tough journey for me, but it was worth it.

As is well-known, this class was horrible. Labs almost every week with almost no direction and covering many disparate topics. I had Tameez Latib as my TA, and he was good, but there's only so much you can so when the content and structure of the class is so bad. It's a really great thing that this class was discontinued and replaced by CS 97.

I did not like this class very much. I thought the material was very very important, but I feel like the online format combined with Eggert's brand of more chaotic teaching methods were not a good fit. The TAs were really nice.

The most important thing I got out of this class was I made a bunch of friends doing the project together, and I feel like I got a good overview of SWE.

The worst part of this class by far was the tests and the very non-transparent grading. The test averages were abysmal. The curve was a lot harsher this quarter, too, probably because projects were worth more than usual (15% as opposed to ~5%).

Overall, 5/10 class. Get through it and you will be a better computer scientist. It's like a light hazing.

There's a project each week, so 10 assignments total over the quarter.

Each project covers that week's lecture of some new cs topic (i.e. shell scripting, ssh, linux, system calls). The projects really don't require much time, but each one requires that you understand that particular cs topic well and getting a good grasp of it in one week might be difficult at times.

The final is hard, but honestly pretty doable and partial credit is key to getting a solid score.