This course was taught in tandem with other professors. This was not noticeable when this course was in person but it was noticeable when we went online. The other teachers would do live lectures while Dill posted his separate lectures as video files under his Collab site. There is nothing wrong with that but compared to the levels of collaboration between the other professors it definitely made his efforts seem a little weak.

As for the course itself, it does not get really difficult until the last third of the semester. The last few weeks especially are really challenging with the harder homework ("PAs") and projects.

The lab section was easy. Just show up and you'll do fine.

If you're taking it as a cog-sci requirement and you don't like programming, tread carefully. The only reason I survived this course was office hours and online lectures with Petit and Brunelle.

Nice and easy to get a good grade in. I made myself go to lectures once a week after literally not knowing about a test until I accidentally clicked on a piazza notification, but I was usually able to get a lot of work done in the lecture, so that's a plus. Kinda dry as a lecturer, but the material is pretty basic to half the class, and there's not much to do to spice it up. Pretty easy A if you remember all the assignments.

Overall, a pretty easy class if you're into programming. It was easy to not attend lecture but still catch up on the material. It really got me to fall in love with CS!

This class is not hard if you are willing to teach coding completely to yourself. Dill is the worst lecturer because instead of coding along with you he reads from premed powerpoint that he posts anyway. His study guides for the tests are pretty helpful, but I learned the most in lab and by doing the PA assignments weekly in this class. I would watch the other professor's recorded lectures instead of Dill's because they were way more coherent. Dill is a super nice guy and will help you if you seek him out, but it is very confusing as he reads through powerpoint made a long time ago.

This class was what inspired me to become as CS minor, but it certainly had nothing to do with the professor. Craig Dill is a very sweet man but eternally boring. By the end of the semester about thirty people showed up to lecture (and less on Fridays). The lecture may be completely useless, but it was still a very helpful class. I went into this with no coding experience, so the first few PA's (programming assignments) were somewhat difficult, but after paying attention in lab, asking more experienced friends, and going to a few TA office hours, I came out ahead of the game. I would highly recommend doing the PA's early, just in case they take longer than you expect. Being able to sleep on my code actually led to me waking up with a new algorithm idea that ended up being functionally correct. The game project is as hard as you make it, so choosing a partner who will pull their own weight (this requires them being on the same level as you so that they understand your code) is crucial. Again, getting ahead on the game project so you can focus on your other finals is also crucial. The tests were very similar to the practice tests (take and retake these--they are very helpful). I can't stress this enough: If you're confused on something basic, make sure you understand it before you have to learn more complicated stuff! This was what allowed me to get a good grade in this class.

Dill is a nice enough guy, but I learned nothing from his lectures, and stopped going entirely by mid-October 2018, except for exams. Everything I learned in this course was on my own, through trial-and-error and reading. Take it with a different professor, or don't take the course.

Extremely nice guy but his teaching and lectures weren't clear. I do not recommend taking him for this class.

Professor Dill is very fun and approachable and he adds tons of comment in his lecture program so that you can review it easily after class. He doesn't write on board and simply talks through his program, but i find it very helpful (better than skipping lecture and try to read the program by myself without his interpretation) Homework counts 48% and 3 tests count 13% each. The class is fairly graded and it would be a good intro to simply learn about CS or want to get a CS major.

The class is pretty easy at first but ramps up quickly towards the last third of the semester. I wouldn't recommend Dill for the class- right at the end of the semester I discovered one of Brunelle's videos on Panopto and immediately saw a huge difference in the quality and clarity of his lectures as opposed to Dill. Reading the textbook is helpful- there are some good examples in there for topics you need to know. Lab is a fun part of this course, and I often looked forward to it, but would not recommend Dill as his lectures don't really help you and his "tech grandpa" vibe is a little weird at times.