Very nice, but TAs are way more helpful. Tests were pretty difficult and she moved quickly through lectures sometimes. Most of grade comes from assignments and labs, tests are only 10% of grade (final is 15%). Can definitely be hard when coding for first time, definitely need to put time in and do all the practice problems to do well. Not as easy as it seems.
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6This introductory course is genuinely accessible to beginners, but the difficulty noticeably increases with object-oriented concepts and strict, syntax-heavy paper exams. While the weekly take-home assignments offer generous retakes and quizzes are open-note, securing a strong grade ultimately requires mastering fundamentals through early, consistent practice rather than relying on automated grading tools. The instructor delivers material at a steady pace, though most students find office hours and TA support far more effective for troubleshooting tricky problems or navigating confusing lab prompts. Treat those lab sessions as low-stakes collaborative practice rather than major grade drains, and you will easily navigate the department's expectations without any prior coding background.
12 Reviews
Prof. Khargonkar is really nice and engaging! Most classes are just lecture for the first half, practice for the second half. Her teaching is fine, most of the issues from the class come from departamental decisions. Most of your grade comes from quizzes, a final project, and a final exam, and the quizzes and final exam are intentionally difficult and meant to trick you. While you can study, a lot of your success comes down to being able to fundamentally understand code (all quizzes/exam are on paper), which wasn't as easy for me. I did a lot better with the take home assignments (PAs and the final project) because I had a lot more time to mess with the code. The class itself is in python, so if you are already familiar (which I was), actually learning is relatively easy. I imagine it's okay for people with no experience with python, the learning curve isn't that bad. - they'll teach you everything you need to know.
TLDR; Khargonkar is a good professor, the class structure itself (which she doesn't make) isn't good. #tCFF23