Note: Formerly CS012
Start your assignments early, and do the work. Honestly the midterms were not difficult at all.
As a transfer student the first thing you'll realize is that the prof only teaches about 30% of the class. The student teacher aide teaches the other 30%. The Zybooks teach 40% of the class. The prof will just be there to answer questions and introduce the subject. The student aide will be actually teaching the implementation lol actually she'll just explain the projects for 10 min at the start of class then you're on your own. Thank god I went over topics in this class at my community college so I was familiar with mostly everything.
CS12 is a relatively difficult class if you don't study the material and actually understand it. Midterms aren't too hard. Had to retake this class even though I had a B overall because I got a 68% on the final(anything lower than a %70 requires you to retake the class). Second time thru I got a solid A. Do your work thats it.
The main reason I think people don't do well in CS012 is because they are babied by CS010 and lulled into a sense of security by how easy the class is. CS010 is very easy, but CS012 really picks up the pace. Also if you take it with Miller, his exams have "themes", where the MC part of the exam will completely revolve around 1 concept. He'll usually give hints to what it is during class. He'll talk about some concept for 30 seconds and will say "ya this might be on your midterm" and then never talk about it again. When I took it with him, the theme of our midterm was compiler flags. It's basically his way of figuring out whether you went to class or not. Also, its his way of ensuring that if you only study the mock midterm he posts like the night before, you will fail, because he changes the themes every couple of quarters. The night before my midterm, he posted a mock midterm that completely revolved around argc and argv[], and because I studied just that, I completely bombed the midterm the next day, which like I said before, mostly revolved around compiler flags. If you take anything from this, just do your assignments on time, go to class, and take note on anything that he says "might be on the exam" and you can basically predict what questions will end up on the exam.
Harder than CS10. I took it with Kris Miller. The programs and labs were okay, going to office hours helps, but the exams kicked my butt. He had some practice exams which helped a bit but you definitely need to study more than that to be ready for the exams. Make sure you understand inheritance, recursion, and linked lists.
I have Kris Miller for this class and overall you need to have a strong C++ foundation in order for this course to be smooth sailing . This means that you should be able to to work on the labs/programming assignments and complete them within 3 hours. If you are not confident or rusty with C++, the course is still doable but you need to go to office hours (a lot) for any kind of help. Also, it is helpful to attend lectures since he will often leave hints on what’s going to be tested in the midterms and finals. Good luck!
Go to office hours for help on projects. They will help tremendously.
Make sure to pay attention to what Mr. Miller says during lectures as he will often drop hints about what will be on the midterms + finals.
The class felt quite manageable and easy at first, but as time went on, the workload started getting greater and greater. This class is meant to be difficult and I recommend managing your time well and studying various concepts repeatedly to gain a better understanding of the course materials, especially for the final project.
CS012 is an extremely difficult class. Some upperclassmen have told me that it's harder than CS014, but I have yet to see that for myself. I took this class Winter 2020 with Jeffrey McDaniel. He's an extremely good lecturer with lots of knowledge of the subject of C++, although I do wish he would smile more (he kinda has that mean, scary face, but really isn't all that scary). CS012 is filled with content, and you have to be on your toes and learn quickly. If you find yourself falling behind then make sure to quickly get help via office hours. Both professors and TAs have office hours, and there is SI sessions as well. This course is not too bad up until the midterm, but the stuff after is very hard. Pointers, Linked Lists, and Recursion are all difficult topics, which difficult programming assignments. I found myself having to collaborate with people to get through the assignments, even though you are not allowed to collaborate. Please make sure you do not use GitHub code on your assignments, that's how many people got caught. Instead, get help from friends, TAs, and professors, they will often lead you in the right path and that way you make sure that you are learning the material. Definitely review pointers and linked lists before going to CS014.
Moves fast, hard concepts, be ready for lots of more programming
The midterm and final multiple choice are hard
This class was really really hard even with quarantine mainly because of the programs Kris Miller gave us. Best advice I can give is make a study group so you guys can help each other understand the concepts. Pointers, linked lists, and recursion are some of the hardest concepts in this class. Really try your best to understand everything well and ask your TA for help! They’re very nice and want you to do well. Also if you’re struggling with concepts from CS010 don’t be afraid to ask because everything builds on it. Overall it’s a hard class but if you take the time each week to understand the readings and assignments, it’ll be slightly less painful.
Took this class online during the pandemic, so it was a little different from the usual course. Everyone told me it was super hard so i was prepared for the worst. honestly not bad at all though. the first half was easy. the second half was when things started to pick up. just make sure you do your programs early, take notes from zybooks, and you'll be fine. i say pay special attention to pointers and linked lists, bc those were some of the harder topics for me to get down and understand. don't worry too much about this class but definitely be prepared to spend a lot of time on it
Had this class with Jeff McDaniel. He was extremely knowledgeable but I could not for the life of me understand his teaching or learn from it. I went to a the majority of Kris Miller's lectures who was teaching it at the same time and found him to be extremely clear and helpful.
(Spring'21 -online) - Prof Kris Miller - Big step up from CS10A, but manageable, TA Uday Saini was the best, THE BEST!! - Do the assignments ahead of time as it would be a big pain to do them at the last minute - Definitely don't skip over any concepts as they are very important for further cs classes. Good luck!
I had the course with Kris Miller. Go to lecture because he sometimes says topics that will be tested on the midterm and on the final. There was a decent curve at the end of the class and he grades pretty fairly for the midterms and finals. The programming assignments can take a long time for this class so make sure you start early. The first half of this class is pretty basic and the material is not that hard. But in the second half of the class after you start learning about pointers and linked lists the class becomes harder. But make sure you pay attention in the second half of the class because you get a good introduction to algorithm analysis and data structures, which is the foundation of what you will be doing in CS10C. Also, my TA, Hariri Venkatesan barely knew the concepts so if you get her don't bother asking her for help and go to a different TA instead. Overall, manageable class if you put in the work needed.
Greater jump in terms of difficulty from 10a. Where in 10a you focused primarily on builidng familiarity with C++, in 10B you begin learning higher level concepts and build similarly more difficult programs. With that being said Professor Miller is an amazing professor who knows his stuff well. If you take it with him, make sure that you reach out to him about anything that you may be confused about because he does a great job at visualizing concepts for you to understand. Show up to lecture, take notes, do the reading/challenges and you will pass.
The concepts in this course build upon each other so I recommend not slacking off in any form. When you are on top of things, the class is not difficult and the program assignments end being fun instead of draining.
Had Kris Miller online section. Dude is a great professor that's passionate about the things he does. Teaches pretty well and is pretty understanding. Make sure not to fall behind and actually try to pay attention during his lectures.
Final and quiz are the hardest part. My quizzes were worse then leet code and my professor messed them up in class. Final was even harder
I had kris miller for fall 2023. It starts off simple in the first half but the real tough part is the 2nd half. Recursion, pointers, and linked lists are the hardest concepts to understand yet they are very important for final. I suggest really understanding how the code works internally(like actually drawing the memory for each function)
Do your PA's early! Quizzes were rough at first because I didn't study for them, but if you study, you will be fine. Final felt kinda hard, but the curve was generous. Others say don't go to lecture, but for me, it helped a lot.
westin montano ( winter 24 ) -- westin's a pretty chill professor and is really helpful whenever you need help. this course was definitely a step up from CS 010A. make sure you start on your assignments early as they can take a long time + you get extra credit if you demo your labs early. the quizzes can be difficult at times, but managable if you make the time to study. 5 quizzes. no midterm, no final.
Took this class with Kris Miller in Fall 2023 after only knowing Java from APCSA. Although I got a 5 on APCSA I wouldn't feel comfortable taking this class unless I knew some basic C++ syntax. So I just watched a few YouTube videos and I was 100% ready for the class. The quizzes replaced the midterm but I sucked at them since it's all mcq. I did good on the final and ended with an A+. Overall really easy and CS010C was definately a lot harder.
Took it with Prof Kris Miller in Winter quarter - as someone without TOO much CS background: only basic syntax across only the most popular of languages, basic fundamental concepts, and no cool or awesome personal projects made, this class wasn't too difficult. The assignment schedule is VERY consistent and routine, so there weren't any surprises throughout the quarter. Pointers and linked lists were the most emphasized topics, but it was easy enough to visualize and grasp with enough concepts. If you're coming from AP Computer Science A, you're in great hands. Don't be afraid to go to office hours, and ESPECIALLY ask questions during lab if there is any sort of confusion or if you're stuck on what to do.
Took it with Miller. Course itself wasn't that hard. I came with AP CSA credit so it was just the stuff from that + pointers + lists. It's just a lot of homework on Zybooks, but the quiz structure makes it so that it's really easy to get an A.