<p>So the professor for CS 1110: Intro to Java, David Gries, has 47 reviews on ratemyprofessor, and almost all of them say he is unhelpful and you learn more about HIS methods than actual Java. They also seem to agree on the fact that the class is incredibly confusing if you have no previous programming experience. Can any of you confirm/disagree with this?</p>
<p>Also, is Intro to MATLAB any better?</p>
<p>He is very particular about his folder/filing cabinet analogy for object-oriented programming. People with prior experience in Java usually hate it, and people without usually are confused by it. </p>
<p>He is a bit odd, but if you can get past that he is not a bad teacher. I went in with absolutely no programming experienced and struggled a bit. I think I would’ve done much better had I started out in something like MATLAB. I still got my act together at the end and pulled off a B+, but it was probably the hardest class I took as a freshman.</p>
<p>He is a neat guy, however:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cs.cornell.edu/gries/shortbio.html[/url]”>http://www.cs.cornell.edu/gries/shortbio.html</a></p>
<p>And for some reason he often lectures without wearing shoes.</p>
<p>note i am a fan of prof gries</p>
<p>if you have absolutely no experience whatsoever with programming i would recommend matlab </p>
<p>matlab is a more standard procedural programming language(not that you should understand what that means). it is a sequence of instructions for the computer to carry out and the way it works should match natural intuition of how computer programs work. </p>
<p>java is an object-oriented language, which has important differences from a procedural language. </p>
<p>if you have any experience in programming, you should take java because object-oriented programming is the main paradigm for modern programming, and will probably remain that way. it is a good habit to start thinking object-oriented from the start. </p>
<p>OO is naturally confusing, in my opinion.
prof gries and his weird analogies do not help
however, if you spend 10 minutes thinking hard about his weird analogies (WOW TEN MINUTES, ■■■ COLLEGE IS TOO HARD) you will be able to understand and get some easy 100’s on the first quizzes </p>
<p>in general prof gries tries to be funny, perhaps he actually was funny when he was younger, but now he is pretty old and not very funny. and, he makes a billion spelling mistakes everywhere. perhaps, if you derive humor in watching people fail, you will become a fan of professor gries like me. </p>
<p>still, if you can think hard for 10 minutes about a silly analogy, and know a little about programming, i would recommend taking intro java</p>
<p>I have no experience with the Java course here(took it in highschool) but I like MATLAB a lot. The professor is very clear and thorough, going over the same concept over several days using different examples. The homework can be challenging, but it’s possible as long as you put the time in. The first prelim was fair, nothing surprising. If you want to look her up her name is Fan, Daisy</p>
<p>LOL who revived this thread? OP is my old username & I already took MATLAB last year haha.</p>
<p>Well, to anyone considering it, I recommend CS 1114 as an intro to CS course.</p>
<p>i’m confused! Cornell is really high-ranked for Computer Science! so if the professor isn’t good, then what exactly is it that makes the department’s rankings so high?</p>
<p>^You can’t judge that based on just a review of a professor. Overall, the whole department is rock solid.</p>
<p>The only problem I have with Gries is that he emphasizes this “folder” metaphor too much. He’s particular about that sort of stuff, which is why I think most people don’t like him.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I can’t point out a single other professor in the CS department who isn’t top notch. Cornell has one hell of a CS faculty roster.</p>
<p>
Student’s reviews in ranking have no weight at all.
It’s like complaining the Internet speed the average US residents get while US is consider one of the most advanced countries in the world.</p>
<p>The ranking only reflects two things: funding and the research papers. Usually that says that professors are very knowledgeable in their areas - but that doesn’t provide the statement that every professor is helpful and talent in teaching.
There are other credentials , of course.</p>