If you have to take CS131, definitely take it with Carey. This was the first quarter he taught it, so some imperfections were expected. Overall, Carey and the TAs (pre-strike) were all very passionate and helpful. They actively listened to our feedback and put in a lot of effort to improve the class.

Class website: https://ucla-cs-131.github.io/fall-22/

The homework (graded on completion) was initially very long, but they listened to feedback and made some questions optional. The projects were a bit more time-consuming than initially expected (maybe 20+ hours), but the autograder was insanely helpful to instantly see your score on Gradescope, and there was a subset of the test cases publically available. The exams (open book) were fair but challenging, and really tested your deep understanding of the concepts. The course material wasn't particularly difficult, but there was a significant amount.

Advice: (seriously) don't procrastinate on the projects! Try to keep up with the course content because it's really easy to fall behind. Attend lectures (he's entertaining and gives out snacks) - it may feel easy to ditch because he posts his slides, but he will explain things more clearly than if you skimmed through the slides yourself.

Had a great time with him. Lectures are very clear but move quickly as there is a lot of material to cover. The exams are close to what we cover in lectures but more difficult. But it's still good, at least the professor covers a lot and won't let you see the questions and have no idea what to do like Eggert's exam.

Very well organized class. F22 had three projects (which build on each-other) where you had to build an interpreter for a new language. Pretty heavy workload for these, but grading was transparent (through a Gradescope autograder). Carey's a good lecturer, as usual. Exams were pretty tough IMO, and the class ended with about 30% A's, 30% B's, and 30% C-F's. Best strategies would be to have the concepts down perfectly and get a lot of practice programming in the languages that you study that quarter (for us it was Haskell, Python, and Lisp.)

CS 32 is hard, but Carey makes the class worth it. He is such an engaging and active lecturer. He is excellent in explaining the material and make the class very fun. I would always choose Carey over Smallberg. He often had encouraging and motivational talks with us which made life worth living again.

I often was stuck on projects to the point that no TA was able to help me. During those times, I emailed Carey my problem and he was always more than happy to help me.

One downside is that he does not take extensive questions about past materials or current projects during lecture time. He directs you to ask him during his office hours.

Overall, CS32 is a CS weeder class and has a very heavy workload. I recommend to take it with easier classes. Carey is one of the best professors out there, and he will help you through this difficult time in your life.

I took this class in Winter 2022. Because of the Omicron variant, the class started off online and later went in person. I never really attended lectures because Nachenberg's slides were really clear and were all I needed to learn the material. The projects did take a significant portion of time but if you understand the subject the projects are not hard. I would recommend this class regardless of the professor, but Nachenberg definitely has more engaging lectures.

Carey is a holy man that will enrich your experience. What can be said that hasn't been already?

He'll honestly strengthen your perspective on CS and sense of belonging heavily. He's genuinely just good, both as a professor and as a person. Take his class.

One of the best teachers I've had. Keeps class entertaining and is really concerned about making sure the class understands. You really have to appreciate the amount of time he puts into his powerpoints and I think they do a really good job of explaining the way code is executed. I think people hype him up too much and it kinda annoyed me how my class almost worshipped him, but hey, he is pretty damn cool. I like Smallberg too, but Nachenberg will keep you awake. Oh, and he shuts down know-it-alls which is great.

Carey is the professor you wish you had for every class. The only bummer is that your first class with him will also be your last.

I was enrolled in Smallberg's CS32 section, but Nachenberg was so good I ended up going to his lectures instead. Carey (as he prefers to be called) is one of those teachers that makes you question why all other teachers aren't like him. His lectures and slides are interesting and keep your attention. He knows everyone's name so gives personal attention during lectures to make sure students are getting the material. He plays practical jokes to keep things interesting. He gives prizes (things like candy and pop tarts) to encourage class participation. On the last day of class, he even throws an 'ice cream party' during the course review. Why don't all teachers do this? Carey really embraces the notion that happy students are more enthusiastic about learning and therefore learn better. Sort of the opposite of an old-school mentality of someone like Rohr (not to bash Rohr, cause he wasn't _that_ bad).

Bottom line, take Nachenberg if you can. Shuffle your schedule around his class if you have to. CS32 is difficult so it will be particularly helpful.

While Carey is an effective lecturer, he is by no means the "best" at UCLA. I agree that he is kind, concerned, and outgoing, but his lectures can be dull. His project are tough, so follow his advice and start early on projects 3 and 4. The best way to study for his midterms is to search online for problems on linked lists, stacks and queues, recursion, big-oh notation...basically all of data structures and algorithms.