I literally signed up for bruinwalk to post this review. take sherstov. he's probably the best cs teacher i've had.

I really enjoyed taking Theory of Computing with Sherstov. He is very passionate about the topics and explains them clearly and engagingly. His lectures are well-structured and he uses a lot of examples and diagrams to illustrate the concepts. He also has amazing communication skills and is always available to answer questions and give feedback. The homeworks are challenging but they help you learn a lot and prepare you for the exams. The exams are fair and he provides practice exams that cover the main points. I would highly recommend this course to anyone taking CS181

Hands down the best professor I have ever had and likely ever will have. Sherstov is not only incredibly smart and knowledgeable about finite automat theory, he is also super nice and very concerned about the students' success. I made a bruinwalk account just to review this amazing man. Take him if you can.

A little about the course: There are weekly homework assignments which are given 100% if you have a "good faith attempt on at least half of the problems". You really want to try on the homework though because it really is the best way to learn the material. For exams, there are 3 during the quarter, all during discussion (discussion is not mandatory except for exam days) and a final. Each exam is worth 20% of your grade and is out of 20 points. You can earn up to 25 points on each exam though (but you do not get extra credit) meaning that to get 100% in the class you just have to do the hw and get 80% correct on each exam.

Professor Sherstov is the best professor I have ever had at UCLA. He is very aware of his pedagogical style, which allows him to be a very effective lecturer. He demonstrates genuine enthusiasm in the course material at every turn, and does a wonderful job of linking each topic to the previous topics. He makes students feel very welcome asking questions, and when students answer the questions he asks, he is congratulatory when they are correct and encouraging when they are not. His homework is very reasonable, and in combination for the practice exams prepares you very well for the exams, of which there are four at regular intervals so as to smooth out the amount of anxiety associated with having one or two exams account for the entirety of one's grade.

Sherstov is probably one of the best professors you could have here at UCLA. His has great passion for the material and explains them clearly. The grading is based on three components only: midterm, final and a scribe note, where you typeset a chosen lecture in Latex. Took it as undergrad without much math background (it's basically a math class full of proofs!), not hard as long as you don't fall behind.

Most organized class ever! Every lecture was so well-thought out, and Sherstov is a fantastic lecturer. There's an exam pretty much every other Friday starting 4th week, which kind of sucked, but there's no cumulative final and it actually reduced the amount of stress, because you would only ever be tested on a few week's worth of material at a time. I really enjoyed this class.

You are really missing out if you don't take 181 with Sherstov!

My favorite professor at UCLA so far. He does a great job of explaining the material. Although the subject is rather dry, he makes it engaging. The class is organized very well.

I wish all CS classes were taught this well!

Professor Sherstov is an amazing professor. He is energetic, lively, and great at explaining material. He makes the concepts seem easy and does many examples. His breakdown of material is logical and he also is quick to understand where a student's misunderstandings come from. Professor Sherstov's anecdotes also add a very personable touch to the course and are super inspiring! I wish I could have had more professors like him at UCLA. He also hosts office hours all throughout the week the entire quarter for his students and takes so much time out of his schedule to provide such a good class experience. Perhaps the only weakness of the course is that I wish we could have had the lectures placed on bruincast to watch later, and also for classes that I could not make it. They are definitely lectures worth watching again.