This class was horribly difficult. I would not have made it through with the grade I did without having to PAY for a tutor for at least three hours a week. I had never taken coding before, which I assumed was fine seeing that this is supposed to be an INTRODUCTORY class. Alexey assumes you know everything. Advanced calculus courses should have been a pre-req for this course, because you have to code solutions to advanced calculus problems. The tests were extremely difficult: the only way to have any hope of passing is to literally memorize the practice test questions he gives you. He gives an insane amount of homework every week, I talked to students in PIC 10B who said they only get like 10% of the homework Alexey gives in 10A. There was only one decent TA, and the professor was NO HELP at all because he assumes you know everything and basically thinks you're scum if you're struggling a lot. ONLY TAKE THIS IF YOU ARE ALREADY VERY FAMILIAR WITH C++ CODING AND YOU HAVE ADVANCED CALCULUS SKILLS. The ONLY good thing about this class was the grading curve. I would have failed the class without it.

The workload is super intense. He gives you a homework every week (and usually extends it by a couple more days), but they keep getting harder. The homeworks towards the end takes about 5 hours to finish. He has two grading schemes, and you midterms and final account for anywhere between 75 and 85% of your grade. To do well in his class, it is really essential to ace the exams. The curve is not as generous as it seems to be.

If you have the chance to take PIC10A with Alexey, do it. Even though I went to pretty much every lecture, I learned nothing in class or from office hours. I had no prior coding experience, so the learning curve and pace of the class (especially after week 6 or so) was pretty tough. I was lucky to have two friends who were experienced coders who could help out along the way. All the learning in the class is pretty much on you, so you have to keep up with the homeworks which can be a pain in the ass. A lot of people didn’t like Alexey, but I thought this guy was the man. He referred to himself in the third person and Was pretty funny in lectures. There’s only a midterm and final which are not too difficult. If you understand 80% of the homework and can code simple algorithms, there isn’t anything unexpected on his tests. Grading scheme is either 15% HW, 35% MT, 50% Final, or 25% HW, 15% MT, and 60% Final. Overall not an easy class but if you put in effort, you can teach yourself enough to get by in his class