Fucking bullshit class. Literally everything the previous review said. It's that terrible. It's unbelievable that he gave us a homework set that was literally meant for higher level courses. That final. That fucking final was disgusting. 18 questions of just pure bullshit that none of us could realistically have figured out. Take literally anyone else

As a student in a NON-COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR, needing a PIC 10A as a pre-major requirement, this class was EXTREMELY frustrating. I believe that Professor Kashefi is a relatively new professor, but regardless, the course load and stress this class was highly disappointing. For students who have NEVER CODED BEFORE, this class is a nightmare because there is little to no instruction or lead into the C++ language if you've never taken it before. In lectures, there are little to no explanations as to why certain things are written down, and as much as one could say, "Just look it up," as a brand new student to computer science, I have no idea what to even look up. I will say however, the teaching assistants this quarter were very helpful and did their best to teach us where gaps were left. On the other hand, homework wasn't the most difficult with the help of YouTube videos and tutorials online, but Homework 6, OH MY GOSH HOMEWORK 6, was a 15 page PDF with ONE PROBLEM on it. When shown to other friends taking CS classes at UCLA and at other campuses around the states, they all exclaimed that it was a project to be done by more advanced CS classes or for at least should have given 2 weeks for newer coding students to complete. IF YOU ARE GIVEN A CHOICE TO NOT TAKE PIC 10A WITH KASHEFI, THINK CAREFULLY.

If you have the option to take this class with literally any other professor, do that. I have no idea how I even managed to pass this class. The final was an absolute fucking nightmare not to mention Homework 6, which was literally a 15 page pdf with one question. I had to seek outside help and even my tutor, who had been a TA for the class before, said that the homework was absolutely ridiculous and meant for students with much more advanced coding experience. I believe that there were also topics on the midterm/final that he said he would not include, but did anyways. That being said, if you have to take this class with this professor, the TAs are often very very helpful. Just make sure you exchange contact info or make friends with others so you can study together and trauma bond over this absolute dumpster fire of a class.

Given the bruinwalk reviews and my initial impression of the professor, I was super worried going into this class, but in retrospect, I'm really glad I stuck it out! As someone who's never had any experience with computer programming prior to this class, the beginning weeks were tough, and I felt pretty confused. However, if you try (or for some people you don't even need to try) in this class, you will get an A. The lectures at times were disorganized, so I recommend going into discussion section (the TAs are super helpful)! Homework is worth 40% of your grade, and it's graded on correctness, so if you put effort into it that will really help you out. Plus there are two extra credit projects that can be worth up to 10% total extra credit. The midterm seemed super brutal until we got our grades back and the curve was insane. The final was super straightforward if you pay attention in class (he will literally tell you in the weeks leading up to the exam exactly what to expect). I was so stressed about this class and worried for my grade, but it ended up totally fine and I learned a lot—so I would recommend taking!!!

"Firstly, I want to emphasize that you should not worry about the midterm. I am wholeheartedly in support of each and every one of you. My fondness for you all is genuine and deep, and I admire the hard work and dedication you bring to our class.
I would also like to share some information about my approach to grading, which I believe is important for you to understand. I am to be quite generous in my assessments. To give you an example, in the last quarter's PIC 10A class, the grade distribution was quite favorable: 80% of students fell within the A+, A, and A- range. Meanwhile, 20% were in the B+ category, and only one student received a B.
This reflection is meant to reassure you about the grading process and to remind you that your efforts and understanding are always recognized and appreciated in my classes."

Don't take his word for it. His grading is not generous and he does not care about other students' grades.
I regret taking this professor in my life.

After seeing the reviews, I was worried about taking PIC10A with Kashefi this quarter. But this quarter, Kashefi did so much better. I tried to attend every lecture, but the lectures were not engaging, so I skipped many lectures before and after the midterm. When I did go, the lectures were the handouts he would review, so I recommend going over them; it was beneficial. The handouts have examples with detailed explanations and have everything you need to know for a specific topic.
Now, for homework, it was unfair that it was either getting full credit or automatically zero; there was no partial credit. Homework 1-4 was very challenging, but it's possible to do and helped prepare for the midterm. The midterm was difficult, and there needed to be more time. There are no multiple-choice questions, unlike other pic10A classes. Homework 5-6 (one question each) seemed easy, but I did not attend the lecture, so I recommend going to the last two weeks of lectures for the professor to guide you if he covers it. I recommend going for discussions and office hours. I did not attend lectures but attended discussions and almost every office hour for my TA, which was very helpful. I recommend trying the optional projects. It may be challenging, but it's possible to do with all the material covered, and even if you don't receive the desired output, you can receive partial credit. An exercise set (about 40 questions) definitely helped for the midterm and final. The final seemed easy compared to the midterm. It was my first time taking a coding class, and I gained much knowledge and skills from C++. It may be a struggle at first, but push through.

Ignore the current 1.8 star rating as Kashefi did much better this quarter. I'll briefly review some of the points the other commenters have already said. While his lectures aren't the most engaging, he explains the topics decently and references his own handouts with good pacing. Handouts are detailed and clear so I highly recommend referring to them while studying and doing the HW. As someone with zero coding experience, the first four HW sets are challenging but doable; however, the midterm is rough for the given time frame. Due to the extreme feedback, he made the last two HW sets AND the final extremely easy. The optional projects are much easier as well.

The TAs are fantastic and they covered gaps of knowledge in our understanding. Take advantage of their OH and the prof's OH for the hw. Kashefi does not provide much practice problems so I recommend not missing any discussion sections because the TAs provide plenty of practice problems and hints to the hw. Personally he could work on being more approachable during class (he's really helpful in OH and after class), providing more practice problems, and responding to student feedback earlier.

Overall, I recommend Kashefi's class. I learned a lot of C++ skills and good coding practices necessary for 10B. The first seven weeks were tough but he made everything more fair and responded to student feedback on due dates. I hope he continues improving for next quarter as he has a lot of potential to be a good instructor.

I liked the content of this class, but would recommend literally any other professor than this one to take the course. His lectures were not engaging, the homework was out of proportion of difficulty for a introductory course, and his final was three hours of pen and paper code that the entire class did terrible on. He consistently did not work with any of the students in the class to help them get through the course. Probably one of the worst instructors I've encountered at this school.

Taking PIC10A with Kashefi was a brutal class. Kashefi is a kind person at heart and seemed to genuinely care if the class was following along. However every lecture was very dull and made it tough to stay engaged. The midterm was very manageable however the same cannot be said for the final. The final was horrible with 18 questions filled of very complicated problems that, at our level of coding, was almost impossible to figure out. He did not release any type of practice final which also didn't help us prepare for what could be on the final. While he did offer 2 assignments of 5% extra credit, it was unrealistic for us to do. It was one problem each however, were insanely complex and difficult and even my TA suggested we skip it. Overall the material/homework was manageable and my advice would be to get all the help you can from your TA as they are SUPER useful.