Howard Stahl
Department of Computer Science
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3.7
Overall Rating
Based on 110 Users
Easiness 3.8 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.4 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.8 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 3.7 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

There are no relevant tags for this professor yet.

GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
27.0%
22.5%
18.0%
13.5%
9.0%
4.5%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

34.1%
28.4%
22.7%
17.0%
11.4%
5.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

22.1%
18.4%
14.7%
11.0%
7.4%
3.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

32.2%
26.9%
21.5%
16.1%
10.7%
5.4%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

28.0%
23.4%
18.7%
14.0%
9.3%
4.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

22.3%
18.6%
14.9%
11.2%
7.4%
3.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

18.8%
15.7%
12.5%
9.4%
6.3%
3.1%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTIONS
Clear marks

Sorry, no enrollment data is available.

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Reviews (90)

4 of 9
4 of 9
Add your review...
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: B+
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Nov. 13, 2022

Howard was not the greatest teacher. He would often have long-winded explanations, and went at a very slow pace. In fact, he would introduce a topic to you, and you'd forget what he's talking about because of the slow pace of his lectures.

The discussions were better than the lectures; in 2 hours, I learned more than 4 hours spent in the lecture during the week. If Hunter is TAing again, please go to his discussion! He is one of the best TAs I've had. The LAs are also very very helpful.

Projects did not take long. For some projects, you could get it done in one sitting. The midterms were weird... Howard is not the best examiner, and even he admits it.

Overall, I would take this class again. Attend office hours frequently and discuss the project materials with others, and you'll be perfectly fine.

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Quarter: Summer 2022
Grade: A+
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Sept. 26, 2022

Lectures for me were a bit slow (though I had prior coding experience) but Howard is really approachable and easygoing. Projects were pretty straightforward (especially if you've programmed before) and directions/expectations were all laid out. He explains everything, including which software to use to code your projects and how he wants you to submit them.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Summer 2022
Grade: A+
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Sept. 8, 2022

pray to the bald norwegian god, blop blop, walk the arrow, goated prof love this man and his dog

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Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: B
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
June 15, 2022

I came into this class with 0 coding experience, so I think I had a more difficult time than others (it definitely helps having prior experience; if you don't be prepared to put in extra work). Stahl is a very nice, understanding professor but as a lecturer he is very boring. His slides aren't the most helpful and coupled with the 2 hour lectures it was very easy to drift off. The projects were reasonable, with project 3 being the most time consuming/hardest. If you put in the hours and pay great attention to detail, you should be able to score well on all of them, but the projects do take a decent amount of time (the discussion boards on every project were super helpful--I would often go there to read other people's questions/answers clarifying specific parts about the project). That being said, tests are a little different in that you need to know C++ down to every bit. I wasn't prepared for this on the midterm and basically tanked my grade, but reading the textbook helped me majorly score better on the final. I recommend forgetting about the project and really getting to know C++ as a language for this. This class was really difficult to me as everything was super new and unfamiliar, but Stahl is a nice guy to start out your C++ journey with.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
March 31, 2022

Stahl did his job, nothing more, nothing less. I started the class with 6 weeks of zoom lectures, and 4 final weeks back in-person, and frankly, in person was the most boring thing I've ever attended. It was disengaging, slow, and gloom. I will say that I did learn what was needed for CS31, and it is not hard to do well in this class, but it was a slow and tough process to adhere to.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
March 31, 2022

Stahl was a great guy and very nice, but his lectures worked the same as melatonin gummies. They literally made me fall asleep every time. I don't think I attended more than three lectures in the entire quarter and learned almost entirely from the discussion. However, his tests were pretty fairly made and reflected what we were learning from the projects. The projects were also manageable and he often extended the deadline. He even ended up changing one of my project grades from a literal F- to a C after I spoke with him and clarified some things. Overall, he's a very sweet man, but it was just a really boring class overall and I feel like I learned more from outside the class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
March 21, 2022

Overall, I did not find this class too difficult. You do have to put a lot of time into the projects, but you will walk out with a great understanding of C++. Only reason I got an A- was because I did not study for the midterm.
Project grades are based on wether or not you pass all test cases, and Stahl supplies you most of them before you turn it in. Getting 100% on all the projects is very doable. Although, you do have to study for the exams quite a bit, as there's a multiple choice section that requires a lot of practice to remember without a compiler.
If you put in some effort, you will succeed!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A+
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 17, 2022

Pretty much the easiest class I've ever taken.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 16, 2022

I went into this class with no coding experience at all, and Stahl taught pretty well, but I definitely learned more by just doing the projects. The online midterm was super easy, and the final was also relatively easy but definitely required you to actually understand the coding part (moreso than the midterm). Projects 3 and 7 had me wanting to die for a little bit but I finished them (mostly) by myself.
I did not go to a single lecture in person and I'm glad because he talks sooooo slow and I understood him better at 2x.
Overall I thought Stahl was really nice and good at answering project-related questions. Would recommend!!!!!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Summer 2021
Grade: A+
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Aug. 26, 2021

I took this course in the summer after graduating high school with barely any coding experience. As an absolute beginner who did the tiniest bit of java, this course was very introductory and not too difficult if you take the time to understand the concepts. I think Howard does a good job of explaining everything in his lectures but the slides and class notes are a bit hard to read. Other than that, if you put in the effort, you will do well. The midterms and exam cover everything you learned and never go too far beyond what was covered in class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: B+
Nov. 13, 2022

Howard was not the greatest teacher. He would often have long-winded explanations, and went at a very slow pace. In fact, he would introduce a topic to you, and you'd forget what he's talking about because of the slow pace of his lectures.

The discussions were better than the lectures; in 2 hours, I learned more than 4 hours spent in the lecture during the week. If Hunter is TAing again, please go to his discussion! He is one of the best TAs I've had. The LAs are also very very helpful.

Projects did not take long. For some projects, you could get it done in one sitting. The midterms were weird... Howard is not the best examiner, and even he admits it.

Overall, I would take this class again. Attend office hours frequently and discuss the project materials with others, and you'll be perfectly fine.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Summer 2022
Grade: A+
Sept. 26, 2022

Lectures for me were a bit slow (though I had prior coding experience) but Howard is really approachable and easygoing. Projects were pretty straightforward (especially if you've programmed before) and directions/expectations were all laid out. He explains everything, including which software to use to code your projects and how he wants you to submit them.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Summer 2022
Grade: A+
Sept. 8, 2022

pray to the bald norwegian god, blop blop, walk the arrow, goated prof love this man and his dog

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: B
June 15, 2022

I came into this class with 0 coding experience, so I think I had a more difficult time than others (it definitely helps having prior experience; if you don't be prepared to put in extra work). Stahl is a very nice, understanding professor but as a lecturer he is very boring. His slides aren't the most helpful and coupled with the 2 hour lectures it was very easy to drift off. The projects were reasonable, with project 3 being the most time consuming/hardest. If you put in the hours and pay great attention to detail, you should be able to score well on all of them, but the projects do take a decent amount of time (the discussion boards on every project were super helpful--I would often go there to read other people's questions/answers clarifying specific parts about the project). That being said, tests are a little different in that you need to know C++ down to every bit. I wasn't prepared for this on the midterm and basically tanked my grade, but reading the textbook helped me majorly score better on the final. I recommend forgetting about the project and really getting to know C++ as a language for this. This class was really difficult to me as everything was super new and unfamiliar, but Stahl is a nice guy to start out your C++ journey with.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
March 31, 2022

Stahl did his job, nothing more, nothing less. I started the class with 6 weeks of zoom lectures, and 4 final weeks back in-person, and frankly, in person was the most boring thing I've ever attended. It was disengaging, slow, and gloom. I will say that I did learn what was needed for CS31, and it is not hard to do well in this class, but it was a slow and tough process to adhere to.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
March 31, 2022

Stahl was a great guy and very nice, but his lectures worked the same as melatonin gummies. They literally made me fall asleep every time. I don't think I attended more than three lectures in the entire quarter and learned almost entirely from the discussion. However, his tests were pretty fairly made and reflected what we were learning from the projects. The projects were also manageable and he often extended the deadline. He even ended up changing one of my project grades from a literal F- to a C after I spoke with him and clarified some things. Overall, he's a very sweet man, but it was just a really boring class overall and I feel like I learned more from outside the class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A-
March 21, 2022

Overall, I did not find this class too difficult. You do have to put a lot of time into the projects, but you will walk out with a great understanding of C++. Only reason I got an A- was because I did not study for the midterm.
Project grades are based on wether or not you pass all test cases, and Stahl supplies you most of them before you turn it in. Getting 100% on all the projects is very doable. Although, you do have to study for the exams quite a bit, as there's a multiple choice section that requires a lot of practice to remember without a compiler.
If you put in some effort, you will succeed!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A+
March 17, 2022

Pretty much the easiest class I've ever taken.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A
March 16, 2022

I went into this class with no coding experience at all, and Stahl taught pretty well, but I definitely learned more by just doing the projects. The online midterm was super easy, and the final was also relatively easy but definitely required you to actually understand the coding part (moreso than the midterm). Projects 3 and 7 had me wanting to die for a little bit but I finished them (mostly) by myself.
I did not go to a single lecture in person and I'm glad because he talks sooooo slow and I understood him better at 2x.
Overall I thought Stahl was really nice and good at answering project-related questions. Would recommend!!!!!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Summer 2021
Grade: A+
Aug. 26, 2021

I took this course in the summer after graduating high school with barely any coding experience. As an absolute beginner who did the tiniest bit of java, this course was very introductory and not too difficult if you take the time to understand the concepts. I think Howard does a good job of explaining everything in his lectures but the slides and class notes are a bit hard to read. Other than that, if you put in the effort, you will do well. The midterms and exam cover everything you learned and never go too far beyond what was covered in class.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
4 of 9
3.7
Overall Rating
Based on 110 Users
Easiness 3.8 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.4 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.8 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 3.7 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

There are no relevant tags for this professor yet.

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