I took 107 and 171A with him and I am here to do my little dance and tell you that you wont be able to take his class because he went back to Israel. ha ha ha

anyway he is great. possibly the best lecturer evar.

and disregard the advice in the other review because, well you know why.

oh and he was a dick in his office but i dont think he meant it. he is really nice but he's got a borat issue (where he says stuff but it turns out it doesn't really mean when he thinks it means, etc...)

Effective professor, explains the concepts very well. You will need to study the concepts and read the book after each lecture to learn the material well. I really emphasize that. Read the book and notes daily if you can. Idan may seem intimidating, but go to his OH and ask questions. He's there to help you if you can specifically name a topic you're struggling with or concept you don't understand. That's the only way to master the 171A course.

The exams are somewhat difficult and tricky, but if you mastered the homeworks and concepts in the course, you will do fine. People who have no idea of what's going on will fail the course (he does fail a lot of students). If you have holes of mastery in the course, you might be a B. To get an A, you need to master all the topics in 171A. If you enjoyed 107, you might like 171A (though the topics are not totally the same).