You can always trust professor Lin! He is one of the best professor I've ever met, with relatively quite light workload, very easy exams, proper way of grading, and very helpful lecture and slides. This is basically a tip for those who wish to take Alex Lin's class~

EXAM: Two midterms and one final are all multiple choice, which are very very easy. In fact, you don't even have to go to the lecture. Studying for one day or two before the exam can make sure you get 90+. Midterms have about 40 questions each and Final has 80, all are very fundemantal question testing your knowledge about very very basic ideas of C++ programming.

GRADING: This is the best part. 8 Homework and 3 Exams weigh the same, contribute 12.5% each. Professor Lin will take the TOP 8 out of your 11 assignments. So you can even possibly skip the final, just like I did, or if you are very busy during a specific midterm week, you can skip that midterm without affecting your grade! Basically if you study for the material for a couple of hours every week, you can get 100 in every HW which means your final grade can even be 100, without taking any exams!

HOMEWORK: All 8 HWs are very easy to finish. If you spend a couple of hours every week, you can easily finish the HW within a short period of time and get 100 on that. For difficult HWs (1-2 out of all 8), Professor Lin will give hints which make the assignment much much easier. Generally, getting 100 on evey HW assignment is HIGHLY POSSIBLE for EVERYONE!

LECTURE: Professor Lin delivered the lecture very effectively and effciently, and you can definitely learn about C++ programming in his class. If you don't want to or cannot go to his class, his lecture slides can help you out as well!

DISCUSSION: No need to go. My TA is not that professional and cannot speak clearly, so I only went to the discussion for once. Not counted in final grade.

Overall, if you want an EASY A in this class, take professor Lin. Then you can spend the least time to get the best grade.

The reviews are true, this class is very easy. If you end up going to lectures and discussions (I did not) you can 100% get an A. We had multiple extra credit assignments and I (and a lot of the rest of the class) was able to completely skip the second midterm and the final.

He is an absolutely phenomenal professor! The grading scale also makes it very easy to get a good grade in this class. Sometimes he tends to read of slides and that can make some of the concepts harder to understand. I suggest reading sections of the textbook if you have difficulty with the concepts (also, don't buy the textbook. You can find it for free online). My TA was a nightmare and would not assist me in any way, so I had to email the Prof many times about homework. He always responded very quickly and was very helpful. The homework can be really hard, but if you get together with classmates or try to do research online, it is manageable.
Overall, you really get out of this class as much as you put into it. I was so burnt out that I didn't really apply myself or try to learn. I still got a good grade, but I know that the classmates who paid attention found the class quite rewarding. IF YOU NEED TO TAKE PIC 10A, TAKE IT WITH PROFESSOR LIN!!!

Professor Lin is an absolute unit. Everything about the class (assignments, lecture slides, exams, grading system) was fair and I really did learn the fundamentals of C++ and programming in general. Take him if you can. I will take him again whenever possible in the future.

Professor Lin was awesome! He said it was his first quarter teaching this quarter and he did a great job. He is very approachable and punctual when responding to emails. Some of the homework assignments can be difficult, but his grading system is very generous. Knew absolutely nothing about coding before this class, and I'm so glad I took Lin. Would definitely recommend this class.

This was my first time taking a programming class, but I really enjoyed taking it with Professor Lin. During lecture, he goes through his lecture slides which are very thorough and comprehensible and live-codes examples. He does sometimes get a little flustered during lecture, but he's always willing to answer any questions. I personally stopped attending lecture after a couple weeks because I found it easier to read the slides beforehand and then watch the recorded lectures afterwards. The textbook for this class is honestly optional in my opinion; his lecture slides have everything you need to know. The grading scheme for this class is also amazing. We are assigned 8 homework assignments, 2 midterms, and 1 final. Each of these is weighted 12.5%, so he just takes your top 8 grades. The homework assignments are usually pretty easy and doable, and he's always willing to help in office hours. The homeworks are graded very leniently if you follow all the directions and the format. The exams are all multiple choice. If you need to take this class, I'd 100% recommend taking it with Professor Lin.

Alex is an amazing lecturer. I came into this class with little knowledge of C++ and I definitely feel like I'm walking away with the fundamentals. The grading scale is extremely generous and low stakes (each assignment & exam is worth the same percentage). The assignments are coding projects and are very fair. The exams were multiple choice and cover material on the lecture slides so if you study those, you'll be fine. Alex was very approachable and you can definitely tell he cares about his students. I would definitely recommend him; he's probably one of the best professor I've had.