berg is the best <3

Smallberg is a great lecturer. 95% of the material you need for projects will be explained in lectures. However he is very picker about following directions. The workload is tough. I found myself spending most of my time on the projects. Would not take another heavy workload class with cs31, especially if you are new to coding.

Smallberg is your introduction to CS at UCLA, and he's perfect for the job. His lectures are in-depth, he answers questions well, is very knowledgeable, and threw in occasional jokes I enjoyed. He's a hard-ass, but reasonably so.

If you've taken a similar class in the past (or AP CS and did well), you'll be completely fine. The projects are fun and the recorded lectures are skippable or two-times-speedable if you so desire. If it's your first time with CS, you'll definitely stumble a bit, but it's manageable.

Take this class instead of CS30 if you have any prior knowledge of anything computer science related. Overall, lectures were very informative, but can often be dry (that is not a dig at smallberg, its pretty hard to make anything interesting for that long, they were just under 2 hours, but were recorded, so 2x speed made that easier). Start projects early!!! You cannot get most of them done, and fully test them in one day. Do not make the same mistakes I did. Overall, midterms and finals were pretty easy, and I'd recommend this teacher and class!

Smallberg’s lectures are great to play on 2 times speed. He can be a bit dull, but he explains everything thoroughly. Where this class really is enjoyable is the projects. Some of them are tough, but you really feel as though you’ve learned and accomplished something when you complete them.

Professor Smallberg is a pretty good lecturer and is mostly clear on what he is expecting from students. While I did have some experience with C++, I was never the best at it so some parts of this class were rough. There is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to the projects as you have to meet 100% of the specifics in the spec if you want to even get a passing grade on some of the projects. The projects themselves vary in difficulty, with some being relatively easy while others are difficult and time consuming (Projects 3 and 5 for this quarter). While his demeanor seems harsh and abrasive over email, he is often open to questions both in class and during office hours. An issue that he has is that he often takes too long to grade assignments, so it is difficult to predict your grade in the class.

Smallberg is very talented at teaching. During his lectures, you know you are learning the details of C++ (and not just skimming the topics), and that he knows his stuff very well. You can ask him pretty much any technical question and he can answer it. After his lectures, you aren't left with many questions though, as he makes sure to cover the most frequently asked questions within lecture itself. Would 100% recommend. I actually am taking CS 32 now and prefer Smallberg's teaching style over Nachenberg's style (but both are good). Take CS31 with Smallberg if possible, you learn a lot and the class is very reasonably graded. The tests (2 midterms and final) are very fair in difficulty. The projects can take a while to complete so the workload can a bit large, but it's still managable.

Just so any future students know, Professor Smallberg is reputed to be one of the *most engaging and thorough* lecturers in the CS department. His ratings were spectacular before fall quarter, after which for some reason an army of discontent students expressed grievances which I personally didn't experience.
He really takes things step by step so that we can understand them. You can tell he works hard on his teaching, and the effect is a great learning experience (that is, if you attend lectures).

Smallberg is a solid professor and teaches this class well! He teaches you everything you need to know to ace his tests, the projects are very manageable even for non-CS majors, and he and the TAs are very helpful. Lectures can be a bit bland at times, but Smallberg understands this stuff very well and his teaching style is very straightforward. Overall, you can't go wrong with the berg.

Despite many warnings from professors, other bruinwalk reviews, and fellow students. I took this class in the fall without any experience. I felt that I was definitely able to keep up in this class. Professor Smallberg's recordings were very thorough and the textbook was very helpful in terms of understanding concepts. Homeworks are very easy. Projects were hard but were a great way to apply and learn concepts. Each took a reasonable amount of time and for the ones that I spent 8+ hours on, it was expected. Coming in with no experience, it was hard finding people who were willing to help and be patient with me but I made it through the quarter. I ended up with a B which I am totally happy with given my zero experience.