Evaluation Comments

Summary View

What are the major strengths and weaknesses of the instructor?

• Strengths : Positive, Empathy, Communication, Supportive. Weakness : None.
• As I mentioned before, Prof. Riely is: - a very good lecturer: delivers the material clearly, always down to help his students, quizzes/exams/assignments are challenging but very relevant to the materials. - always bring good vibes to the class meeting. - is passionate about PL. It keeps me motivated in studying. - the quality of his presentation slides, lecture video, and lecture audio are amazing.
• He was always present and ready to engage with students. It is rare to see that level of attention from DePaul instructors.

What aspects of this course were most beneficial to you?

• Assignments and quizzes really helped work our brains to understand and analyze the concept.
• Everything
• Prof. Riely is an awesome lecturer. He delivers the material in very clearly and is always willing to help the students. The assignments are challenging and relevant to the lectures, which really helped me concretize the things that I've learned from his lectures and the textbooks. The quizzes and midterms are challenging but totally fair.
• The materials, videos, and lectures.
• Everything I learned in this course proved to be incredibly valuable. It is unfortunate that even with all the tools I've picked up in this course I cannot seem to perfect my understanding of all the syntactical nuances amongst programming languages. But I do like that this course has objectively made me a better programmer.

What suggestions do you have that could help improve the course?

• None.
• N/A
• Have mercy.

Do you have comments on the grading procedures and exams?

• No.
• The grading procedures and exams are challenging but totally fair and relevant to the material.
• I'm sure my comments are unique but I had a really difficult time with internalizing most of the course material in the alotted ~11 weeks. I feel like the scope of this course would be better fit for two separate courses, or one normal-length course at other universities. I just always felt like I was a step behind in this course. I think I learn in constant time while Professor Riely teaches in exponential time. I need to optimize my brain somehow.

Other comments?

• none
• Prof. Riely is very knowledgeable about PL and seems to be very passionate about it - It's infectious, in a good way. It keeps me motivated in studying for his class and my degree in general. I wish I could take more of his classes. He also talked about OCaml from time to time and it made me very curious about the language. I decided to learn more about OCaml and see why some companies (particularly in the financial industry) use it extensively. Coming from Python/Java background in the consumer tech industry, I found it very refreshing! Thanks to Prof. Riely for sharing his experience with OCaml.
• I feel fortunate to have had this opportunity. I am a big fan of Professor Riely's and hope I can take more course with him in the future.