2.5
Quality3.3
Difficulty45%
Would Retake98
Reviews45%
Would Retake
98
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
98 total ratings5
15
4
19
3
10
2
18
1
36
What Students Say
“Nevertheless, professor Bono is a horrible teacher”
CSCI455 - 2.0 rating“This is also partly made worse by the fact that students taking the class have varying background”
CSCI455 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
25%
Textbook Required
31%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.54 avg changeRatings by Course
CSCI410
3.2
(6)455X
3.0
(12)CS455
2.9
(17)CSCI201
2.9
(15)CSCI455
2.5
(24)Difficulty by Course
CS201
4.0
CS410
3.7
CSCI201
3.3
CSCI410
3.3
CSCI102
3.3
Reviews (96)
No Comments
She's not all that hard. Just keep up on the projects and you'll do fine.
No Comments
No Comments
I could have just slept for 14 hours and I'll still pass out in that class
No Comments
very boring, mostly reads from notes, does NOT interact with class
pointless to goto class... no help at all... just stay on top of assignments
doesn't know how to teach
fun assignments. they're easy except for the hash tables assignment
She gives really helpful assignments, and you can seriously learn sth.
No Comments
All in all a good prof. Not too helpful in office hours though.
Good professor, puts notes up on the web, that helps alot.
She definitely tops the "worst professors ever" chart. Just horrible.
Fun teacher, teaches in an easy manner, through transparencies and vague notes
No Comments
Do yourself a favor! do not take CS 201 with Bono!!
She is probably the worst teacher I have ever encountered. 1) S
No Comments
No Comments
Good teacher, interesting course, had no problem undrestanding her
Knows the material but not approachable and hard grader. Lectures not clear.
No Comments
I had Bono 10 years ago and she was good. But, she sure did get chalk all over herself. I wonder if she's upgraded to white boards yet.
Lecture has NOTHING to do w/ projects (which make up most of hte grade)... Tests are easy...
i thought claire was a great lecturer. she was able to explain everything in a clear and concise manner. it was lot of work though. you may not want to take 410 and 402 at the same time.
I got an A- in the course, but I still think she's the worst professor I've ever had...SHE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A PHD
No Comments
Lecture and homework don't connect very well. She doesn't always seem to know what's going on. I think she only teaches 410 now, but deal with it at your own risk.
She just straight up SUCKS!!!! Don't believe me look at her rating on www.senatecourseguide.com!
No Comments
She's fine. All the negativity is ridiculous. Save it for someone who deserves it. Professor Bono isn't amazing, but she's a decent, standard professor. Although the projects are such a waste of time.
It doesn't really matter, because she's the only one that teaches 410 now and it's required, but she's a complete waste. Steals 90% of her material from the Berkeley boys, and doesn't seem to understand it most of the time. I'm fairly certain she doesn't write much (if any) of the skeleton code for the projects. Good luck anyway...
I don't know why so many people hate this professor. All you need to do is come to class, pay attention, ask questions when you're confused, and you'll be set. Her midterms are tricky, but I felt like I had plenty of time to come up with the solutions necessary. Overall, she just needs more experience teaching the class to get everything right.
Easily the worst professor I've had at USC, possibly the worst teacher I've ever had. She knows the subject very well, but has no form of organization/structure to her lectures, is very condescending towards her students, and is very difficult to get help from. Too bad she's the only 102 teacher.
Horrible teacher. Rank with condescension for questions that are addressed towards her terribly setup structure. She leaves so much ambiguity, and you have to ask ?'s sometimes, but she thinks it's perfect, and doesn't help at all. Don't bother with office hours - complete waste of a professor. Makes me question 'SC's hiring program as a whole.
Honestly, a complete mess of a teacher who has managed to turn csci 102 into the main source of stress for my Freshman spring semester. Barely any skill in communicating instructions clearly or knowing what details are necessary to understand an algorithm or assignment. Knowledgeable, no doubt, but absolutely no skill as an instructor.
Horrible teacher. Where to begin. She has no idea how to organize a class. Doesn't justify/explain her methods well at all. Program descriptions are verbose, yet somehow unclear. SHE IS EPIC SUCK. Made me hate programming, and that makes me sad. Hopefully you have a good TA, or you will thoroughly hate your semester. Choose Cromwell if possible
three words: mess, mess, mess. horrible teaching style, godlike disorganization(have i mentioned messy?), doesnt have much passion to help students learn. you mostly have do this course by yourself. thankfully, the TA yin tao will be helpful
Prof Bono teaches difficult course matter and it's no surprise that some students cant hang. Some students don't last long in computer science, and prof Bono is the one who seperates the men from the boyz
Don't know what the idiot below me is talking about - she was just plain awful, whether you're good at CS or not. Unorganized, treats you like you're in middle school, condescending, annoying. The subject matter isn't hard - it's C++, but the assignments are so pointless, and if she makes a mistake (often), she'll be the last to admit it.
Programming has always been one of my strongest subjects and I ended up with an A in the course. Nevertheless, professor Bono is a horrible teacher. Her lectures are very frustrating and annoying...she's also very unfair when it comes to dealing with the students...her attitude is more fit for a middle-school teacher.
CS 455 with Bono is straightforward and easy. That said, I learned alot in this class and would definitely recommend it, whether your goal is to get a good grade OR to learn alot about Java/C++. The people in the class who did poorly did not submit assignments on time. If you put in a good effort and a reasonable amount of time you will do well.
Clearest programming lecture I have ever taken
Homework are pretty difficult comparing to class. I can say I learned more from assignments than the lecture itself. The class is great and since it is my only programming class, I can't make comment about Prof's teaching style. I think difficult assignments are the way to learn this course. So, you should use TA office hours and lab hours good.
She is the worst teacher I ever met, just do not take her course!
The worst lecturer at USC. She has very low knowledge about the subjects.
I have to say Prof Claire Bono is not so knowledgable and the teaching style is terrible. Her voice in classes is always the at the same level and the same speed so students cannot get any ideas on which part of the class is the important one. And she even made some mistakes about her answers to the mid-terms and she was not so willing to admit it.
Professor Bono did a really good job helping new coders code professionally. She gives meaningful hws: For example, the hashtable implementation and linkedlist(ListNode) implementation.(c++, how to manage dangling pointers ). And her exam questions are practical. After taking csci455, I feel like I am ready to charge leetcode :)
really tough grade! even for homeworks. If you did a problem a little bit wrong in her test, you will get 0 points on that problem. You have to be really careful.
Teaching is good. Professor and TAs are helpful. The text book is well-organized. Assginments are harder than lectures but are very good oppotunities for practice. Exams are related to assignments and lectures, and past exams would be uploaded before exams. This course is very appropriate for those who want to learn java but have no background.
Not good, really. Although the class material design is fine (definitely not as good as CS61B at UC Berkley), the material including HW, Lab, Assignments Never change for ages. Also, the teaching is horrible, always keep repeating draw too much no sense circles on lecture slices with ugly blue color. Last, never upload lecture slides with Notes.
Teaching is good, and professor is really care about student. However, the grade is really tough for the students who do not have background.
Bono's course isn't too bad if you have a decent understanding of programming (esp. in Java). I often dreaded the labs but they did help a bit at times. Again, the course is okay if you have a good background, but as other reviews here show, it can be difficult for entirely newbie students.
If you have a background in Java or any other object oriented programming, this class should be a breeze. Otherwise, I can see how it can be difficult for those without a background. Not a very good lecturer and vague on a lot of topics.
I have programming experience before and had taken data structure courses so I think the course materials are not hard. She actually cared about teaching and I like the way she teach and the labs give you lots of problems to practice. All in all a good class for learning a programming language.
Not sure what all the bad rap is for her. As a DEN student with no programming experience, this course was extremely challenging and labor intensive. Working full time + studying for this class was extremely difficult. the prof. was a good lecturer, gave EC, was very fair on tests and grading. I ended up with an A in the class, but was tough.
the worst professor !
If you have solid background in OOP (Java/C++), she will suffice, but if you only have minimal/no background in programming I can see how life can get difficult quickly. This is also partly made worse by the fact that students taking the class have varying background. Homework instructions are a bit cryptic and trick questions on mid terms.
Perfect class for students who have minimal exposure to programming and want to learn java and c++. Could have included a bit more topics in java. C++ was a bit rushed towards the end of the semester. But anyone who has completed this class can easily expand their knowledge of java and c++ all by themselves based on what they learn in this class.
This professor makes easy material to be very difficult. You always get confused while reading a very long assignment. And most questions asked on Piazza were answered by some enthusiastic students but not the professor. I would highly recommend, instead of taking this professors lecture, wait for somebody else teach this course.
the worst teacher I had at USC and quite potentially the worst teach I've ever had throughout my educational journey. a horrible person who encouraged me to quit the CS major, i can only laugh back at her now for being such a horrible person. For all future students, I'm sorry you have to put up with her, I wish there were an alternative.
Don't understand why she has such a low rating. She does look like she is mad haha but she is a really nice person and to be honest the greatest professor. Only professor that truly engages with students and tries for everyone to participate so they can learn. I wish she taught all the other CS masters courses. Extra credit hw at the end (5%)
It's a beginner course covers most topics in programming area including java, c++, data structure(linked list, array, balanced search tree, hash table), Makefile, software design (which i think most helpful, like unit test, class and method design, and code style) and so on. Highly recommanded for those who lack code feelings.
Bono is extremely rude and simply not a good professor. The assignments she gives are way more difficult than what she teaches in class. In a lecture of over 100 students, will call on people whose hands are not raised, even when someone else has their hand up. Don't expect much from her except a headache.
Worst professor I've ever met. She basically knows nothing but is always condescending. Try to ask her questions and you will know. Don't take unless you have to.
Prof. Bono is probably not the best you can get at USC but she is definitely not the worst (trust me I've been there). Her lectures were lucid clear and related to the exams. You need to put some effort to get an A/A- from this class and her homework takes lots of time (especially each homework description was almost like a piece of literature).
No answer for all the sample exams.
Decent lectures, she stops and tries to get people participating which is nice. However, it is so tough to understand her labs and homework assignments. It is like reading Shakespeare. I feel bad for all the international students in the class who have poor English skills.
Bono is a really good professor and her lectures are very friendly to students with limited programming experiences. She explains things very clearly and patiently. The labs, programming assignments and exams are very good practices to learn the basics of programming.
The course was very good and introduces non-CS folks to the core concepts in CS which everyone should know like Algorithms and DS. Also, it introduces the concept of Classes using Java which is very hard to understand on our own and Prof Bono manages to teach it nicely with lots of hands-on assignments. Definitely not too easy,but worth
Despite her mediocre teaching skills and lecture quality, she can't put herself in others shoes. She will kindly ask you to participate in lecture, but will interrupt if your answer is wrong, especially if you have limited English skill in the very first class in USC, and taking lecture from an awkward time zone.
Well, Professor Bono is alright. My only suggestion is to rephrase her question statement in her exams and homework. I usually spend the majority of time translating her wording instead of doing the actual coding.
An amazing professor! Strongly recommend to take her course!
This is a very average-level course. Most students already had java experience before attending it. The assignments are pretty suitable to increase your programming skill though their texts are usually wordy and not succinct. The topics cover many aspects of a programming language and she is a good person, so I rate her 3 points here.
It's easy to get an A if u have a little CS background. Labs and PAs are easy and medium LeetCode problems. Some graders are picky on coding style, and regrade is done by the same grader, so it's unlikely to get your points back. PA descriptions, Piazza responses, and exam questions can be somehow ambiguous due to instructor's poor writing skill.
She has some weird style requirements for assignments and always answers questions using words instead of code. No solutions for sample exams. Exams are not hard, but you will lose many points just because you don't understand her questions. She lacks of the ability to describe things clearly. Reading her questions is like decoding GRE articles.
The worst instructor I ever met in my life. This is a "Bono" oriented programming class. Her exams are absurd. You knew everything but could still misundersand her questions and lose all the points on these questions. She has no idea what she is writing about. Avoid her for all cost and choose another instructor.
This is an introductory programming designed for students with no CS backgroud(although many students in this class already have programming experiences) so you should not expect too many deep contents. Yes, the assignments are verbose but the exam questions are not long at all. For me, she is a solid 4 out 5. She did good job explaining basics.
I'm an international student. Her English is a million times better than me, but my writing is probably a bit better than hers. Although exams were not verbose, it was guaranteed to have at least one question in every exam that was quite easy but just hard to understand. And most students got zero for those specific questions.
One of the worse professors. Even if you get all HWs and projects, you have to deal with her absurd exams and ridiculous grading criteria. Exams are easy but you get so many points off because it's hard to understand what she wants. She doesn't respect you or your request at all! Avoid at all costs if you want to learn to program
this professor's lecture is mess up, even does not have good structure of her slides. Her homework and lab are so tedious and hard to read.
The professor is very patience and reply almost every questions on discussion board. But the exam is hard to understand, sometimes you will lose all of the points just because you don't understand what she wants. There are 3 graders on my class but one of them is extremely strict. Regrade policy is absurd, max points to get back is 3 points.
Prof Bono is good. The content is limited but good and appropriate for industry standards. Fair enough content for the timeline. Always available, answers all your questions and helps in assignments. Very tough graders, don't deviate from the assignment description. Overall a good course, strengthens your basics.
Poor teaching skills. Assignments very unclear and verbose. You may get many points deducted because of "coding style".
Worest prof I have ever met. If you don't have coding/Java background, please don't take this course even if it's open for no-coding background student. Her assignment is much difficult than the course and her material is really difficult to understand. She will provide many sample exam paper to you but no solution.
Prof Bono is a kind and passionate professor, she answers all questions from students after class and glad to help us in office hour. Overall she is a great professor
Professor Bono's lecture is kind of messy. But as a newer to computer science, this course really teaches me a lot. The difficulty is moderate and the homework design is great and interesting.Another thing I want to say that the grading criteria is kind of unclear when we are doing the homework, which may cause us to loose some points unexpectedly.
Extremely harsh for grading. She totally talked about nonsense in lecture. No help for the future. Very mean. No answers for course materials and all the past exams. No curve.
I was hoping to breeze through this class since I had prior knowledge, but oh boy. The descriptions for her programming assignments (PAs) are really verbose and chatty. Regrading is pointless even if you've met the requirements of the description, but they'll include test cases beyond it, causing you to lose points. NO CURVING. Avoid this prof :)
Don't bother regrading her rubric for grading is completely unreasonable and you'll never get points back on exam or assignments. Lecture goes at a super slow pace and barely really learn anything.
Lectures are very hard to understand, because the way she explain things are just confusing. The coding assignment are boring and the descriptions are lengthy and hard to read. If you have prior knowledge, then this class will be easy. Otherwise go find other resources to learn.
Confused why she has so many negative reviews. IMO as a a not total beginner to programming, this course is so well structured and reinforces the foundation that will set you up for success later. Assignments, labs, midterms, polls, office hours. Lot of reinforcements to make sure you are understanding the concepts.
Good professor. If you're in the Scientists and Engineers program, take your time to master the material to ensure success in subsequent courses. Be thorough and careful with the programming assignments (review class style guide and requirements of the assignment). It's easy to lose points from misunderstanding or missing something.
Prof Bono's class is challenging but rewarding. The assignments are detailed, so using resources like Unstuck ai for study prep is a big help. Overall, a worthwhile course that strengthens your CS fundamentals.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
25%
Textbook Required
31%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.54 avg changeRatings by Course
CSCI410
3.2
(6)455X
3.0
(12)CS455
2.9
(17)CSCI201
2.9
(15)CSCI455
2.5
(24)Difficulty by Course
CS201
4.0
CS410
3.7
CSCI201
3.3
CSCI410
3.3
CSCI102
3.3