Lots of work, but it is all very useful and related.

Quizzes and Tests are hard, but projects are easy.

Tests and quizes harder than anything presented in class.

Sure he has sloppy handwriting, but he's always glad to rewrite anything you can't understand. Yes, his tests are hard but he will literally sit there for hours, if you need him to, and explain anything you want. He's a great teacher!

Another good teacher. VERY LAID BACK. That's good. He makes even the hardest classes EASY, eg I took 440 compiler's class, he made it SO EASY. Sure his exams are a tid bit hard, but since he is cool its all good.

Awsome teacher. He makes boring classes entertaining and can answer the most obscure questions. Has a lot of background in computer science. His midterm, since I haven't taken the final yet, was weighted 1/5 of the programming assignments.

Has a very solid CS background. Very fair. Quizzes and exams are directly from notes. So just make sure you attend every class and take notes. Conducts a very fun class. Lots of jokes.

D Nord is the man. With regard to handwriting, you can always stop him and ask him what the hell he just wrote and he never gets upset. He knows his handwriting sucks and often makes fun of himself about it. Amazing knowledge base, fair grader.

Great instructor. Knowledgable, trys to make the subject interesting, throws in some little jokes here and there. Exams are tough, just be sure to take all notes in class and study!

Excellent professor. His exams are not hard if you understad all his notes. He explains his notes very nicely. His projects are easy and interesting. Very helpful. Best professor I ever had.

Easy projects and tests; just go to class. Never needed textbook, and never took notes. Easy to approach and talk to, but difficult to catch during office hours.

Very easy going teacher, makes really easy midterms, basically wants everyone to get an A in the class.

This is one of the best CS PROFESSOR I have ever come across,he's the brain. Projects are good if u work hard.Had a C- in the pre-req of this class and but got an A in this class(shows the quality of teaching).Had taken this guy in cs 265, Very clear, but BEWARE VERY LESS MARGIN OF ERRORS IN HIS EXAMS. Would higly recommend. Gr8 sense of humor

He was a great teacher. I took his class in the spring semester. He had a good sense of humor and graded quite fair. He was very flexible even though he appeared to be very strict. If you are a transfer student from NVCC like I am, you need to read a lot more (about UNIX system) because he expects every one to know it by the time you are in class.

Excellent professor!!! Gives really good notes, understand his notes and you will do fine. Has great sense of humor, his class is fun, you never feel like skipping it.

Dr. Nordstrom just rocks!! I never had any professor in CS department who's so awesome at teaching. I took two classes with him so far and just adored him in both the classes. His projects are very very very clear and he makes sure that students understand what exactly he's looking for in each project. There's no way you can go wrong in his class i

Dr Nordstrom owns. He teaches by example, with full programs that we can go home, type in, and mess around with ourselves. Reading along in the book is great, as long as you aren't lazy like most of these people and actually read it when it's assigned. If it's too hard, then you're obviously lazy and need to switch to something easy or drop out.

You would be out of your mind to skip this teacher. He is a comical kind of person! He answers your questions to the best of his ability. He handwrites all the notes which are programs that you can actually type up and expect them to work. And not to mention but his Test are one of the easiest I have seen. If you study the material then easy 'A'!

Class was entertaining and easy (as an intro course should be). Prof. Nordstrom uses good examples to convey ideas. If you have any OOP experience at all then it is not necessary to buy the book as long as you have access to one for the labs.

Extremely friendly professor with a good sense of humor. VERY easy tests. Gifted at explaining difficult concepts in a simple, clear manner. Has poor handwriting, but willing to clarify anything you can't read (and make a joke about it in the process). HIGHLY recommend.

His java 112 class was not easy-he had no communication with the lab TA; some labs and homework had to be scrapped because they guinea-pig'd us with a new lab system and assigned homework w/ material not yet covered. Exams were 70/30 fair/TRICKY! Do book examples and attend lectures if a beginner. GREAT personality, grades curved, good guy.

Good Teacher...Helps students and tries to add humor. Projects sucked but curved grade.

easiest teacher ever. projects take time but he is very helpful and he changes the projects according to the students preferences. exams were very easy. teacher is helpful and good sense of humor. he explains the projects and breaks down the code. his lectures are nothing but coding so if you forgot how to code, you will remember.

Attend his class to take all this notes. His notes helped A LOT, rather than reading the boring book. He asks about 5-6 questions on his tests and pretty straight-forward from his notes. No cheat sheet.

Another class I took from him and it turned out to be great. The material of the class was boring, but I learned some things from his teaching. If you don't think he is a weird person, you will understand what he tries to teach you in class.

I've taken him for CS112, CS310, and CS440. He's my favorite teacher ever!! Funny, class is laid back (excellent learning environment) open for help in all office hours and will stay late to help. I would suggest him over all other professors!!

Took 310,330,440 w/ this awesome prof. Copy evrthing he wrtes on board, if you don't understand it ask him, and there is no reason why you shouldn't do very well. So in that sense he is easy. But if you just want to pass cheating or making him feel bad 4 urself, then you might as well apply for construction work. Projects challenging, exams easy.

Very good professor; explains the concepts clearly. The ONLY complaint is his handwriting, but after the first month you will get used to it. I would much rather study from his lecture notes than the book anyway. It's better to attend all the classes or else you'll probably miss an exam question. Slight curve. One of my favorite professors!

A great professor. Was very helpful, clear and consize through out the whole semester. His exams are pretty easy and as long as you show up in the class and take down his notes you should be fine. Definately recommend him to anyone.

Nordstrom seems easy, but the programs he assigns require more knowledge than he teaches and what's in the book. But he curves nicely, and if you pay attention in class the exams will be easy!

Hard to judge. First off, he's smart, funny, very nice. Tests are frustrating, if not unfair. He never goes by the book (unfortunately for me); tests on stuff "mentioned" in class (which sometimes isn't even explained, literally just "mentioned") and tests are typically 65% of the grade. This is INTENSELY frustrating. Midterm was only 4 problems!

Remember, its computer science and not COMM 100, so no matter who you have the class will be challenging. He is a little goofy but he is extremely nice and not a difficult professor at all as far as CS goes. As long as you go to every class and actually pay attention you will do fine. The labs and projects are also simple compared to other profs.

Good professor. If you attend class and take notes you'll do well. Pro's - Gives you a lot of the code you'll need for tests and projects. Con's - Programs tend get a little involved. Suggest 10-15 hours per program.

Very helpful

I've had him for 3 of my classes (211,262,310) and he's one of my favorites. Book is good for clarification, but not necessary. If he doesn't cover it in class, it won't be on the test. The tests usually have only 4-6 questions, but if you know the material they're pretty easy. Programs can be time consuming, so manage your time wisely.

Explains materials clearly. Can take good notes because he writes everything on whiteboard. Tests and programs are based on what he writes on board. Book is good for reference, but no need to study it. He is very helpful.

Textbook is not required (only used for a couple of readings). He goes over everything you need to know in class. I'd strongly recommend using a laptop (if you have one) in this course to compile programs as they are written. Projects are not too bad. Exams are easy but he is a bit of a harsh grader.

Good teacher. Injects humor into his lectures. Attendance isn't mandatory, but it would be hard to pass the class w/o hearing the lecture. K&R is the textbook used for learning C. Tests can be a little tricky. But, the test questions are based on the lecture notes. Final is a comprehensive exam.

Awesome professor, strongly recommended.

As a professor, he is probably one of the most willing professors to give you assistance when needed. However, he doesn't explain things the best. In fact, for each assignment he assigns, it is a challenge to comprehend what he wants you to do. Furthermore, the assignments don't seem to illustrate the material covered all that well.

Super nice guy, very helpful. Tests can be a little tricky, but you should do fine if you go to class and pay attention. start projects early, they tend to be harder than they look.

Great prof. I love his old school teaching style. I find him personally hilarious. Always makes material interesting. Exams are tough and only 4-6 questions each. Projects are tough so don't start late. He is helpful....ask him for help but early. Would take him again.

Self-deprecating sardonic sense of humor will keep you entertained. When you approach him there is no hint of that sarcasm though, he is very respectful. so win-win. Assignments are not hard, just sometimes long. Exams can appear tricky at first glance but are actually quite straightforward of the material taken in class. Highly recommended

This guy is the best CS teacher ever in GMU. Definitely attend his lectures because everything you will ever need to succeed in his class are his notes. His notes will be your textbook during the semester. You don't need to buy the textbook. His programming assignments are pretty easy, however his exams are short and tricky and can be rough.

I think he is the best professor in CS department! Very clear lectures and expectation. Super easy exams if you go to classes and copied down everything he write. projects are easy also but match what he expects you to do. The only shortcomings are his awful handwriting and he replies email pretty slowly. But still Super highly recommand.

To tell the truth, I feel this is easier than CS367. Maybe is because he is super good at teaching the stuff. He sometimes messed up with some math calculations but it really doesn't matter. He taught very clearly and homework is easy. If you never miss a class, you will never miss even one question! Only one month, One 400 level course is done!

Lectures can get boring but enjoyed his corny jokes. Easy going guy. Very helpful one-on-one. Weekly assignments arent too bad, projects were more time consuming than challenging. Midterm was tricky, if you took notes/listened in lecture you can logically work it out for a good grade. Only concern he says he never knows your grade so don't ask him

The prototypical absent minded professor. Funny with a serious case of bad writing, making it easy to laugh but hard to follow his codes on the board, and he writes alot. His tests are not hard, covering mostly the basics, especially when it comes to coding on the tests. Projects might be a little bit harder, but definitely doable

Hilarious professor with lot of jokes during his lectures. The only negative is his bad handwriting. Try to seat on the front, take notes carefully since it is your major source. Do not buy the textbook if you can find it in libraries for rarely references. Overall, the best CS professor I've taken with. Strongly recommmeded!!!

Teacher is passionate about his subject and explains concepts clearly. Tries to keep lectures interesting with (sometimes corny) jokes. Projects can be hard if you don't know what you're doing. Tests are tricky. Overall an adequate teacher for this subject.

Teacher is passionate about his subject. Explains concepts clearly. Lectures can get a bit dull but he tries to keep it interesting by interjecting jokes. Projects and tests can be a bit tricky. Overall a pretty good teacher for this subject.

Very passionate about what he teaches. Talk to the guy, he's one of the greatest characters at Mason.

definetly the most interesting CS professor ive had. He keeps the class interesting with jobs amd acedotes. His exams are a hit or miss as there are only 5 question to either you score 100% or you fail miserably. He makes up for it in the grading policy. I failed the mid term and 23 projects but still managed to get a B. 1010 would take again.

His handwriting is really bad but everything else is straight forward.

Funny smart old guy. LOVED IT!

Excellent Professor. I've taken just about every class he teaches at Mason and enjoyed every single one. Take good notes in lectures and you'll ace the tests. Every project in the class builds on top of the previous projects so make sure you start early or you're screwed for the whole semester.

His tests are usually 4-5 questions, and he grades them pretty tough out of 20 points, so miss a question and you'e looking at a C. But he curves generously at the end of the semester. The book is useless, which he also admits is "only for the brave." You need to go to class and take exact notes. His tests come directly from examples in class.

Very effective

Handwriting is admittedly bad and he is a medium to tough grader, but he is a very engaging lecturer with a great sense of humour. Exceedingly polite as well. Don't skip class! The book is not all that helpful, but his lectures are thorough, so you'll need good notes.

Nordstrom is a very good professor. He is very knowledgeable, and he is incredibly smart and down-to-earth. Go to office hours if you need help, and he will try his best to assist you. His handwriting isn't great, but if you ask, he'll read what he wrote. He is funny, and his lectures are pretty good. I'd definitely take him again.

The textbook is not that helpful, but his lectures are thorough, so you have to go to class and take good notes to succeed. He's funny, but he can be absent minded sometimes. Only problem is that there is only one midterm and it has only five questions which makes the tests hit or miss.

He said he's retiring this semester, but I'll write this review in case he doesn't. He writes notes on whiteboard, and has bad handwriting. There are no online notes. He also makes you hand in programs on paper. Other than that, his class is a joy. He makes jokes during lecture and stays entertaining. I recommend him for any programming class.

If you want to earn an A, take good notes and write down everything Nordstrom writes on the board. His projects are not too difficult; they are just time-consuming. His exams are not too difficult, but they are only 5-6 questions and he's a slightly tough grader. I'll miss him when he retires though.