Always available outside of class via email or office hours. His lectures are filled with personality which make them entertaining and easy to follow. Very fair grading and clear criteria. He's very passionate about computer science and it shows in his lectures.

Jarrett was an amazing teacher. He's goofy and fun, while still getting across the material in a very effective manner. His power points were awesome and had a lot of effort put into them in order to provide quality examples, and were available online. Attendance is non-mandatory, but recommended. You can get around it, but slightly harder.

Legend. Performs triple and sometimes quadruple backflips during lecture to keep students' attention at the off chance they look away from his glorious beard. Very friendly and welcoming, and is always (literally always) willing to assist you. Has a Donkey Kong t-shirt. 10/10.

Jarrett is lit. He baked us cookies and responded to project questions at 2am (not even the day it was due). You won't regret taking his class.

The best professor I have ever had. He explains everything clearly, use useful presentations, and always ready to help.

The best Jarrett ever. Delivers material in an involved way, going in depth to show you what you're learning and how it applies to other concepts and how it is implemented. Full of personality, very human and friendly. Ever lecture was a rollercoaster of emotion. Currently taking every class I can manage to take with him. 10/10

Jarrett is the best teacher I've ever had. He cares a lot about students and works hard to make an environment where students feel comfortable learning and want to learn more. He goes out of his way to make himself available to students and stresses that it's okay to have questions. I recommend highly and I plan on taking any class that he teaches.

Jarrett is not only an awesome teacher, but he is a great human being. He is open and honest with students, and he is probably one of the most human-like approachable professors I've ever encountered. His group chats are very useful, and he was very responsive to any questions I've had. He is harder on himself more so than the students.

Even though attendance isn't mandatory, he makes you want to show up to class since his lectures are so great. He is very caring and goes out of the way to make his class not only passable but also fun and informative.

If you have the opportunity, take a class with him. Probably the most understanding professor of remembering what it's like to be a student. Will work you on anything you ask. Has personality which makes lectures interesting. Have a sense of humor, allows for a lot of anonymous discussion boards in class to ask questions which quickly go down hill

The BEST professor you will ever have. Get to know him and treat him with respect and dignity and he will return the favor. The class isn't an easy A, but if you take advantage of the material and pay attention in class you will learn a sh%&* ton and you will enjoy his banter. He created a discord server for our class and it was invaluable.

Yes, he is that awesome of a teacher. Super upbeat, knowledgeable, and down to earth. He also makes a point to be approachable outside of class for any questions students may have about all things CS-related, even if they are not for the specific course he is teaching. Honestly, every teacher needs to be like Jarrett

Jarrett is one of the best professors I've had at Pitt. His lectures are funny and interesting, but what makes Jarrett stand out the most is how much he cares. He goes above and beyond what is required to help his students, and is almost always available. The CS department should give Jarrett as many classes as he wants, whatever classes he wants.

Jarrett is the best professor I've ever had. He is almost always available, and full of energy. He gets to know all of his students and is really passionate about the subject matter. His lectures are fantastic and full of personality. I highly recommend everyone take at least one class with him.

Easily one of the best teachers I've had. Very fun lectures, great personality, and a walking memelord. When the tags say "Accessible Outside Class", the reviews absolutely mean it to the 10th degree. This ain't just because of office hours, nor emails. If you have a chance to take a course with him, do it.

I've now had Jarrett for both CS0447 and CS0449 and I would take this man for ANYTHING. He is caring, funny, approachable, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic. I received an A in both classes and feel like I've never understood the material better. He creates a discord chat server where students ask him questions 24/7 and he is always ready to respond.

Better than every professor in that department. He makes the class enjoyable and explains everything in his own words rather than the textbook's. Very fair (and generous) with grading. Also qualifies for most chill instructor I've ever had. Take any and every class you can with him.

Materials are not hard. Go to classes and you will be good. Tests are easy and he really gives good grades. Assignments are also easy. The projects need some work, debugging takes longer than I thought. I did terrible job on time management during finals' week and did not do well on final project so get A-, but still strongly recommended.

Jarrett is the best professor I have ever had. He is an amazing lecturer, his projects are fun relevant to the class. He is always willing to help you out and make sure that you know what is going on. Overall he is just a great person. I know I am taking every opportunity to take him again.

With Jarrett, no question is dumb. Even if you sleep in class and need help during the labs bc you weren't paying attention, he'll help you and be patient. He's an extremely easy grader and it's actually really hard to fail this class. If you can, please choose Jarrett to teach you for any CS course. He's hilarious and passionate about what he does

Jarrett is one of the best professors I've had at Pitt. He cares about his students actually learning the material and he went to Pitt for undergrad so he understands the struggle. He explains things very well in small pieces, and is always available for students outside of class (even at ridiculous times). Really lays things out in an easy way.

Humorous and productive lectures. Extremely accessible outside of class (discord) and always willing to answer questions. Pitt needs to pick this guy up for full-time.

Amazing teacher, I very intentionally took him again for CS449. Easy going and a reasonable grader, he is almost always available in one way or another to discuss problems.

Makes class easy. Exams and quiz's are straight forward. Is always available to ask for help through discord

Jarrett is great!!!!!!Take his classes. I took his cs447 and cs449 this semester. He is a great lecturer; his lectures are interesting and you can definitely learn a lot; his slides are well-organized; he's willing to help not only in office hours, but also on discord; anyway take his class (go to his lectures and start on your project early)

Jarrett is so far my favorite CS professor at Pitt. He makes great easy to understand notes and the projects and exams are more than doable. He has a Discord server set up every semester for any of his classes, so his accessibility is probably one of the best. Highly recommended!

Is probably the best teacher I've ever had. Explains things to you in ways that are easy to understand. If you have questions he answers them in a very straightforward manner. I literally cannot fathom why anyone would give him under a 4 on this website. Class well taught. Very easily accessible. Bravo Jarrett.

Jarrett is the man. He is very fun and his lectures are great. The projects are fun, and the tests/grading is very fair. I would definitely recommend him for this course.

Jarrett is the best CS instructor at Pitt. He is very accessible through office hours and a class Discord server, gives funny but clear lectures, and encourages participation. Readings optional, but I found them helpful. Attendance at both recitation and lecture is optional as well, but you'll want to go to lecture.

Jarrett is a really great guy. His lectures are entertaining and super informative. He's super caring and easy to talk to if you have any issues or need any help. The exams, labs, and projects were all fair. Nothing was extremely difficult, but nothing was a joke. I really learned a lot in this class.

Lectures were very helpful and easy to follow (if you go to them). Never went to see him outside of lecture but he was always available. Projects were very difficult but graded fairly. Never went to labs and did well on all of them. I am taking him again for 449 because of the quality of his class. Best CS professor I've had yet.

Jarrett is one of my favorite professors I have had. He is an adjunct professor and should have tenure! His class allowed for you to really understand the material taught and if you don't understand something, he will help you to understand it. He also understands the current plight of college students which makes him relatable.

Jarrett's lectures are not just helpful and easy to understand. He tries his best to relate to his students and puts humor in his lectures, lab and project descriptions, and even tests. Every assignment was fair and I learned a lot from the class. Attendance for recitations and lectures are optional but highly encouraged.

One of the best teachers in the department. C programming can be daunting but he presents the information in such a palatable way. After so many rough CS classes, makes coding seem fun again. You can tell he cares and wants everyone to learn. He's hilarious and easily understanding if you have problems. I'd take him again for any class.

good professor. makes good cookies

Jarrett is an amazing professor who does an amazing job. If you are taking computer science, try your hardest to get him.

HE IS AMAZING. STOP SCROLLING ALREADY AND TAKE HIM!

Jarrett is one of the best CS professors I have had. He takes a hard concept and breaks it down Barney style. He is a very good teacher! Towards the end of the semester, it seems he loses his mojo and doesn't fully commit to all the labs and projects as originally promised. Some may see that as a plus because its less work in the end.

He is one of the best CS profs I've taken at Pitt. He lectures are super organize and his powerpoints are easy to understand as long as you attend lectures and pay attention. Fair exams. Super chill guy. Sometimes gets worn out and doesnt follow the syllabus for labs and projects. Def recommend!!

His class is really funny and interesting, while he does not have many policies and he is really does not care about that as long as you learn something. You can attend any section of his and no attendence, but his class is really fun you should never skip it. Well-organized and creative slides and projects. Surely take his class!

Best professor I've taken. Lecture is easy. Lab and project instructions are clear to lead you finish them. He wants every students in his class know what they are learning and he know how to do it. Amazing.

Jarrett is the only professor who I've ever been excited to attend lecture. He did suffer bad burnout this semester and only gave us 8/10 labs & 2/3 projects, and we didn't get our 2nd project or exam grades back yet, but he really showed me that there are actually some cool people in this awful field of CS. He'll hold a special place in my heart.

Jarrett is chill and relatable. His lectures are great and it's clear what's important to know. Projects/labs are very explicit+easy to follow and if you're stuck you can contact him on his discord. Fair warning: he does get burnt out at the end of most semesters. Your grade will be based on fewer things than you think and grading may be slow

Take him! He's the best Pitt has to offer for CS professors. You will never go wrong with Jarrett. He will remind you about how fun it is to learn CS when you don't have to suffer.

Jarrett has constantly proven to be one of the best lecturers at Pitt. He has taken a topic as dry as Compiler Design, and made it something worth looking forward to every lecture. He has a great mind for these topics and is more than willing to share his knowledge with you. He is a very fair grader and gives projects that help you learn

He uses Discord (not mandatory) to be very accessible to students outside of class. We were supposed to have 4 projects but he only assigned us 2. Tests were very straightforward from reviewing the slides. Has great slides as well.

This was the first time Jarrett taught CS1622. This was over the summer 2020 semester, during COVID19. He has a personal interest in compiler design, and it really showed with how detailed he made the animations/demonstrations on his slides and in lecture. We were supposed to have 5 projects creating a compiler using Rust but we only had 2.

Billingsley is one of those gems of a teacher that only come around a few times in your entire life. He takes topics as dry as computer processors & assembly languages and makes you look forward to learning about them. He's also super accessible outside of class on his personal Discord server. Definitely take him for every class you can.

very cool. made hard topic easy.

I loved Jarretts lectures but he seemed to tap out halfway through the semester. Its nearing the end of the semester and our midterms havent been graded. He stopped giving assignments, which was nice because I could focus that time on other classes but I feel like I missed out because his assignments are so good.

Jarrett was easily the best professor I have taken, and possibly will take. He takes relatively boring lectures, and makes them very interesting. He loves what he does, has a passion for his students. He is the most human professor, and his personal Discord server makes communication SO easy. TAKE HIM IF YOU CAN HE IS AN ABSOLUTE GEM!!!!

This was the first professor at the University where I felt like I learned something other than for a grade. His lectures are fun to watch, and the tests are graded extremely fairly! Take Jarrett if you want to learn CS and have a good time doing so.

Jarrett might be the coolest prof you could have at Pitt. The dude cares so much about the wellbeing of his students. His lectures are fun (which I gotta give him credit for since we were online only this semester). His class is challenging, but he gives you more than enough resources to excel here. Love this dude.

Billingsley is a top-tier professor. It's clear he takes his job seriously and really goes the extra mile for his students. Whether it's messaging him on Discord for prompt homework help, his AMAZING slideshow lectures, his interesting and engaging labs or just his overall approach to the topics he teaches, he is a FANTASTIC choice. My GOAT prof

TAKE A COURSE WITH BILLINGSLEY. Seriously one of the best lecturers at Pitt. He genuinely cares about your learning and wants you to succeed. There are so many resources that he provides to get help in his class. TAKE HIS CLASS!!

I'd take any class he is teaching, he's every bit as good as the other reviews say. Engaging lectures that really help understanding. Extremely accessible outside class and always willing to help. Grade mostly based on 2 non cumulative exams and 2 big projects which were great learning experiences and fun. Pitt needs to hire him full-time!

Jarret is phenomenal. Super understanding and lays out everything clearly. Takes (imo) boring topics and made them interesting. Overall amazing class.

Jarrett is great. I did not expect to enjoy the course material, but his assignments were actually a lot of fun. He gives plenty of time for assignments and is available outside of class. He doesn't make things any harder than they need to be, which is a nice change of pace, and I feel as though I learned a lot from this class. 10/10.

Best CS professor I've taken so far. It's often hard for me to stay engaged with CS lectures but I never had issues with him. Humorous and always has his explanations concise and well presented, I rarely felt lost. He is extremely accessible to help with projects outside of class over Discord, and very approachable.

GREAT professor. Very casual relationship with students, not intimidating (made us cookies for after our final :)). The exams were difficult, but not impossible. Labs each week were pretty clear and easy to complete. Projects were difficult but taught me a lot. Overall a pleasant experience. (Lectures did get kinda boring sometimes but oh well).

Jarrett is a great lecturer. All his lectures are interesting and his slides are engaging and extremely helpful as he allows you to download them off his website. He is also very easy to reach out to on discord, which is great. He also made cookies after our final! Great professor. Would 100% take him again for another class.

Good overview of architecture and actual implementation/design that be can built upon (might be a little light for some but he is a good teacher). He demands clear questions and communication (can be irritable and brusque at times). If you can't pass his class with honest hard work, you might want to reconsider computer science.

Super nice guy. I loved his lectures because he was so good at explaining complex concepts plainly. All the assignments are really easy if you don't put them off and the exams aren't bad at all. Sometimes It felt like I wasn't being challenged enough in the class because his expectations are pretty low, but he's still a great professor.

Most of the other reviews are quite accurate. He is really relaxed and explains concepts well. He is super accessible through his discord and is overall a very fun guy. He wants you to understand the "big picture" but doesn't hide any important details. Great class, great professor.

Probably the best CS prof at Pitt. Awesome lecturer, unparalleled availability/helpfulness outside lecture. You learn the material well w/o being super stressed. Compilers was a surprisingly useful class and made me a much better coder. 1 minor gripe, gives too much starter code/project instructions so you don't learn quite as much as you could.

Jarrett is a fantastic teacher. Slides are easy to understand and extremely straightforward. Learned a lot in lecture and occasionally had fun doing the labs and projects. Super available online in his discord channel also. He can make it way too easy at times, but overall I enjoyed learning from him.

Absolute goat. Very good at explaining concepts and lectures were generally pretty engaging. Labs and projects basically had step-by-step guides on how to complete them. Exams aren't multiple choice but they're still pretty easy otherwise. Very easy to at least pass the class if you enjoy computer science and put in basically any amount of effort.

Jarrett is the best. He's always accessible outside of class to help on labs/assignments. His lectures are really informative, focusing on the "big picture," concepts that you should take away but also having some depth on the content. Exams are entirely from his slides, so study them (lots of slides). But he does a good job of noting what to know

Jarrett's structure of the class is really organized! He's also extremely clear on his expectations for students and is accessible outside of class. Sometimes the lectures get boring though but that could just be the content

Easy material. Very good lectures. Labs & projects are easy and have clear directions. Test are medium difficulty but overall easy class.

Billingsley is genuinely funny. Go to lecture when you can but he also posts the notes online if you miss it. He answers lots of questions in a mocking tone which could upset some people. Very helpful and active in discord, and even if he mocks you, he will answer your question exactly how you need it answered. Tests aren't too hard. Use his site.

Amazing professor. Engaging, available and funny. Lecture slides are top-notch and the visualizations really help with learning. Only nitpick is that the lab/project instructions are definitely too good. Each step is written out to the smallest detail which leaves little to imagine or learn from. Its an easy but very interesting class.

The class was extremely easy, as every assignment step was given on the page, so there is no thinking involved. The exams aren't really difficult either, as all the exam material is covered by the slides so you can just look over the slides for when you need to study. This is probably the easiest CS courses offered.

Jarrett was literally was such an awesome professor. His lectures and slides were super engaging with lots of jokes and prepared you super well for labs/projects, which were very easy to complete. He cares a lot about his students and is super accessible and friendly. I felt I genuinely learned a lot in his class because of how well he taught it

Such a great professor with a very well-organized course. Everything you could possibly need is easily accessible on the course website he made, including exercises that are really helpful for understanding the content and on exams. I wish all of my professors would structure their classes and teach like he does.

Jarrett's honestly the best professor I've had in the CS department. Exams can be difficult if you don't study. Labs and projects are an appropriate difficulty, and honestly I had a lot of fun doing them. Join his discord, that's the best way to reach him (He's good at answering email too though). Some won't like his sense of humor, but I do!

He is really funny and makes the class interesting. He helped me out a lot with the project and understanding the concepts. Highly recommend!

He posted all of his slides online and recorded lectures if there was a reason to. His labs and projects basically had walkthrough tutorials besides the project 2, but project 2 had slides that helped. His discord server always had him and TAs ready to help with any issues with labs and projects. I would recommend him for CS classes.

clear lecture, exam content was carefully reviewed and lectured and is on ppt, if u fail u didnt review all materials provided. provide practice problems that reflects similarly to exam short answers, v organized. discord/TA/virtual office hr very helpful, course staffs reply/address dm questions on time with clear explanations. best prof for 447

Billingsley puts so much effort towards the success of his students in CS 0447. Goes through the effort to handmake online interactive exercises for every set of slides. Find me another professor at Pitt who does this. Great sense of humor, effective teacher. Take this man's class!

Best Prof I have had at Pitt. The class is fair and teaches you a lot. The first midterm was a lot harder than expected, but the final was very easy which made up for it. I wish others in this department could learn to be more like him.

This class is definitely the CS class at Pitt. Jarrett makes it pretty interesting and I do find that I have learned a bit more about programming fundamentals that are somewhat helpful in other CS classes. I preferred the first half of the course to the second but regardless he does an excellent job lecturing and engaging students + easy class.

Best option hands down for 447

Jarrett is very organized and he's definitely more connected to students than other professors. His lectures are clear and easy to follow, but try not to miss any. The projects were reasonably difficult, but Jarrett is very accessible outside of lecture and even outside of office hours. Definitely the best choice for 447.

Really easy class with step by step instructions given to you for the labs and projects. Exams were also super easy if you just study the powerpoints. Jarret is amazing at getting back to you through discord and will answer almost any time of day. He puts so much effort into teaching which can be seen through all of the resources he has on his page

Jarrett is funny and doesn't talk down to students. Lectures are great and make difficult subject matter seem simple. Likes to baby you on projects and labs, which can bite you sometimes if you want to do something on your own, but not a major issue by any means. Class ramps up towards the end, so make sure to show up and listen.

It was a hard class for me, but there is no other prof I would rather take it from. Very knowledgeable about the material, excited to share that knowledge, incredibly helpful, and very reachable. Maybe the best teacher I've ever had. It's not a filler class, but if you need the requirement then this is where you want to get it.

Literally one of, if not the best, CS professor at Pitt. Great, funny lectures that teach the material really well. Projects and labs are pretty much a breeze because of the great instructions he gives. Literally such a good professor, take him if you can!!!

Chill guy but weird sometimes. Overall best teacher for 447/449 teacher.

I'm making this rating because I despise Misurda's 449. I took Jarrett for 447 and loved his lectures and especially his lecture slides. I was lazy so missed out on getting Jarrett for 449 and was stuck with Misurda. His style of teaching is terrible so I ended up skipping all the lectures and just used Jarrett's 449 slides to learn instead.

Labs and projects were fun and doable. Jarrett is very accessible outside of class. Tests were very fair.

Jarrett was a cool professor and I definitely recommend you take him over some of the other people in the department. Pretty good lectures, knows the content, very accessible via Discord, exams were very fair, the only knack is that sometimes I felt he could come off somewhat condescending and I think it made people scared to answer questions.

jarrett is so funny. his exams are fair and doable if you work on exercises given on his website. i liked that the slides had lots of visuals in them. he's good at explaining things with analogies. i didnt feel that way but i see how people might think he's condescending. i definitely think you should take a class with him cause you learn a lot!

THE BEST lectures and slides I've seen, made class genuinely fun to go to. Very instructive and gives great feedback on tests. Exams had lots of point opportunities, but final harder than midterm. Labs and projects were instructive and none that difficult. Did not expect to like this class but Jarrett made it my favorite this semester.

Jarrett is one of the best CS professors at Pitt. His lectures are engaging and he breaks down the material really well. The projects can be challenging, but using unstuck ai and the class resources makes it manageable. Overall, a great class to take.

Jarrett makes some topics that can be dull very interesting. Although lectures aren't mandatory, I would show up because he is very entertaining and gives amazing insight/information. Expect to spend some time on the labs, projects, and studying but nothing that isn't manageable.

Jarrett is one of the best professors I've had at Pitt, period. It's a crime he's only a part time instructor. If I could take him for 449 I would.

Jarrett is a genuine goat, I wish I could take him for 449

I recommend Jarrett highly for 447. This course focuses on assembly language & circuits, which Jarrett managed to make fun through helpful lectures and labs. He has a website that displays the content taught on what days. Make sure to review his materials page and stay on top of running his example files.

This is my second time taking this professor, and I love how he can take difficult topics and make it easier to understand. From what I heard, he's gives out the easier homeworks/projects than the other profs so I totally recommend. Keep in mind that his exams are hard, so you have to do well on them to pass the class.

Jarrett's a funny guy. You can definitely tell he's a little tired of teaching the same subject constantly, but he is very good at it. Makes everything very easy to understand and basically walks you through everything. Would recommend.

Not good, not bad, just average.I don't understand the hype around this prof, but all in all, he's okay. The class is graded on 2 exams. You need an 88 average exam grade (Midterm and final) to score an A in his class (94) with a 100% on everything else. His labs are decently fun; asm = bad, logism = fun. Projects are hell, so start early or fail.

Not sure what the guy below me is talking about, I'm assuming they're referencing 447 instead of 445 lol. I do agree that Jarrett is kinda overhyped, but still is decent. He gets a lil heated during class if no one answers his questions lmao. Exams are weighted at 50% (25% each) and you need to score a 88 average to even be considered for an A.

Jarrett makes this class very easy, and even though sometimes I really wanted to sleep in his lectures they were very good. Projects and labs, esp asm ones, were so fun! Exams are also easy if you carefully review everything and do his exercises.

love this guy. most clear directions for projects and labs great guy wants u to succeed just lock in!!!! ATTEND LECTURE SO WORTH IT ONLY LECTURE I ATTENDED ALL SEMESTER

he's the best professor for cs0447. engaging, knowledgable, fun, VERY clear lab and project instructions. not always the most approachable, but he was fine aside from that

Great professor, provides you everything you need to pass labs, projects, and exams. He really wants you to learn the material which is why is he so strict on AI usage and the reason for these bad reviews recently. Def still the best professor for 447.

Professor Billingsley is a great lecturer. He makes quite a bland topic very engaging. He has a incredibly strict AI policy. Many students were automatically failed for using AI on projects. The majority of the class is graded based on exams which for a computer science class kind of sucks. Professor is great, I am slightly unhappy with his grading

DO NOT USE AI IN THIS CLASS. DO NOT USE AI IN THIS CLASS. I'm really comfortable with the material taught there, and I exclusively used AI to speed up debugging, but he had this huge witch hunt near the end, and (correctly) caught me using some AI on the labs. Because of that my grade tanked. I think it was a little bs, but a good wakeup call.

DO NOT USE AI. His midterms were easy if you put effort into studying. There will be some reviews giving him a bad rating for failing due to using AI, but I believe that it was more on me to be honest. He cares and will pass you if you dont use AI and understand the concepts that he presents to you.