Terrible teacher. Had a major hard on for anything Microsoft and didn't seem too keen on anything else. He taught the course like it was a intro course. Overall bad.

Jim Ries is a bad teacher. With a dilapidated schedule and unrealistic expectations it is no surprise anyone I've talked to about this professor has had something bad to say. I understand this is a difficult class but I have found my time is better spent learning the material by myself than in Jim's so called "lecture."

Terrible teacher. Tests are impossible, the avg on both tests was 50% for 250 students. Lecture is not helpful you end up teaching yourself the coding and fail the tests because they are questions that make no sense.

JimR (brace yourself for a lot of this) was the worst instructor I have taken. He spent his lectures proving that he knew the material rather than teaching it. He wrote the tests intentionally with questions he knew were beyond our understanding. Everyone ended up teaching themselves, which was a huge disadvantage to the novices in the field.

Terrible lectures. I feel bad for all of the people with no experience walking into this INTRODUCTORY level class. He did not prepare any of us for the unnecessarily hard tests. I do not recommend this professor whatsoever for any class

I honestly don't know how anyone new to programming is expected to pass this class, as it moves very fast and JimR is not skilled at teaching intro. The book is not recommended. Its a horrible way to teach programming and its arduous and extremely time consuming. Put the time you would have spent reading, into coding and youtube tutorials instead.

Jim Ries is actually a pretty nice guy and is very approachable. However, he is not a good instructor for this course in any way. It is way to vigorous for an entry-level programming class and if you don't have any programming experience, good luck. Some labs are easy, some are WAY too hard, and homework is too complex for beginners trying to learn

JimR shouldn't teach. Lectures were awful, same 30/150 people showed up every week. Labs and homework were tough. GO TO THE TA's, they are much more helpful. The tests he gives are stupid and are designed to be hard as can be, the average was failing. Do your prelabs. This intro class felt more like an experienced coding class. Nice guy, bad class.

Like others have said, he is an awesome person (some of his stories are the most hilarious I've heard from the CS field), but I will have to say that he was absolutely the worst professor I've had. I get that OS is a tough concept, but he even joked that it should be split into two semesters, and that really hurt because you know he doesn't care.

This guy is a really, really, horrible professor. If you can find someone else. He doesnt teach you. He uploads homework that would be totally doable, (After you spent 8 hours on stack exchange learning on your own), but he makes you do it his way, and his way only. Prepare to not come to this class, and prepare to do lots of studing on your own.

JimR is a great person and is hilarious but his class is ABSOLUTELY Horrible. I have learned absolutely nothing from the lectures and the tests are AWUFL

After pointers, it spiraled. Had multiple labs where people gave up early and almost none of us could get the task done. During lectures, he just says what was in the book, word-for-word sometimes. Exams are 50% of grade (2 midterms + final), labs are 40% I love CS and am majoring in it, but I considered dropping due to this class, a prereq for all

JimR doesn't know how to teach students with no prior experience. The prelabs don't prepare for the labs AT ALL, & the lab assignments are impossible to finish within the allotted 2.5hrs. Even the TAs said they have trouble doing the assignments. Lectures arent helpful & exam material is never covered in class. Take IT1040 instead of this class.

JimR claims that 1050 is designed so that even those with no coding experience whatsoever can pass. That is not true. This class is unreasonably difficult and if you're coming in to this class with no prior coding experience, prepare for a world of hurt. Also, the lectures and pre-labs don't prepare students for the labs or at all.

This teacher should not be teaching an introduction class. He knows what he is talking about but does not know how to teach whatsoever. I've always enjoyed computers but this class made me want to completely drop my major. JimR couldn't teach me how to wipe my ass properly even if he tried.

Unfortunately you must take this class to graduate with BS in Computer Science at Mizzou, and he's the only one that teaches it. You shouldn't take any other hard classes during this one if you can help it. He won't show you much of anything you need for the very time consuming HW. Not sure why he decides to teach, better off doing something else.

If you have no experience with C or another lower level language, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. I have prior experience with C#, and was being tutored by a friend who is a software developer, and I still struggled with this course. The lectures are dry and heavy, labs are made to be obscure/difficult, and 90% of test questions made to confuse/trick you.

While Jim Ries is an extremely nice person, he is by far the worst professor I have ever had in my academic career. Labs in his class felt impossible some weeks even though he claimed no coding experience is required for this class. Tests were also extremely difficult with many tricks questions. If you get Ries as your prof, I pray for you.

Jimr was an insanely nice guy, BUT his class was super difficult. I was not the only one struggling. Many other people I knew in this class were in the exact same boat. The whole class was solely based on Labs and Tests, no quizzes or homework. I hardly learned a thing. The whole "you don't need any prior coding experience" was such a lie.

If you're looking to start computer science at Mizzou with no prior coding experience, don't expect this class to help. Grades are based solely on programming labs (which is timed) and tests - nothing more. You are better off learning coding concepts through youtube than through cs1050.

jim is not a good professor. whole class is based off of labs which are very unreasonable to complete within the given time. tests are extremely difficult as well and many questions are made to trick you. he offers prelabs for the labs but they arent taken for any credit (which makes them not worth doing). if you take his class rip

This is a class in DESPERATE need of quizzes and homework. The tests are extremely hard with no curve, using concepts that you never get to practice before the test. The average grade of the semester before me was a C+. That is not a joke. If you haven't coded before, be ready to put double the time in this class than any other for a worse grade.

Worst class I've ever taken. This is not an intro course whatsoever. Unless you have a strong background in coding I would not take this class with JimR. Your grade is essentially based on how you do in labs so... good luck. I wish I could rate him a 0

Only take this class if it's in your major, do NOT take it for "fun" if you don't have any prior experience with coding. If you are confused on the prelabs (one every week), you aren't allowed to ask the prof or the TAs questions so good luck. It is very hard to gauge what you are supposed to understand in this course until it is too late.

The right person if you are looking to spend your thousands of dollars of tuition learning trick questions for quizzes, or if you are looking to waste a good amount of time.

If you take anything from Rate My Prof at all, do not take this class with JimR. If you are a computer science major recognize that this is undoubtedly a weeder class. His TAs were awful and rarely available. Study hard and be prepared to grind on this class. IF YOU ARE NOT A COMP SCI MAJOR, take the 1040 class instead!!!

They found an issue with people cheating online homework. So they tried to ramp up the difficulty. The made it so difficult that over 50% of the class is failing.

Only homework provided are Labs. So if you don't understand them, tough luck. Grades are only given through exam and labs. So you're bound to fail if you dont get them completed. Teaches as if everyone has computer literacy. His teaching methods suck and the majority of my classmates either failed or withdrew from his terrible class. I never skipp

He only provides labs and exams. It's a hit or miss class. The TAs also wouldn't help a friend of mine, rather than encourage and help him. They adviced him to drop the class. Which is very telling of the class overall. Sad thing is I went to every lecture and still got a 69%, which is 1 percent from passing. Literaly wish to wipe my memory of JIMR

I went into this class with experience with 3 different programming languages, and as someone who has much experience learning programming, this isnt an intro class. Labs get unreasonably hard at the end and the Exams are by far the worst ive ever taken. 60% of questions on the exam are made to trick you and dont test your actual knowledge

CS 1050 is all about writing code. The class is only graded on weekly labs and 3 tests. The tests are full of trick questions. The class is almost impossible to pass without any coding background.

Does not teach the class like it is an intro class. Nice enough guy, awful awful teacher. Sure maybe I know the code definitions, but even after all his lectures, you will likely still have no clue how to write, apply, and manipulate code.

Jimr is really smart and there probably isn't anything this man doesn't know about C, but it doesn't translate well at all to the assignments he gives out. Some of the later coding assignments take an insane amount of time to do properly, and it really shows when the average grade on the last one was around a 40%. God speed and good luck with OS.

Jim Ries is a very nice person but when it comes to teaching, he is not very good. He rushes through topics and will often go on side tangents about something that is not related to what is being taught. If you really want to peruse computer science, for the love of all things holy PLEASE LEARN C PROGRAMMING BEFORE YOU TAKE THE COURSE

JimR isn't a bad guy, he's actually pretty awesome but he is indeed a awful professor. His class layout sucks. Having your life on the line every week for lab is one of the worst feelings I've been through. Class is portrayed as entry level but is the farthest thing from it. By the time you hit week four he will start to pick up the pace.

Funny guy, worst teacher I've had in my life. I love programming, but no one else has made me want to change majors sooo bad. We get a lab every week, three exams that are made entirely of trick questions, and that's it. Horrible intro class- feels like he assumes you already know everything, and goes off on random, irrelevant side tangents.

If you don't absolutely need this class for your major, run as far away as possible. Tests are absolutely brutal, labs are WAY WORSE. Be prepared to work extremely hard and probably fail this class the first time around. At least its easier the second time you take it! Godspeed!

terrible attend lecture or else you are screwed labs are unfair and expect you to code like you wrote code since you were out of the womb. Tests are full of tricks and no clear-cut answer.

JimR is a very tough grader. From personal experience, this class is not challenging in a good way, it's really exhilarating to be a part of. No matter how good you are at coding, you will not end up with a satisfactory grade in this class. The tests are not practical at all. You have to be a human compiler to get a good grade on these tests.

Verry hard on grading, almost no way to fight any grades. Accuses students of copying way to easy and reports anything he deems fishy to the provost without asking questions.

Often went off on tangents unrelated to course material, meaning we had less time to learn stuff we actually needed to know. Worst part of this class by far is the tests and how heavily they're weighted-- he writes his own and the questions are poorly worded, cover too many subjects, and are too complex.

Not the best.

Frustrating. Assumes you have a bunch of programming experience before coming in. What is the point of an introductory class if it relies on this assumption? Reflects poorly on Mizzou's CS department

I really like JimR as a person. However, unless you've been programming since the Kindergarten graduation you will have a very tough time in this class. Lectures are incredibly hard to follow and understand. He often goes on very long tangents. All exams and almost every lab had a failing grade. There definitely needs to be a change to this class.

JimR is a great guy but the class is setup so horribly it doesn't matter and this mixed with poor teaching methods make it very hard to succeed in this class for most people. Its too fast paced, the labs are way to hard, and then tests are even harder, in almost every assignment the class average is failing.

Horrible professor

Are you ever at a point where you impulsively want to throw a toaster in the bathtub while you're taking a bath? I was. You have failed the generous God King Ethan, and for that- you will perish in the eternal flames of darkness- forever! Fear the end, mortal, because you have done a great sin to our God King! HEIL #JusticeForTheGodKing

Exams are really hard to prepare for and the average usually ends up being around %50-60. The exams are trick questions only instead of vocab or testing your understanding of how things actually work. You can get 100s on all the labs but fail the class because you get trick questions wrong on tests.

Took a lot of advanced CS in highschool and community college. Even I would say this class is wild for a 1050 course. Textbook is surface stuff relative to his tests. Needs more outside programming work if he wants his test questions to stick. This class NEEDS to priortize getting students aclimated to C rather than drilling them out the door.

Class is designed to fail you. My free public school and community college classes were more challenging and your effort reflected in your grade. Tests trick you, and there is no way these labs are acceptable for a 1050 course. I finish the labs fine but I know 5 other languages and I leave them perplexed that anyone thought they were acceptable.

The assignments are needlessly stressful with no direction at all. You're expected to code massive programs that you know nothing about because lecture is hardly related: you don't learn how to code anything in class. They aren't even useful for exams. I've spent less time outside class on 5 credit hr classes. JimR knows its hard, but doesn't care.

Unfortunately he is kinda the only teacher that does this class. As said with other reviews his tests suck and you are essentially taking yet another weeder class. Lots of classmates are incredibly frustrated with Mizzou's comp sci curriculum at this point.