Very Good teacher but difficult tests

damn good teacher, if not the best in CS at mcgill

This prof is GOLD! GOLD, Jerry!

Joe rulez...

Itz all about Joe Baby... Itz all about Joe

Best CS teacher. Make him a professor or something.

Exams can be a little tough (long), but talk to him, he'll listen..

Joe is too much. He teaches all classes and does an amazing job

This man is great, he could explain programming to a fish!

All your base are belong to us. Joe is da stud of CompuSci

so nice.... any questions just go to his office hours, exams aren't so bad..

Excellent Teacher, explains concepts well but final exam was horriable

very good for those who can understand

Does a great job considering the disparity of students taking this class.

great teacher, explains concepts very well, best comp prof. i've come accross

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he has funny applet sweaters...

boring, but explains clearly.

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A nice prof but does not go into the detail that much.

He's nice, and does seem to know what he's talking about, but his tests are a little bit vague.

Competent on the whole, despite the occasional blackboard dyslexia. A nice guy. Patient, sympathetic, fair. Caters to the common denominator- a breeze for students with programming background.

very clear in his explanations, makes it easy for non-computerish people to understand (this is an intro class). does make a lot of mistakes and is vague, but lectures are easy to follow and he tries to give examples that help.

His assignments and exams are long and sometimes difficult, but he's a good lecturer. You will learn a lot because he presents everything in an organized fashion. Just remember not to leave the assignments till the day before cause you wont get them done.

This was the absolute best class of my life. This teacher was so good that he motivated me to design computer progams for the rest of my life.

I would have to say that he is the best CS teacher. I've taken 4 courses, with him and you know what to expect.

The assignments are pure evil, but he's very clear and thorough. It's really hard NOT to understand the class material when he's teaching it.

Yes, his assignments are long, but you learn so much more when you take his courses than if you took them with another professor. He clearly knows a ton about computers, he can always answer questions, he's fair, interesting, and a very nice guy. He also lets class out early whenever he can.

He's a good guy, I didn't like his teaching methods, but that's a personal choice. Seems to know what he's talking about, but if you've never programmed before, don't take this class "Introduction to Computing" = very misleading. If you have to take this course, suggestion: start assignments early and do them by hand first, you can learn a lot.

Great professor! Very helpful on the assignments (clarifies unclear points, gives extensions when the workload turns out to be too big). He tries to make sure everything is clear for everyone. The course is hard if you don't like programming, but that has to do with the curriculum, not the prof.

Great teacher

Did not appear to be very knowledgeable regarding many of the topics, but I've heard that it's better to have him for higher level classes (such as OS)

Mr. Vybihal is an extremely nice guy and really does want his students to understand. He's a bit out of touch at times and can occasionally be confusing -- TALK TO HIM. His assignments are infamous for being poorly constructed, but ask him to clarify what he wants and it'll be easy. Really good if you can work with his teaching style.

Very cool and calm prof. Doesn't speak very loudly but still very friendly and helpful.

Nicest prof in CS. Has a open door policy for office hours. Assignments are long, but you learn a lot.

Good professor. Fair marking scheme. Assignment is long... looking for an optimized solution was tough.

He teaches the course contents in a relatively clear fashion. The assignments can be a little tough, but I am satisfied with COMP 206 overall.

This is a good professor who teaches very well the material that he has to teach. That the material he ends up teaching is frequently dull, antiquated, and theoretical beyond practicality is somewhat out of his control. That the material is "uninspiring" or "dull" seems an inappropriate measure by which to judge him, but the course is dull.

Joseph is an outstanding teacher! It's thx to his devotedeness & expertise that I became passionate in Java programming. He was always available by email and in his office and spare a lot of his time reading through lines of code to help us think in a correct manner. A true professional!

Really chill prof, assignments aren't that bad. Follows his slides to a T, makes jokes and is relaxed in class. Hands back marks promptly - no complains and probably my fav class this semester. Learned quite a bit

It is true that the material taught in 206 is quite outdated, but all said and done, it is a required course for comp sci majors, and Vybihal does a great job of teaching it. Midterm was pretty easy, assignments are time-taking but interesting.

I loved this class, it was interesting even if it's a little antiquated and challenging. The only thing I didn't like was being told the week before the midterm that we were expected to memorize the new programming languages we were using and be able to write code for the midterm with no crib sheet.

Great prof, completely on top of his game, you really won't outsmart him. However, he WILL screw you over on assignments and exams. Be prepared..

Very nice prof who actually cares about his students. The lectures were enjoyable, and his explanations were clear. But... assignments are sometimes hard to understand, and something about the way they are written always managed to scare me. I felt that the questions could have been phrased in a maybe more concise manner? Sorry prof :(

Really good professor!! Make sure you go to his class and take good notes, then read the corresponding chapter in the textbook. You'll do well, he even hints what types of questions are on the midterm.!! Good class :D

Joseph is an awesome Prof, he is really nice . His assignment and projects are really interesting BUT the slides can have some real lack of clarity. Clarity is maybe Vybihal's only weakness but it is real. Some pay attention to class and do not hesitate to ask question during office hours, he is really nice !

Great Professor!

Cool and helpful prof, boring lectures, memorise everything in his slides for exams, lectures are not important. He is very creative in making exam questions so don't bother with past exams. Assignments are a bit long and the instructions are confusing most of the time, interesting group project though.

He is super helpful, but honestly not clear and supeeeer boring. People barely went to class because he just has one of those voices that makes you fall asleep. If you can, avoid him, but if not, he is not the worst thing in the world. Just be ready to read on your own because your mind will definitely wander in his classes.

Prof is really cool, his classes were fun and interesting. Exams are super long, so it's helpful to work through the exercises given in class to practice coming up with the algorithms faster.

Joseph Vybihal is one of the greatest professors I've ever had. He is there whenever you need him and ready to listen to you. I will definitely take other courses with him. He is absolutely available for students.

Very interesting and knowledgeable teacher. Interesting and well-prepared lectures with live demos. He can be funny sometimes.

A nice guy. Very responsive to students, even on the Facebook group. Lectures can be a bit confusing, but that's kind of what your're gonna get with this course. You will learn a lot from him. Quite funny. Tough exam, but he said he'd curve it. No grade yet... but regardless I think he's a great prof.

Funny guy, gives clear and pertinent examples in class, makes the students participates a bit by asking questions sometimes. He gave interesting assignments, but get ready to read because the material presented in class is not always enough to complete the homeworks.

Professor Vybihal is one of the best professors I have had at McGill. He is nice and genuinely cares about his students. Going to class is definitely a plus because he likes using the blackboard to explain things! On top of that, his slides are clear and easy to follow, but you can also read the textbook since he follows it very closely.

Be prepared for a lot of very minor concepts to play a major part in the final exam. But Vybihal is a really good prof otherwise. Very clear and gave good examples.

He can be unclear sometimes, but you'll just have to make an effort and go to his office hours to clarify things. He is very approachable, patient, and doesn't seem to judge no matter how stupid your questions might be. Certain assignments can be long and time consuming, but he had a huge team of TAs and help was very accessible.

He was ok. The final is not hard as it may seem. I think it was relatively easier than the midterms in my opinion. The level of difficulty varies in his assignments. Some are very time-consuming, and then there are some that are incredibly easy. Overall, I consider him to be a good professor for this course.

nice person. Said everything on test would come from lecture and slides, which are adaptations from textbooks written by himself. Was true to his words. Ended up taking 206 and 273 with him, and most likely 303 this semester. Lot of time invested in hw and (re)reading lecture + notes by other profs of same class. Can expect work to pay off though.

One of the nicest persons at McGill, but lacks clarity throughout. That said, would recommend. You don't learn anything useful for a living at school nowadays anyways.

He is a good teacher and explains very well, but his lectures are too long.

One of the great profs in CompSci, although sometimes infuriatingly vague. Cares about students, and deserves more credit for it than he gets. Office hours are like lining up at disney world, but worth the wait. ALWAYS VERIFY YOUR GRADE ON ASSIGNMENTS/TESTS. (There's almost always grading mistakes by the TA's). 2x recordings ;)

One of the most humble and easily approachable profs at McGill. Yes the materials in class are dated and he sometimes lacks clarity, but given how CS and tech have involved, University is rendered useless anyway. Would recommend.

Joseph is a really good person who cares about his students immensely. With the larger class sizes, it can seem a bit disorganized, but just make sure to see him in office hours (show up early). Exam questions can be broad, but he makes up for it with lenient grading. Midterms are not ideal as they were online, but the final exam was very fair.

Don't show up to class, watch lecture recordings at 1.5x speed and you're set. Oh, make sure you do the assignments alone. Check the answers for the midterms because my first midterm had an error, and when corrected made my grade jump from a B to an A. Vybs is a really nice guy tho, super helpful.

Joseph is an incredible, caring prof, whose assignment instructions are super vague and frustrating. To do well in this class: skip lectures and watch each recording (once the same week, once before exams). Learn C on your own before class, a lot of the final is trivia from the last few weeks. Do the assignments by yourself, no matter how hard.

He was pretty good. A lot of people talk about how he's too vague, which is true, but honestly it's not that bad, I think it's been a bit overstated. Slides are not too good, very little detail, so I highly recommend using the textbook to get a good understanding of the material and make your own detailed notes from the lecture and textbook.

The online running of COMP208 is really amazing

By far the best comp professor that i've had this far into my degree! He really cares about his students and is always asking how they are doing with the work load of the course. If you ask him a question in his OH he is going to give you a really great answer and probably some sort of joke in there with it. Overall, an absolute gem!

Even though people complain about Prof. Vybihal's boring lectures, he genuinely cares about his students. If you don't get something, go to his office hours. He is patient. The test questions are vague and they are mostly details from the slides. The textbook wasn't used often but it's useful if you want to review for tests.

Very patient professor, he would answer all our questions and is really friendly+funny. Looking forward to meet him in person. Since he answers many students' questions, his live lectures may be a little bit slow. The assignments were really helpful to understand the material. the 2 tests were fair and there was no final exam, but a final project.

Vibyhal definitely deserves more than 3.3/5 for rating. Had him for online, very clear and although might slip away details, he answers every question asked in the chat with examples. Very patient and accessible, and the TAs of this class are wonderful. The assignments are all doable, although midterms slightly difficult. Taking him again next year

His explanations can be vague, but if you go to his office hours, he is always there to help. If you ask him questions, he might take a lot of time to explain the concept, but he makes the effort. The test questions were vague, but he gave practice questions to practice.

He did change a lot of stuff in the assignment the last moment, and people got pissed that they had to spend 15 more minutes thinking moderately deeply about a few lines of code. But that's to be expected out of typical CS students. Students who knew what they were doing in CS found exams and assignments easy.

Honestly really not that bad. I dont know why everyone is complaining that much. I thought he was a pretty good lecturer. I feel like almost every prof ive had so far was worse tbh. Also the final project was a lot of work but at least the class had no final.

I believe he was great. Although he clearly explained concepts for the most part, I found the content of the lectures pretty dry. What kept me working in this course were the assignments, which are really fun and could be done in one evening (except the final project, which could take an entire day). I would definitely take a class with him again.

Personally, I think Prof Joseph is very overhated. Sure, he may not be the most engaging, and his courses often do require a lot of self-learning, but he makes up for it by grading assignments generously and being very accessible. I felt the Midterm exam was a bit unfair, but being someone who mostly learns by themselves, I love his classes.

Overall good prof, the nature of the course is boring so forgive him for being a bad lecturer. Had the 2 online 20% midterms and a 10% in person quiz with him grade scheme, all of them were pretty fair, unlike other other profs who try to trick you. Time manage well and this class should be a breeze

His lectures and notes make the topics easy and digestable.His is very approachable and kind to his students.He always tries to accomodate everyone.He provides great guidance and is always available to help especially after class!Registering to classes with him as an instructor is one of the best educational decisions I have ever made!*chef's kiss*

Extremely patient and truly cared for his students. My only comment in general for 206 is that there are often typos in the instructions, so Ed discussion gets busy trying to figure that out, but this is fixed pretty quickly

He's good at teaching and a nice guy. The midterms were really hard (and kind of unfair) but the final was pretty easy and he was very generous with grading it.

I have taken 206,273 and am currently in 361 with him.He is clearly very knowledgeable and passionate about the world of CS.I liked his grading schemes(5-6 assignments with 3 in-class tests /no final)and found most assignments to be doable in 1-2days.Some lectures were dry but he is clear and he speaks slowly so 2x lecture recordings were perfect

Though the lectures can be dry, the assignments are engaging and doable. Unstuck study was a lifesaver for test prep. Overall, a decent class if you stay focused.

Vybihal is a great lecturer, you can tell he really cares about the course content. There were frequent assignments that took quite a bit of time to complete, but the grading criteria is very clear. The grading scheme for this class is nice as well, with 6 assignments, 3 tests/exams that were an hour long each, no final exam, just a project.

Great guy! Can be boring but the grading scheme was very good and assignments were doable.

His lectures are... fine, his assignments are... fine, his exams are... fine. He's very accessible outside class and is overall a good prof.

The lectures are quite confusing and useless, but on the bright side, the assignments are straightforward, and the final is very generously graded as well.

Overhated for sure, he's fine. He just talks veeerrry slooowwlly, so if you can stay on top of it I *strongly* recommend ditching the lectures and watching the recordings so you can speed him up. At 1.75x speed, he's a fine lecturer. Co-taught w Jacob Errington when I took it, overall good experience.