2.2
Quality4.5
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake94
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
94
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
94 total ratings5
12
4
8
3
13
2
33
1
28
What Students Say
“The textbook is bad and his notes are even worse”
CMPT150 - 1.0 rating“He is absolutely the worst ever”
CMPT371 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.01 avg changeRatings by Course
374
5.0
(1)CMPT371
3.5
(8)CMPT471
3.3
(13)CMPT126
2.4
(5)CMPT125
2.2
(23)Difficulty by Course
ENSC250
5.0
CMP250
5.0
COMP125
5.0
CMPT250
4.8
CMPT150
4.7
Reviews (93)
No Comments
No Comments
No Comments
wonderful teacher, challenging course. the TA lost one of my assignments.
Best computing prof I have ever had. Lectures were very informative
No Comments
He doesn't know how to teach. Period.
He assumes you understand how everything works before you entered this class.
This guy can't teach nor speak in an understandable language
No Comments
don't take his class if you have a choice
He can't teach. Avoid taking his class.
Brutal teacher, you won't understand a thing he teaches
Right on guys, I have no idea what he's talking about yet I'm sitting in the front row. If he only took the time to dumb down everything for us, we might have understood something. Unfortunately, he didn't.
he is a bad teacher but i must say he does a great job of marking the mt and final. he does it so fast. much better than the TAs
Have a hard time understanding his lecture. Insane number of assignments, and the exams are in no way related to the homework.
His class is hard...
Can't believe that he is not fired yet.
Last semester, more than half of the class dropped the course. This well shows that he suxs big time.
Man, I am telling you. If you have his class, just drop it. Don't even bother trying. He doesn't seem to care about the class's low average grade. Once I stayed until 11:00pm Sunday night just to finish a crazy assign. Still,I got 60% for that assignment!
Too much bounce in his step.
Class is a joke. Very easy but you don't come out learning anything new.
No Comment.
don't take course with him...
PUNK face , style, hehehe
hard, hard, too hard. And he cares nothing~ Why someboday says "Very Easy"?
simply worst ever! Never ever take his class! cant believe that I already have taken it!
I was happy with Mr. Haffer. He may seem hard because he expects you to do some self-learning with the extra references he gives you but this is something you should be greatful for. Class averages may be low but final grades are curved.
Absoutely ridiculous, He has no communication skils, Find it hard to filter all the "big" words that he's using and find a point to what he's blabbering about. Useless!
don't know what he's talking in class, Assignment doesn't make sense. don't take his class
GOOD GOD WHY AM I IN HIS CLASS???
Don't take classes with him...I don't understand him in the class. The assignments are too complicated and unclear. He deducts 50% of your mark for not having proper documentation (explaining how you have come up with a diagram!).
Nightmare!
OMG So many people failed, a few guys got below 10%. Too many assginments, not really related to the lectures. refuse feedbacks. always says: "only you feel....the rest of class are doing good". in fact, only us passed the midterm. Well, don't take him if you r in ur right mind. period.
Difficult prof - do not expect an easy ride. The midterm and final were reasonable - they tested the basics. However, the assignments were far more difficult. He teaches quite well and goes in-depth into the topic, but sometimes is hard to follow unless you pay very close attention.
No Comments
pretty easy and he makes the content somewhat interesting. but somehow he went against his grading scheme and might give a higher final grade to a student with a lower final mark than another.
Just walked out of his final exam... depressed. I swear that the average is like 20%. I hope he curves the grades. Otherwise, we're all screwed.
Hard Hard Hard. Assignments don't make any sense to me at all and I've read through the text book several times.
His lectures seem to be unrelated to the assignments and exams. Assignments are very very very hard, the hardest that I have ever had in a course I've taken so far. Midterm wwere also pretty difficult, class average was in the mid 30%.
Assignments are questions chosen from the textbook, but they are super hard to do. Midterm wasn't much easier either, the average was a failing grade under 40%. The class average must be like 35% or so. Do not take his course unless you don't mind your gpa dropping.
This is by far the most difficult instructor that I have ever had. I think most of the class has given up on the course because there seem to be more and more 0s on each assignment. I do not reccommend taking his class.
44% of the class got a grade of D or lower. I strongly suggest you do not take this course with him unless you already know all the material in advance.
I haven't worked as hard as I have on any previous course that I've ever taken before, but I received my first ever failing grade at SFU. Class average is ridiculously low. His class lectures are unrelated to the assignments or the exams. Most of the people that I've talked to in his class do not understand what he is talking about in lecture.
Gets very little done in class. Homework material is only taught the day after it was due. Material and sample midterm material posted 5mins prior to the class before the midterm, office horus or tutorial between then and the midterm refused because "you should be responsible adults" when clearly he is not.
lecture notes were useless, his lectures were unclear, boring, monotone and he pretend to be funny but it just does not work. his jokes are dumb.
His exams are extremely hard. No matter how much time he gives you, you can still be wishing for more. But the good point is he is good at marking, and b/c everyone has done so bad, he scales it.The bottom line: Don't take any course with him, except you're a nerd!(but don't worry if you did, wish for the scaled mark ;) )
Good prof. Assignments, exams are fair. The course itself seemed to be 371 all over again with maybe 30% new stuff. I'd like to have some more focus on security (penetration and defense) of the protocol stack.
TOO HARD~! assignments and exams are nightmare...
He is a good teacher and explains things well. He goes into a LOT of detail. His assignments aren't too bad but the midterm and final are quite tough. Be prepared if you are planning to take him!
Very smart and explains things well in lecture. Assignments are somewhat easy, but deceptive. Explain everything, and I mean EVERY LITTLE THING you could possibly imagine. It should take longer than the assignment itself. Tests are hard, but scaled. He's really into the details, as you'll see in his solutions.
Tried hard all year, received my first D. I got above average on every assignment and the midterm but 4 marks below on final. Ridiculous lectures notes, impossible to follow, and assumes you know everything already. Take this class with Tony Dixon, it's you're only hope!
I can't manage to find a word to describe the utmost horrible and lowest form of teaching possible. His lectures are absolutely 100% useless, you learn NOTHING RELATED TO THE COURSE. If you like the letter's F, D, C-, then I highly recommend this ignorant human being. I hope SFU can hire better alumni. Worst teacher/prof i have had.
This is the hardest course I've ever had. If you don't have a STRONG background about programming, never take this course with him. His assignments are extremely tough, and you learn almost nothing from this guy! I regret to take this course with him. It discourages me a lot.
This guy is hard. He teaches nothing and his assignments are ridiculous. Textbook is useless too, you will spend most of your time googling all the java packages and ways to solve the problems he gives you.
extremely hard! i fall asleep in his lecture everytime. lecture notes and textbook are too easy to be helpful for assignments.
If you feel that spending $500 to teach yourself Java from the internet whilst the professor pontificates about the virtues of Linux and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy this class is for you. You are expected to already know the course material, and lectures serve no clear purpose. You will not learn how to write Java in this course.
If you are not a Java genius, better keep youself away from this guy... NEVER EVER try to take this course with him! Otherwise, you DEAD and REGRET!!
I came to here before registering. I mean how bad could have this guy have been? BIGGEST MISTAKE IN MY LIFE. THIS GUY DOES NOT TEACH FOR THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE. His lectures are pointless, irrelevant and not remotely related to the assignments. That being said, he makes the difficulty of assignments absolutely impossible to complete.
Extremely difficult, text book useless, Labs are not required and nothing useful is taught in them. Forced to use Linux which only complicates everything. Does not teach ANY syntax, does NOT USE A COMPUTER TO TEACH. I have a strong background in programming and I still find this class way too hard. Do not take a class with this professor.
Wow. Just got my midterm mark back and I thought the midterm itself was decent enough for me to pass... Or atleast I thought I did. This so-called "professor" can't teach, and he even marks strictly. Very strictly. DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE WITH LOU HAFER !
Do NOT take. Listen to me, DO NOT. I took Java AP in grade 11 and I am bombing this, I feel sorry for the beginners. He will make you hate programming. His assignments are way too advanced for what he teaches, hes too vague, and he teaches Java on an overhead. That does not work. You need to SEE him coding in the JDE to understand. Pass on it
Not recommended for lower level computer course. I took Jave in grade 11/12 and I barely get his freaking bs unclear assignment done. Mid term was okie. Finals coming... His lecture? Donno.. I fell asleep every time after the 2nd week. It's in the morning... but i dun think it makes any difference if it was in the afternoon.
After taking his "course", which more closely resembles a series incoherent rants, I spoke to the department chair and was allowed to take the same course but with a different professor for free. If you care about Java and want to get your moneys worth take this course with a different professor.
Hm. Lou Hafer is more or less below average in terms of teaching capability, or so I found. His assignments in this course were ridiculously challenging, and his lectures somehow veered off in a direction entirely unrelated to them. Stay away from his courses if you value your time. His assignments took upwards of 10+ hours and were very ambiguous.
he's the worst professor ever!
class was super easy. assignments were a joke. terrible prof though, but the course is easy...what more can i say...
You MUST learn Java on your own to pass this course because he teaches EVERYTHING on an overhead! He is not a hands-on teacher, which will be extremely difficult for a first or second year undergraduate. He does not have the skills to teach beginner programmers at all. Homework and tests are not related to the topics covered in the lectures.
never ever thinking about his teaching will be useful and comprehensive. he just thinks you know everything but we are not!!!!!exams and homeworks are ridiculous, just ridiculous!!!!
Expected to know how to program in java. Fair exams, the assignments made you think but they were just ridiculous and over the top for a first year/ beginner programmer. Overall prof was a nice guy but I recommend not taking this class with him unless u have some programming background.
Not recommended. Lectures are irrelevant to assignments and boring. This course picks up where 120 left off in terms of concepts, but leaves no time for students to learn Java syntax. No in-class demonstrations in Java IDE. Assignments were difficult and seemed to have no point. However, his midterm and final exam were fair and not to difficult.
If you don't know Java, I would not recommend you taking this course with this prof. No Java Syntax is taught in this course. If you have a strong background in object-orientated programming then maybe this course is for you. This professor teaches in Java in theory. Assignments were impossible to complete, and did not aid in learning the material.
After coming out of CMPT 120 with an A+ with no prior programming experience, this course gave me a rude awakening. He spent no time teaching the syntax, making it incredibly difficult just to finish assignments. I thought there was something wrong with me, but now that I'm taking other CMPT courses with few problems, I realize it's this prof.
Just thought I'd counter some of the negative reviews here - Yes, 250 is a hard course, but Lou was one of the best teacher's I've had. I'm sorry you did poorly, but don't blame him because you didn't get it. He teaches clearly, he is interested, he is willing to help students, and the course follows the text, so just read it for clarifications.
Explains theoretically but says not a word about syntax that. ONLY answers questions during class. Extract from course outline regarding office hours "you knock, you have about a minute to convince me that your problem is sufficiently urgent that I should continue to interrupt what I was doing in order to give your problem further attention."
I got an A in CMPT 120 3 years ago, so I took CMPT 126 to get my GPA to 3.00, now I may get a D or F. My beefs with the prof are like that of most people here. Lack of syntax teaching, being unable to carry away useful info from lectures, unapproachable for help, etc. It seems he can teach upper-level courses well, but not lower-level ones.
useless lecture, hard ass assignments... DONT TAKE THIS CLASS!!!
Lou is not as bad as many people say. His assignments are VERY difficult, make sure to find some friends good at programming. Make sure you write very detailed design and testing documentation for your programs. Second, read the material before class. His lectures are pretty good if you know what he's talking about. Mid-Term and Finals are fair.
No tutorials to practice on the stuff he teaches. Last coding assignment super difficult. Messy/useless notes. Best to rely on textbook instead of his lectures.
People need to take the general pattern of ratings here seriously. He is one of those teachers that has a penchant for making a course much harder than it needs to be. The textbook is bad and his notes are even worse. Does not make clear which material are relevant to the course so you always waste time studying extra stuff.
He's very clear, helpful and easy to talk to but he's one of the hardest profs you'll meet. If you don't have interest for the course, you might as well drop it. Only recommended for people that are good at studying on their own. Odd scaling method, instead of scaling from average, he scales from the highest mark. Which may or may not be helpful.
He is absolutely the worst ever. No joke. One earlier rater said s/he was able to talk to the department head and got permission to retake the course with someone else. Now why didn't I do that? Fellow students: keep this bit of knowledge handy. You too can take control of the quality of your own education!!!
One of the Best profs I ever had in my life. His knowledge in this field is so deep. I Thoroughly enjoyed every class.He expects more from his students, and always welcomes discussions. Exams were little bit tricky, marking and grading were harsh, but if you work hard you will get a good grade. If you enjoy learning and working hard,don't miss lou
Not a very good teacher. He doesn't explain much, especially since there are no pre reqs for the class. Felt like he need ed to go slower and explain at a more bas ic level than what he was teaching at. Assumes you understand what's going on. Better to read the book or talk to somebody in class that understands the material.
You must be crazy to take cmpt125 with him. He already explained HALF of 225!! first class on arrays already, then you'll learn linked list, stack/queue..etc. what the heck??? he spent 2 lectures going over EVERY loop and assumes you know everything. good luck to you all if ur in his class.
Course was much tougher than most people anticipated. Assignments are time-consuming, challenging, and very interesting. If you have the desire to put work in to this course and acquire a solid foundation in programming, this is the course for you. If you put solid time and effort into assignments(even if you don't finish), the tests are a breeze.
WORST couse EVER EVER since I came to this university...lectures and textbook are uesless for assignments and exams...I CANNOT believe WHY I DID NOT DROP THIS XXXX Course
He is so smart. His notes are pretty clear and comprehensive. Lab is not mandatory for most of time. And one In-class Midterm, Final are super straightforward and fair. Take Course with Dr Hafer, you will learn quite a few stuff.
worst prof ever, even harder than CMPT307
AVOID this professor as much as possible!!! He said half way when marking the midterms, he got grumpy. The lecture recordings should still prove of it in it. That is NOT FAIR.
Worst "worst" prof I have ever met. He does not even listen to students outside the class or reply to emails. Extremely odd scaling where half of the class received D or below.
I'm sure he's a knowledgable guy and he's actually not that "mean" when you ask questions. But I definitely do not get his marking.. I failed two of my four assignments even though I spent so much time on it (I still got higher than the class ave for those two assignments somehow.. ). The assignments was not even hard, but his marking was.
The worst prof ever. I really don't want to see him again not in the course but also in any situation.
Class Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.01 avg changeRatings by Course
374
5.0
(1)CMPT371
3.5
(8)CMPT471
3.3
(13)CMPT126
2.4
(5)CMPT125
2.2
(23)Difficulty by Course
ENSC250
5.0
CMP250
5.0
COMP125
5.0
CMPT250
4.8
CMPT150
4.7