Excellent prof. Very easy to understand. Makes learning fun!

Helpful in class but not good one on one. Good lecturor

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great entertaining professor, but dont expect him to be very helpful during office hours and stuff. You'll soon know how dumb you are.

He's a fun teacher, and he's not boring like some other CS teachers ::glares at Ramm::

best lecturer at duke, and very, very knowledgeable when it comes to helping with code

Wonderful, entertaining, well-versed lecturer.

Great Teacher. He's very funny and exciting and therefore easily keeps your attention.

Takes questions during class which is very helpful. Makes class laugh every day. Also makes bets against the class (never loses tho).

his class is interesting

Really funny guy. His off the wall analogies are helpful and he keeps his lectures entertaining. If you show up to class, do your work, and study just a little, you'll get out with at least a B, guaranteed.

The course is easier than peeing in a lake. Astrachan's a funny guy and makes people laugh a lot. BUT he also has ADD or something -- never stays on track or on topic, and his explanations tend to be more confusing than helpful. Takes questions, but makes you feel like an idiot if you ask them.

Entertaining lecturer. Gives lots of bonus, possible to end class with over 100%. Do all work and guranteed B, do OK on tests and an A. Very disorganized leading to slow grading. This means no real feedback til after final.

Very entertaining lecturer, makes you want to go to class just to hear his lecture. Almost guaranteed a B- at very least, even if you do very poorly on midterms. But not easy to get an A. Downside is his lack of organization. Dont know your exact grades on anything until well after the final.

A little spacey, but that's cool

I felt a bit lost some times because he assumed we were all geeks and knew CPS stuff he didn't teach. E.g. all the compiling stuff, all the GUI stuff, UML, etc. If you just want to know how to write the fastest and most efficient algorithms OLA is the man! But don't be surprised if you have to learn some of the other stuff on your own.

Funny guy, great guy, but even if you do well on everything and play his games, you aren't guaranteed an A. He is also very busy and doesn't answer emails.

Difficult class, but OLA teaches really well and is very entertaining in class. Just sit there, relax, and you'll soak in the knowledge, so forget the dense/hard-to-read text. The mix of assignments, worksheets, APT's, and great lectures will help you learn a lot, although it does take much effort to stay on top of things too.

Great lecturer, gets the information across without boring you to tears. Cares about his students and about teaching. Funny, nice guy.

he is a GREAT professor

Excellent Professor!

Easy QS/Writing class. Awesome awesome and is super nice/helpful/fun.

Great professor. His laid back and relaxed attitude makes for great classroom atmosphere that produced some memorable moments. Astrachan is the man.

i always left class smiling. i didn't find the tests that hard (def. not super easy though). not a hard grader. it's hard to keep up with all of the work. doesn't give feedback on assignments until after final (but gives tests back in a week).

Very humorous and entertaining lector. Tests were never too hard, they just required thinking (studying doesn't help that much since tests are open-note and open-book). Projects are fun and interesting, and even though I'm not a comp sci major, I definitely am glad I took this course. I'm not sure if there's a curve, if so it's quite generous.

Great class. Below minimal effort can get you an A, and if you have any interest in the subject material the lectures and readings are really interesting. Guest lecturers were very impressive as well. Astrachan is also extremely accessible and funny.

Great Professor, he's really nice and funny and tries to mke the classes fun and interesting with guest speakers and crazy youtube vids. You do have to come to class but they're usually not boring. The assignments can be a pain, but they're only every two weeks and he gives mad extra credit

This class is great, I'm not sure what the other person was thinking that wrote that ola is a jerk. He's got some idiosyncracies, but lectures are great and the assignments are interesting. Don't expect to get grades back soon though.

Great professor. Always entertaining during lectures and tries really heard to make sure everyone understands the material.

Great lecturer, makes you want to come to class. Easy test, straightforward material. Great class to fill requirements

I LOVE Professor Astrachan!!! Favorite professor, hilarious, entertaining lectures. But, I hate his class. Most people did fine, but I struggled all semester. You basically write programs to return sought information in different situations. You'd probably do fine, but if CompSci isn't your thing, don't take it just for the QS (like I did).

Best class at Duke. ola is amazing!

Astrachan is a very engaging lecturer, funny and easygoing. He really brings the concepts to life. If you are confident in your computer science abilities and are comfortable receiving very limited feedback on your work (read: no projects graded/commented until the final week of classes), you will enjoy this class. If you just want a QS, take CS72.

He is a good professor who is super engaging, funny, energetic, and passionate about computer science. His lectures weren't entirely useful or helpful in learning how to learn how to program but always entertaining. Class wasn't terribly difficult and the exams were easy. Very lenient and easy going as well. Prepare to watch Youtube videos. A lot.

He's really nice and keeps the class engaged. The assignments often take an extremely long time and there are alot of them, though.

Awesome professor, provides lots of extra credit opportunities. Easy to do well in if you are willing to put in the time. Extremely helpful and approachable outside of class. Makes lectures engaging and funny.

Awesome professor who makes lectures engaging and funny. Very approachable outside of class and extremely helpful. It's not difficult to do well in the class if you're willing to put in the work.

My favorite class at Duke. Ola is hilarious and the material is extremely interesting and relevant. You have to take this class!

He's awesome. Take anything he is teaching.

Take his class. Prof Astrachan is really nice and his class is easy, just make sure to do each assignment and you will do great. The reading summaries are the most important part of the course because everything else is pretty much an easy A

Ola is a fun and quirky prof and he really tries to make this an easy QS (or EI) credit for people who don't understand or care about compsci. That said, he can go off-topic and get behind on grading, which makes the class a lot less fun.

I took his intro to comp. sci 51 class in 1987 and later an independent study class and graduated with a CS degree in 1991 from Duke. I started Duke to be pre-med and major in biology, but finished with a degree in CS. I'm now a general surgeon in SC, but he's the only professor of CS that I remember bc of his passion for the art of CS. - Martin

Prof Astrachan is a funny and engaging professor/lecturer. The class was too easy in my opinion, and perhaps the powerpoints could be done clearer or more professionally. Also, perhaps following the schedule on the syllabus exactly and using the textbook more often could be extremely helpful.

Ola is a God. Enough said. (he does ramble a bit though, but it's rather amusing)

Ola is awesome! Very funny and a very good professor! CS 101 is one of the funnest classes you will take here at Duke. No prior knowledge of programming is required! He makes things very very simple to understand, and the assignments he puts up are actually FUN. Because of him I now want to major in CompSci.

Astrachan is an entertaining professor that makes pretty dry material interesting. In additional the course assignments are pretty good. The class is easy and you can expect an A- if you do the work well; however, Astrachan is pretty reluctant to give out As. Be warned.

Professor Ola is very passionate about his subject and gives students lots of opportunities to improve their grade. He teaches in such a way that it is hard to get notes of 'this does X', so you end up learning by absorption, a fun change from typical classes. Assignments are long but there is lots of help available, they are how you really learn.

Owen is fun, engaging, and truly passionate about the field. Often the assignment instructions are somewhat hard to follow. I didn't appreciate when he would say an assignment was easy and wouldn't take very long, but I would end up spending hours on it. It made me feel like I wasn't good enough, but in reality everyone learns at a different speed.

One of the greatest teachers I've ever had. Extremely engaging, interesting, funny, and passionate about his topic. His goal really is to get people excited about CS and introduce students to the field. Very friendly intro course, and he's extremely approachable in office hours. Definitely take a class with Prof Astrachan if you can.

Professor Astrachan is an absolute inspiration. His passion for computer science is infectious and he is arguably the most compassionate teacher I have ever met.

His teaches really well! Things to warn you about: 1) Extra credit assignments are not "extra" but mandatory if you want to get an A or A+. 2) His grammar is really bad in directions for homework assignment. This gets really annoying as the length of direction increases. 3) The class is not as easy as you might think! Definitely harder than EOS101.

Prof Astrachan is probably the one of the funnest professor at Duke, he's eccentric and hilarious. Assignments not hard in themselves, BUT the assignment instructions are sometimes vague or just confusing. Still he clarifies if you ask him personally! Only real complaint I have is sometimes he is tardy on grading. BUT the class is still worth it!

10/10 would take class with again

We Skyped with a guy from Yale who redid their course evals. Labs were easy, but personalized to our interests! Guided by current events and the news, learned skills and how the Internet works. Cybercitizen: I'm in. Astrachan doesn't grade fast enough, but the class is great.

Fabulous, fabulous prof during first two weeks of class. Connects course to world and life. Clear, interesting, motivating.

Interesting class, great material. Not too hard, most students get an A-. Professor Astrachan is great at teaching you a little bit about a lot of things, which is perfect for a class like this.

Great professor stuck teaching an intro-level course. Really nice guy and always willing to help.

Great prof! really engaging in class and brings in cupcakes for the whole lecture if it's your birthday

Great professor, entertaining lectures. Expect weekly APTs, assignments, reading quizzes & APT Quizzes. Class carries a large work load. Assignments are challenging & very time consuming. Easy to do well, but get the impression the course is more difficult than previous semesters. Would highly recommend Owen. Put in the work & you'll do fine.

Ola was the only reason I went to lectures; he's hilarious and highlights certain topics I would've glossed over on my own. He's really nice, and helped me with Eclipse on multiple occasions. Lots of assignments and APTs, but most of them are easy(1 or 2 were unclear) and tests were easy and fair. Would definitely recommend. And he got us cupcakes.

Learning to code is a really useful skill. I liked the class and APTs were fun but the assignments were so annoying. Get ahead as much as you can because at the end of the semester the assignments get a lot tougher and take more time. Online textbook is free and interactive

Great Professor. The class was super easy, but he made lectures interesting and funny.

Not a very difficult class. Out of all 101 professors, he's definitely the way to go. There were two professors that semester (him and Rogers). It was obvious that Astrachan was the better professor. He was funny and made CS as interesting as possible.

Very funny professor who is knowledgeable in the field, and deserves more credit than he gives himself for his programming skills. However some of the lectures cover a variety of unrelated topics and there is little class participation except for Google forms and class activities. Labs were hands-off and included following premade instructions.

He's the man.

Best professor ever! Take his class even if you hate compsci. I do, and it was still a great experience :)

Had no java experience to start but got full credit on APTs and assignments because of help hours. Can be hard to focus during his lectures, but they're recorded so watching them was very useful. Astrachan was disorganized the whole semester. Got brutalized on the first test and didn't do well on the second but a good final can make up for it.

Good lecturer but really bad on turning assignments back to students in a timely manner

It was hard in the beginning to adjust from Python to Java if you came from 101. Projects were confusing and there was a lot of homework, whether it was projects or APTs. Luckily the APT solutions were posted. Tests weren't too bad and they made the higher midterm grade your total midterm grade.

Astrachan is really the best lecturer I have encountered so far. Not only is he super hilarious (at least during lectures), but he is able to explain difficult concepts in an amazingly clear and interesting manner. The quality and depth of his lectures have also improved from previous semesters. You should get an A if you work reasonably hard.

Absolutely loved his class! He really makes his lectures fun!

Keep up with all the assignments, go to lab, do the WOTOs, and GO TO OFFICE HOURS IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS! Lectures are streamed online, which is a definite plus. I bombed two of the exams and I suck pretty badly at CS but still somehow managed to walk away with an A-... THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM FOR REDEMPTION IN THIS CLASS. All hail Ola.

Astrachan is a great lecturer and this class was fun! I would often look forward going to class. Work is not too difficult but expect to spend a fair amount of time on the class. One complaint is that we never got feedback on our assignments, but everything ended up working out in the end. Would recommend him as a professor overall though!

Great professor! A bit disorganized, but he is a master of the material and really knows how to teach.

So many things to do neverending!! but lectures are great and the UTAs are fantastic. They make all the difference

Professor Astrachan is a great professor for 201 really cementing these comp sci topics in your head. The class is very project and test based, but the tests and projects are fair. My only critique with this class would be that at times, disorganized.

Interesting, funny guy. Class is huge (300+) so can be hard to pay attention but he tries to make it interesting and lectures available online. Gives you a solid foundation of Java and made me want to take more compsci. Throws a ton of free points at you and assignments/tests aren't too tough - median grade is an A-. Is pretty disorganized though

Be ready for a gigantic class. The lecture was pretty disorganized but very funny (ola really tries to get the attention of the class). Tests are super easy with an A- median. CS201 is a good intro class to Compsci. It is not super necessary to take CS101 ahead of this even if you haven't had AP CS

Astrachan's lectures were entertaining and generally helpful. He is sometimes disorganized, but not to the point that it causes major stress or impacts your grade. There's a decent amount of work, but if you get it all done you will likely get at least an A-. Overall, I learned a lot without too much stress - definitely recommend him for CS 201.

compsci 201 with him is the best. very fair and reasonable assessments, relatively organized for such a large class. learned a lot. great preparation for technical interviews. so glad I got to take it with him!

Astrachan has been one of my best professors at Duke so far; his lectures are engaging and entertaining (I enjoyed class), and he is incredibly fair with his assignments and tests, and he wants everyone to succeed. When the class performed badly on the midterm, he was generous with the ability to re-do some of the questions for credit back.

Astrachan is a great lecturer who wants his students to do well in his class. There are a lot of different components (projects, APTs, exams, etc.) that can make this class time-consuming, but there are also plenty of opportunities to earn extra points. This is easily the most fun class I've ever taken at Duke.

He's super chill

Really entertaining during lectures and cares about the understanding of his students. Would recommend taking his class!

This class made me enjoy CS even more than I already do, and his lectures are quite entertaining as well. Highly recommend for CS201!

Astrachan has been my favorite professor at Duke so far. He is extremely personable and entertaining during lectures and the class is very project-oriented, which works for a compsci course. I would love to take more classes with him in the future

Amazing professor. Best professor I had at Duke so far.

Professor Astrachan is too good. His lectures are funny and engaging. Best 201 professor by far.

CS102 was offered for the first time this semester and it was a bit of a mess. What saved it for me was Professor Astrachan, who is a great lecturer and made me really enjoy computer science. I will be taking CS201 with him next semester.

He is an incredibly interesting professor and makes the class engaging and fun. He truly cares about his students and really focuses on making sure we are learning rather than worrying about grades. This class has great content and is the perfect chance to get to know more about him

Ola is a funny man and his lectures were usually entertaining. The class does have a lot of projects and assignments but nothing super bad.

Ola is one of the few professors I've encountered who is always thinking about how he can help his students do better in his class. The way he structures CS201 takes a lot of pressure off of his students with flexible deadlines. You can tell he just wants you to learn, not memorize his lectures and restate it on an exam.

I love you ola. Things were a little disorganized at the start of class (since this semester, classes are online), but Astrachan was really understanding about it and gave lots of opportunities for students to show knowledge. Also respect him for helping out during TA hours, he really cares about helping students learn.

OLA is absolutely amazing. emphasizes learning to learn, de-emphasizes grades. his caring and funny nature makes lectures quite enjoyable.

Really great lecturer, his CS 201 class is fantastic. Knowing Java in advance is definitely an advantage, otherwise you have to learn it quickly at the beginning of the course. Grading is always very clear, and if you work hard to understand the concepts you'll do well.

there's a reason why everyone calls ola the goat. come find out for yourself

CS201 was a great class! Definitely handled the online learning transition really well. Despite the many assignments in the class, I never felt overwhelmed, and the many assignments give you many chances to boost your grade. Very funny and energetic in lectures as well. Come knowing Java, though.

Ola is one of the best professors at Duke. He made the transition to online learning very smooth and was very accommodating to students. You learn so much in this class and never feel stressed out.

An amazing professor who really cares about how much you learn. Gives multiple opportunites to re-take tests and chooses your best grade as the grade. He's hilarious and I looked forward to his lectures. The work for this class can be time consuming, but lots of office hours and help. Probably one of the best professors I've had at Duke!

Helpful introductory Comp Sci class. Professor is very good.

OLA is by far the greatest CS professor at Duke. He is super relatable and you might actually learn something. The class itself might be a bit jumbled in the topics covered, but you go over a lot of things that you wish you had known, but would not have been taught in regular classes. Honestly, ola is someone you'd like to befriend outside of class

Funny, relatable prof; really easy elective that teaches you industry/current event/informal things that all CS majors should know about but don't get taught in normal classes; most work gets done in your 3-5 person group made at the beginning, basically if you do everything you get an A. Final group paper 10 pg/person, WOTO's, 2-3 papers

Care? ola cares so much. Knowledgeable? Hell yes he knows the stuff cold and he built the APT system we all do a green dance to. Stories? Maybe a few too many, but hes been around and they are generally interesting though sometimes could be shortened. But. ola is the best and if you do everything? Youre ready for SWE interviews for sure.

Astrachan is hands down the best professor I have ever had. Absolutely amazing lecturer. Made me love computer science. Great person.

Fantastic! Ola really knows his stuff and is a giant in the field of computer science. Great lectures! Everyone should take 201 with Ola if possible. Grading system is well laid out from the beginning of the semester, and if you complete every assignment, it is difficult to not get an A. Helps to have some knowledge of Java before but not a must.

If you have any prior Java experience whatsoever, COMPSCI201 will be incredibly easy for you. Projects/exams are very straightforward, every assignment is open-notes/open-Internet, and there's loads of extra credit (can take every exam twice, lots of make-up problem sets, etc). Ola is a great lecturer - you will get so much out of this class.

Ola is great. Expectations throughout the course are very clear and there are a million ways to get an A. If you're interested in compsci, this class will teach you all of its foundations.

Professor Astrachan is amazing. His lectures can be funny and he ties in real-world scenarios. His structure of doing multiple exams as opposed to a couple of midterms greatly reduces the pressure in the class. Don't bother to waste money on the textbook for 201, he explains everything in lecture.

Don't bother buying zybook. His lectures were good, but often felt long and tiring. The small midterms and the final were easy and low stress. The projects were pretty difficult and confusing, but TAs had a lot of office hours. The APTs and APT quizzes weren't too bad. Ola was extremely flexible, but don't procrastinate the projects or the APTs.

Compsci 201 was one of the best classes I had last semester. The class was not stressful at all. The TAs are also extremely helpful and the lectures are engaging. (If you've never used Java before, the first 2 weeks might be a little confusing but you'll get the hang of it. You will not need the Zybook)

All lectures recorded and he gives many retake options. If you fully understand every lecture and do the exams and apts, definitely will take away something useful from this class. But definitely there is a way to get an A without learning anything. Need to attend discussion sessions.

Best professor I've taken during my four years of Duke.

Very good professor. He was the best professor I've taken so far at Duke, and he gives great lectures. CS201 was not very difficult, especially if you had any java experience. If you are an engineer debating EGR103L or CS201, definitely take this course! I will absolutely take more courses with Owen if possible.

243 is a S/U course where you basically do leetcode problems. Super helpful for SWE internship interviews, and Professor Astrachan brought in guest speakers who work at FAANG-type companies that shared their experiences. I would recommend doing more than the problems he assigns in class if you really want to get good at interview problems.

For a pass-fail class, Astrachan clearly knows how to make students want to attend every lecture! He organizes speakers a lot and has them talk about their experience in the field and lets students ask questions, and as for course content he's very knowledgeable and his years of experience are very apparent. Take any class you can with Astrachan!

By far one of the best (and probably easiest) classes I took. I could have gone by without going to lectures but I didn't want to miss a single one of them. Definitely take a class with him if you can!

Simply the GOAT. Enough said.

Lectures were really interesting. I enjoyed having guest speakers every week. If you do the work you'll get a good grade and the assignments tend to be interesting and enjoyable to do.

Guest talks every Thursday from alums ranging across a wide spectrum of experiences. Flexible with deadlines. You get out what you put in, but the content is across the board amazingly relevant, topical, interesting, and accessible. Except for the final paper, everything is graded on submitting on time with peer reviews.

I took 102, 201, and 342 with ola. 342 was easy, you get out what you put in. Relevant and current. Amazing speakers

Ola wants you to get an A. Came into the class with 0 coding experience and was able to succeed. Lectures hard to understand, but I'd come back to the recordings later. Lots of assignments but plenty of time, extensions, and lenient grading. Ola is hilarious and always willing to help. Amazing, understanding, dedicated professor! LOVED 201!

Professor Astrachan does a good job teaching and reinforcing the content. I had no Java experience before taking 201, so it took me some time to catch up, but the class is very manageable. A lot of resources to help you with projects/assignments. Lenient with due dates, but don't fall behind on the lectures.

ola's the GOAT 'nuff said

Compsci201 can at times be conceptually difficult if you don't have much coding experience. That being said, the grading is extremely generous so getting an A is not difficult at all.

He's a super fun lecturer and really wants everyone to do well. I had little to no coding experience and am not a comp sci major but was still able to do well. 100% recommend taking the class with friends because the class can get pretty collaborative (ex: partner projects, sharing helper sheets). Love ola he's the best

Grading is done mostly be peers so that's pretty easy. There are a ton of guest speakers: some in person, some by zoom, and they're typically influential and great at talking about their work !! If you do the extra assignments, you're pretty much guaranteed an A-, the A cutoff is pretty high. People complaining didn't like the A-, boo-hoo.

Amazing professor and teaching style, is consistently available outside of class and is incredibly well-respected and thorough. If you're taking CS201, take it with ola and no one else, he's what makes the course fun & engaging. Lots of "free" points as well, so the class isn't hard either. ola's the goat

Class is neither easy nor difficult. Ola does a great job with extensions for the whole class when he knows its a busy time. Class policies tend to be geared towards student learning as opposed to punishment.

Ola is the goat. If you haven't programmed in Java before this class is definitely going to be challenging, but he is very lenient about deadlines and a lot of people completely cheat their way through it. Good lectures, projects are very confusing, but he is very engaging and loves singing happy birthday.

Ola is a great professor. His enthusiasm for the content is evident and infectious—I came in detesting computer science and left loving it. He is very generous and reasonable with his policies so any student should be able to succeed. The course can be a tough transition for someone with no Java experience but other than that is very chill.

Ola is knowledgeable and makes class as smooth and forgiving as can be, but I found the lectures a bit scattered; labs aren't bad but can be a bit unclear too; otherwise assignments are really easy. Exams aren't bad, but some of the material wasn't traditional DSA and ended up focusing more on specific Java syntax. Still a great class; def take it.

This class was somewhat difficult at the beginning with no prior Java experience, but definitely doable and got easier throughout the semester. Projects were frustrating at times and some aspects of the class could have been organized better. Lots of resources to help you succeed (practice midterms, TA office hours).

Ola is the GOAT. He is definitely the best computer science professor. He genuinely cares about his students and is always available to help. He is extremely smart so sometimes he goes over lecture slides a bit quickly, but you can always access them later and are free to ask questions if needed. Definitely take 201 with him.

I did the course in 2023 and it was a lot of writing and reading but not more than any other course I ever took. This is the easy elective to take when you have to do other hard core courses. While the large bulk of assignments can be difficult, just stay organized and it's very doable to get an A.

A great class, regardless of whether you plan on majoring in CS or not. There isn't much work, and the tests are generously graded, making the class an easy A. Ola's lectures are accessible and easy to follow, so don't worry if you don't have previous CS experience.

Ola is a great professor. His lectures are engaging even if they can be boring sometimes, and it's clear he knows his stuff. The class itself involves a lot of projects and APTs, which are pretty manageable and not that difficult. He has a lot of great resources to help you outside of lecture.

One of my favorite classes taken at Duke. His class is well structured with clear slideshows and he always livestreams the class.

One of the best professors at Duke. Very interesting class but grading was messy and it was hard to understand what you had to turn in and how were you doing in the class. However, concepts and projects were very fun and engaging. Learned a lot. Would recommend any class he teaches because he is the best.

Ola is the definition of aura

ola is the goat for a reason. of course, you dont need to read my comment to know he's the goat but yep, he is really good at what he does.

ola is very nice and a pretty entertaining character during his lectures. His teaching was decent although I would not say it is as magical as everyone claims. my only issue was i found that the project descriptions and WOTOs were incredibly unorganized and full of errors. there was zero way of knowing your grade or participation points

Course is somewhat disorganized (understandable, he was piloting a few new projects) and Ola goes very fast during lecture. However, there are more than enough resources (lecture recordings, office hours, Ed, etc.) to help you succeed. The grading scheme is very generous, too.