It was his first time teaching Distributive Systems for an undergrad class and it was a bit disorganized but I really did enjoy it. He really loves the topic and makes learning about DS a lot of fun because of his passion. Exams are based more on lecture than book, but lectures are interesting and worth it. HW has a lot of freedom but fairly easy.

Really passionate, interesting, engaging lectures. It was his first time teaching the course, so as another student said it was a bit disorganized and he will benefit from experience. Overall, could not recommend more highly.

Peter has a love for a subject he teaches. This is extremely valuable in a teacher teaching over an extremely interesting class (at least he made it interesting). He could have better time management with the material he wants the class to learn, but other than that, you will learn a lot, and the resources he offers will keep you in line.

Very good professor, really wants to teach material and will answer any questions you have. Class was a bit disorganized but that will change as he teaches more classes. One of the best professors at UCSC

He teaches with lot of passion and very good at it. But the criteria for grade is confusing, you do not know how well you are doing till the final grade. Also project required should be outside what is being covered in class, do not take this course if you are naive to DS.

INCREDIBLE professor, and an even better person. Peter's lecture style is unconventional, but he does a good job visualizing fundamental dist system concepts, and encourages participation. The project starts as a single-site KVS that turns into a fault tolerant KVS later. It was very challenging, but also very fulfilling at the same time. Must take

Go to class! Exams aren't centered on the book, there're pop quizzes, and his lectures are great anyway. Peter's really enthusiastic and good (read: clear) with the material, so if you take good notes during class, you'll do well. There's a group project you work on throughout the quarter, which was tough but fair. 12/10 would take his class again.

Incredible teacher. You have to go to class to pass, but he makes it extremely enjoyable. Never had a CS teacher this caring. Hilarious and so kind - we became good friends. The group project is really difficult so make sure you have a good group. The exams are passable just utilize office hours and piazza.

Really great guy. Very fun and excellent lecture

best CS prof i had at UCSC. passionate and humble. cares about the students. assignments are hard but if you're willing to work you'll learn more than you thought was possible in 10 weeks. 11/10 would take peter again. lectures are gonna save your life and the tests arent *too* difficult. stay up to speed on the material and be a decent programmer.

Very animated professor. Was never bored in his class. He is very good at explaining very difficult concepts and provides very solid examples. Seems like a genuinely nice guy. Definitely would recommend.

Peter is a great guy and caring teacher. But this class is the hardest class, more than OS. If you want to learn some cool stuff, take him. If you don't want your grade ruined, then don't. The programming assignment is impossible and took over all of my time, leaving almost no time for other classes. Will I take him again? Maybe no. Too much pain.

By far one of the best professors in the department. If you have the chance to take a class with him, do it. He's nice, caring, and easy to talk to, and his lectures are involved, entertaining, and interactive. The class is difficult and theoretically intense, and there is no course textbook so lecture attendance is very important.

The best class so far. Never bored in lecture. The programming assignment are hard but doable. 11/10 recommended

Give this man a chili pepper.

Peter is very friendly, caring, and has serious skill at diluting highly difficult material (even for people in academia and industry!) into understandable chunks for students. He sometimes jumps ahead and uses a term students dont know, but this is unavoidable for the subject, which is usually a graduate class. Take him if you can, its worth it!

I'm currently taking Professor Alvaro's 5P (Intro to Python) course and he is doing an excellent job of communicating with students through piazza as well as providing excellent instruction. He challenges the students to learn the process of coding, yet is willing to provide any assistance when needed. Overall A+ level professor. Very good guy too.

The best computer science professor I have had. His energy and dedication to teaching the subject really comes through. It's not easy to make one smile when learning programming but Peter does just that. Programming assignments can be a little hard but that is nothing out of the ordinary. Whether you are new or a CS pro, this guy is inspirational.

Despite people's legitimate complaints, I think I learned a substantial amount of Python in the class, and I am determined to learn more in the future. I think that if you know the TA's have control over assignment creation and grading, then you should go to sections and ask questions more. Complain less; work more. It's in your best interest.

There were a lot of new materials to learn, but as long as you are willing to put into the time to rewatch the lectures on WebCast, go to sections and office hours, you can pass the class. It's obvious that TAs and the professor tried really hard outside of the class to ensure that all the students pass the class. You just need to do your part.

My favorite professor at this university by far. Incredibly passionate about the material and intensely knowledgeable. The course itself was very tough, but very rewarding when the assignments were finished. His final included the coolest question ive ever seen in an exam and I left feeling great despite the difficulty. A Must take professor.

Really engaging and fun lectures. Seems to genuinely care about creating a positive learning environment--never makes anyone feel stupid for having a question, conspicuous absence of sexist commentary, always willing to explain stuff on Piazza. PAs complemented the lectures really well, and exams were hard but fair. I learned a lot in this class!

I took 5P in Winter 2019 (the class now CSE20 I think). Many people ditched lectures and, by the end of the quarter, there were about 30 people. I think 5P was totally doable if you used all the resources given. I asked the professors and TAs tons of questions and went to as many review sessions as I could. It wasn't easy, but also not impossible.

Peter's enthusiasm for the class and his depth when explaining the concepts for this course really leave you thinking that the course was his own design. He was very patient with the class and cared greatly about not just having everyone pass, but also having us walk away with some useful knowledge. There are biweekly assignments, all very doable.

Peter is the most invested, caring and honest professor I have ever had. This course is not easy. This is the probably one of the most challenging courses I've taken in my CS degree at this school. This says nothing about the professor. If you get a chance to take a class with Peter, you would be a fool to pass it up.

Dr. Alvaro took on a pretty herculean task this quarter, and I have a lot of respect. Pros: His lectures are fascinating and totally unlike any other CS lecture I've ever taken He puts in *so* much work for the students Cons: Some of the labs were ill-concieved, leading to dozens of sleepless nights trying to conform to the stupid arbitrary spec

A passionate professor who cares about the material and his students. Lectures concepts in a theoretical philosophical manner and is very approachable outside of the class. Be ready to put in work in assignments, but the reward of making a load balanced multithreaded http server is worth the effort.

Peter has proven once again why he's such an amazing professor. He genuinely cares about his students and he actually loves his job. While this class was very difficult, it was the good kind of difficult in my opinion. Peter was always open to having discussions with students. He really does love computer science.

Professor Alvaro cares about his students and will go above and beyond to help students in and outside of the classroom. His lectures are philisophical in nature and he's willing to talk through concepts with students. Assignements are hard, but he advocates for students to have the support necessary to pass. He is a must take professor at UCSC.

Peter is one of the most compassionate professor's I've ever had at UCSC. He did his absolute best to make remote learning work. Held discussion sections, exam reviews, etc through discord, which was GREAT. I will say his lectures are pretty heavy but he offers so much help! CSE130 is one of the hardest classes but Peter was always helpful.

I see a pattern in the reviews here: people who struggle with systems programming hated this class. The topics covered in this class are quite complex and the assignments are difficult, but I Peter was funny, inspiring, and extremely engaging. He is one of the kindest professors at UCSC and his rating on RMP does not reflect his quality whatsoever.

His 130 class has not only improved my programming skills but has deeply inspired me to understand systems and how they work. His lectures are engaging and you would want to attend lecture and learn from him. If you are consistent and keep yourself accountable then you will do good in the class. Tests aren't hard but you still need to study.

I took him for spring quarter at the beginning of this whole pandemic. He's very understanding and caring for his students. He and the TA's created a Discord community for the class that created the most discussion for any class I've taken in school. Very knowledgable and passionate in lectures. Definitely one of the hardest classes but worth it.

The man is amazing, he truly cares about his lectures and has deep passion for cs. He uses another's teachers lectures, but he truly makes them his own like no one else. The only reason I don't give him a 5 is because it tends to be hard to get extensions, but he does give them if truly needed. You will love his class!

I really enjoyed Peter's CSE138 class this past fall. There were few miscommunications throughout the class, but overall Peter makes it clear through his inspiring and thought provoking lectures just how much he values his students' education. Yes the class is hard, but Peter wants you really understand. Take him, you will struggle, you will LEARN!

Since transferring to UCSC I've yet to encounter such an active and available Professor (between OH, Piazza, Discord, and 1-on-1 as needed). Having been WL'd for 130 in a prior quarter, I'm actually 100%stoked to have missed out then to have the opportunity to take a course with this Prof for 130 arguably the hardest required class for the major.

Professor Alvaro gives interesting and engaging lectures. The class discord was really helpful for getting help on projects and discussing topics from lectures. I'm not sure why a lot of the reviews are so negative, I might not even pass this class but I can still recognize a great professor. I'd recommend him but be prepared to do a lot of work.

Incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic lecturer, albeit verbose. The handling of assignments largely overshadowed the richness of the course. Odd constraints on testing and lack of useful help from staff made debugging frustrating. However, lecture was very inspiring when approaching assignment design. Overall, learned and cried a lot.

Peter is a caring teacher and loves teaching; willing to help students and answer questions. Great lectures (but students keep interrupting lectures by asking questions which makes it hard to focus). First 2 asgns are easy, last 2 challenging. Exams are moderate (MCQs are tricky). The course is unorganized. No clear grading criteria. Overall good

Alvaro is a very chill teacher and good lecturer. He was very active on Discord throughout the quarter, helping students with assignments and conceptual questions. I'd say a drawback to taking this course is that we never received feedback on our designs, which would've been really helpful. Also, the structure of the class was a bit disorganized.

Peter is an outstanding lecturer and a friendly person. The exams were easy as long as you paid attention in the lecture or rewatched the lectures (which were recorded). The textbook readings were unnecessary to do well. He spent tons of time outside class helping on Discord. The (4) programming assignments took a ton of time but were rewarding.

His lectures are very interesting and keep you entertained. This is a very hard class none the less. You will spend days designing your programs on the arbitrary spec but all the assignments build off of each other. This class will prepare you for your career and is designed to do so. For that he has my upmost respect. You will grow in this class

Assignments build off each other. If you are comfortable in C, you should be fine. Professor cares about student success and he noticeably improved over the quarter taking student feedback. Grades were not clear until the very end. The exams are just as important as assignments. Overall very rewarding class. Professor did a great job teaching.

Distributed Systems with Alvaro was by far my favorite class at UCSC (Fall 2020). It's directed my career path and personal projects. I took cse130 with Peter and those fundamentals were built on at a much higher layer in this class. Requires a lot of design/coding/theory to get an A. The project is really cool! (be careful choosing teammates)

Lectures were helpful, and were good for note-taking and foundation-building purposes. You have to be active in the discord to do well, he encourages doing this with a participation grade. He can come across as a bit blunt but if you speak up and make an effort you'll be alright. Last minute grading stuff was a bit stressful though.

My favorite professor at this school. I learned so much and his lectures were very thorough. He's an inspiration to humanity.

Alvaro is honestly the GOAT. You can tell he loves what he teaches and cares about students. Sure his class is hard because the material is hard but he really wants everyone to pass. He has been extremely accommodating during the TA strike and reasonable. legendary prof. This class is no joke though so don't take it lightly but Alvaro is the best.

P. Alvaro is a passionate lecturer. Lectures are easy to follow along. Write notes and actively listen. Programming assignments are doable but progressively ramp up through the quarter. I gained a deep understanding of complex systems.

This professor is very nice, he will help students in Discord, but his lectures are too abstract, which sometimes makes it difficult for me to understand some very abstract concepts. Many abstract concepts will be covered in the exam. Although this class was almost out of control for me, but fortunately I still overtook on the curve.

This was my second attempt taking CSE130 and I am pleased I got to take it with Peter. Peter had amazing lectures that were easy to understand and follow. The exams never had anything surprising. If you take good notes and attend lectures you will be prepared. My favorite part was that Peter was almost always available via discord.

One of the only professors that make me eager to attend lectures. He's passionate about his lectures, and it makes them engaging and easy to follow. The material is hard but Peter does his best to help everyone pass.

The professor raised my interest in a lot of main topics that come in the class. He is a great public speaker and the assignments were well preparing for the real world. I really appreciated his effort to make it an amazing quarter for us.

Phenomenal professor. He's genuinely one of the nicest and most knowledgable professors on campus. His lectures are insanely informative and as long as you follow the lectures and take half-decent notes, you'll do just fine on the exams. The homework was VERY difficult and was graded harshly but very doable as long as you use office hours/section.

The lectures were excellent!! I never once felt lost or bored, and the examples were helpful and concise. Super active in Discord, which made getting help/clarification super easy. Homework was hard, but getting help is easy; Peter makes sure there are many resources available, you just have to use them. Also, chill guy + Dead Head + MF Doom fan.

Class was a bit disorganized, but Alvaro is amazing at teaching this class. Distributed Systems is what he enjoys teaching, so you can expect to learn a lot of useful material and work on some cool projects. CSE 138 is considered the hardest CS class, but I still highly recommend it to anyone trying to get good value out of their degree.

This professor explains topics clearly, is entertaining, and puts an even emphasis on assignments and quizzes. He helps students understand the material in a discussion-style lecture and helps with independence and confidence for asgn. submissions. The class is hard but this prof. cares enough to make it more manageable.

People are saying the TAs are bad for this prof & there's a lot of work. I'm retaking this class with Alvaro & my original prof for this class wasn't as good. TAs are the same people, there's the same amount of work, & grades come back at the same rate in both. Rating solely the professor & how well he explains topics, Alvaro is the better option.

He is one of the best teachers on this campus. He is a retired software engineer with many insights about what actually happens in the industry. I found that I was very engaged in his class, as his lectures are fun and littered with curses. He is overall a great professor, even though the class is one of the hardest I've taken.

Great class, I enjoyed Peter's lecturing style. Assignments were difficult and very time consuming. Very exam heavy. there are random participation quizzes during lecture. Lectures go over theory, assignments give freedom to figure out which algorithms and protocols to implement to meet the assignment spec.