Great teacher. If you're here to learn the basics of programming, that is what you will get. He does a great job, and he's funny - even though he is kind of a nerd. Be prepared to work, though, that is how all Computer Science classes are.

Dr. Burton is great! He knows so much, and is so fun and helpful. The labs are really cool too.

The lectures are boring, and he just basically repeats what's in the book, so if you read that, there's no need to go. The labs can be difficult, but the TAs will usually help you out a lot there.

Pretty easy class; I finished the labs weeks in advance. Labs offer room for individual preference and extra features. Tests are practical, so being able to program without help is important.

I thought the class was pretty easy. He gives plenty of good comparisions to help students understand the concepts. I had fun doing the labs and doing cool stuff. If you are committed enough its a great class to take.

Dr. Burton's class is only easy if you do the labs and your reading. His lectures are not too helpful unless you are having major difficulty grasping the concepts. The problems of his lectures, however, are due to the material, not the teacher. Dr. Burton is a great professor.

Good class instruction, just don't fall behind on else you never be able to catch up.

Although this class requires time, it is not particularly difficult. I don't consider myself a 'computer nerd', but I know my way around them okay. The help sessions were generally very informative and were very helpful in completing the labs. Don't allow yourself to fall behind and don't give up!

Very nice man, actually respects the students and their amount of knowledge. Labs can be difficult and time consuming, but the tests are easy and don't take that long. I would definitely recommend.

The class is hard because there is a lot of new material to learn, but he does a good job explaining the material to the students. He also has structured the grading so that if you do all the work required and do decent on the tests you get an easy A.

Great teacher. Explains things so they're easy to understand, but you don't have to go to lecture if you don't want to. Labs are fun, tests are practical. Late policy is very lax. Checking off labs is a pain because the TAs are always busy and it feels awkward talking in the silent computer labs.

He is an excellent teacher. He is very respecting of the students and provides all resources needed. Dispite this, the class is VERY HARD. Don't take it unless you are SERIOUSLY considering becoming (or are) a computer geek, because this will soak up your time.

Lectures were boring and pointless. Reading the book and going to the lab was enough for me. Labs take an hour or two, same with tests. Not too bad.

Professor Burton is a good lecturer and a nice caring teacher. That said, going to the lectures is pointless and a waste of time. Instead of going I would spend time working on your labs.

Professor Burton frequently made going to lecture pointless. Many times he went over powerpoint slides which were exactly the same thing as the text. You can either go to class or read the book both would be a waste.

I'm currently one of the "screwed" students that fell behind in this class. Everyone's right, lectures become a bit pointless after a while, and the labs take WAY too much time. I loved it at first, but it's killing me now. Other than that, Burton cares a lot about his students, does his best to keep us awake, and uses helpful analogies.

As long as you stay on top of your labs this class is easy. The tests are 48 hour take home tests and are not to difficult. Anyone who has a background of computer science will get an easy A in this class.

Prof. Burton a cool guy. The class is really hard. At first the labs are really easy, but after a few weeks they start to take hours and hours. Don't take this class if you have a pretty full schedual. Leave this class plenty of room and its not too bad. Some of the TAs are cool, the rest are pretty bad, and none of them are very helpful.

A great teacher, but as others have said, lectures are useless as you learn to program only when you program. Basically I stopped going to lecture near the end of the semester and instead used that time to work on the week's lab. It worked so well I don't know why I didn't start back in week 2. The help sessions are great if you go to a good one.

Great teacher. Fun guy. As others have said, going to lecture is not necesary but he teaches clearly and teaches everything that you need to know. If you don't learn well from the book I recommend the lecture. The class is hard but fulfilling.

he was a hillarious teacher, and taught the code well. all the tests and the final were take home and a breeze to do. definitely recommend it.

Very hard class but funny teacher!His analogies makes it a little bit easier to understand. However, if you really want to learn somethig you have to be current on your labs and reading.It doesn't matter at all if you don't go to the lecture. Dr. Burton is always willing to help you.

He was a great teacher. Very helpful. You, as the student, need to keep up on the programing and you'll do fine. The CS classes aren't for slackers.

Funny guy. Great teacher. Great class. Requires tons of work, but it's worth it. Help sessions by TA's aren't so great, but sometimes they can save you. Professor Burton is always willing to help.

Great teacher. Love his lectures. Very clear teaching

He is a great professor. he does a good job explaining things in lecture, but all of the work will be done in the lab. Its not that hard if you just read the book and attend a help session or 2 for the labs. overall i enjoyed the class.

Great class/professor. He is so smart and helpful - his TA's can't always be because of the number of students asking long questions in the lab. I waited 2 hours for help once with 5 TAs. GO TO CLASS EVERY TIME and read the book by yourself! That way you can enjoy programming Java! Other students are a great help too if you are stuck on a lab.

Great, great guy. Very caring, and he pretty much HELPED INVENT THE INTERNET. Very smart. That being said, it's the hardest class i've ever taken. Seriously, if you aren't planning on being a CS major, there are far less stressful ways to learn Java. Just buy the book, and read it on your own. You'll get more out of that than lecture.

Professor Burton is very good at teaching to students. He has a good sense of humor, and expresses it continually. He will often call on people on the front row to help make a point. He frequently uses examples and cross-examples to help students understand. He is extremely willing to answer almost any question asked of him. I recommend him.

He is a great teacher. He gives lots of examples in class, and is very willing to answer questions. Attendance is not mandatory, but it helps if you are new to programming. Prof. Burton cares a lot about the students' success - that is his #1 priority. There is required reading for the class - they have books in the lab that you can check out.

Burton is a great professor. He explains thing very well. This class is perfect for people with no programming experience. Class does get boring - I stopped attending because I felt that I already knew the material. The most important thing is attending the help sessions! Reading is probably the second most important thing. I got an A.

Dr. Burton is a very fair, kind man. He strives for excellence and really wants to adapt to the students' need. But he is kinda boring. His lectures follow the text a little too closely, so it's tempting just to read & not go to class. I felt the tests were MUCH more difficult than the labs & assignments we had to prepare for them.

Dr. Burton did a pretty good job at explaining a subject that can be difficult to grasp at first. Class was extremely boring. Keep up with the labs! I can't emphasize this enough. As long as you go to the help sessions and keep up, you should be fine. Give yourself plenty of time for the midterms and the final!

Professor Burton is really quirky. He shows genuine interest in the students, and uses plenty of stories to help you understand what he's talking about; however, this class is not for people with no object-oriented programming experience. The labs jump skill levels pretty fast. Watch out.

The class was very time consuming. I spent at least 15 hours on each take home test. Having said that, if you haven't had prior programming experience, make sure you have adequate time for this class. It is very time consuming. Befriend someone who knows how to program and use the TA's like crazy. The teacher is great for this class, though.

I honestly learned a lot but I pretty much had to teach it all to myself. I did not like lectures at all. Very boring and his explanations are confusing. The main thing is just doing the labs and working through them.

Perfection

Difficult class but a good grade is obtainable if you devote enough time. Always asks he answered your question after he speaks. Genuinely cares about students.

Prof. Burton is the man. He is always willing to help you if you need clarification, and will always work with you. The class is time consuming, but welcome to CS. Ask questions, and get help from TA's if you need it.

I'm fairly good with computers. I've had some experience with java syntax. And so far I'm passing this class with flying colors. I spend a few hours on each of the 10 labs. I've built up my late days to about 25, and this class has been a breeze. Might be challenging for those bad with computers. Class is no mandatory, got to lab and read book.

He's really good at teaching the subject.He always comes up with analogies that make the concepts easy to understand.Lectures can be boring if you have prior experience with Java,but they will be helpful if you need to refresh your memory.The labs can be pretty challenging if you don't have programming experience,but if you do,they will be a breeze

If you have any programming experience, then this class is a breeze, just time consuming. Plan on the labs only taking a few hours, except for 4, 7, and 10. Alot 10 hours each for 4 and 7, 20 hours for 10. If you know computers AT ALL, the first 2 weeks are useless (this is a computer, a CPU, the Internet, etc)

Professor Burton is a nice guy with a very original teaching style. He looks a little like an alien to me, but he is VERY intelligent, and he has a huge knowledge-base outside of computer-science. He is a quiet man, and his voice is sometimes monotonous, but he teaches in-depth, and with many analogies. Beware: Labs are VERY time consuming!!!!!!!

His lectures are extremely laid back, at least for CS 455. Sometimes he seems to go off on tangents, but those tangents appear on the HARD bi-weekly exams. Still, if you don't wait until the last minute, projects are a piece of cake and more than make up for terrible quiz scores. Great guy, and he covers the material really well.

I had absolutely no programming experience going into this class. Yet I was able to end up with an A. Just make sure you put in the time and don't get behind. His analogies helped me understand difficult concepts. Also use the TAs and help sessions. Make sure you read the book ad understand the code you find in there.

I had almost no programming experience before this class and, while the labs were a lot of work, he really made the material understandable. He made lectures very flexible, so students could go to whichever hour they wanted on a particular day. I found the text book to be extremely helpful and much nicer to read than most books out there.

Professor Burton is a great CS teacher, and a great guy. He's funny, very helpful, and very good at making sure he answers your questions in a way that you will understand. Take advantage of the extra-credit he offers throughout the course. It seriously pays off. Awesome class.

Very smart guy. He isn't the most exciting professor that I've had but I enjoyed the class nonetheless. He's very helpful and will answer any question you might have. It's clear that he wants everyone to succeed in the class. Also, you can attend any lecture that fits your schedule, which is nice. Just take his class!

Prof Burton is an amazing professor, he has an ability to explain the java programming language like none else. He makes the class seem easy to the point most stop coming to class. the course is fairly time consuming as it requires lots of time to write the code for the projects. the tests are take home but closed book, notes, and neighbors

Good teacher, explains difficult concepts clearly using lots of analogies. Very caring and willing to help each student. The class is difficult if you have no prior programming experience, but with the help sessions and TA help, it is very possible to get an A.

Great professor. Uses analogies constantly. Expect to put in a lot of time into this class, but it is a very interesting one and one I found quite fun.

I enjoyed this class, but only after moving on to another CS class did I realize just how great of a professor Robert Burton is. He explains this so clearly using analogies, that you don't even have to think twice about the concepts. You spend a lot of time writing programs that will help you solidify what you are learning in class. Take his class!

I found this class really really hard but that's just because i couldn't understand java; I can't say the class was hard because of Prof Burton. He personally is a pretty good lecturer and a really helpful guy, he always takes questions and answers them completely.

Writing programs takes a long time. Don't take this class if you don't have an extra 10 hours+ per week. Prof. Burton uses analogies that help explain tough concepts. Sometimes it is hard to wrap your head around these concepts but if you ask him, he is more than happy to help you understand. TAs help a lot too!

Great professor! An introductory programming class will always be difficult, as there are many unfamiliar concepts and terms. I had never had previous programming experience and did just great in this class (got an A) and would very highly recommend him if you have to take this class. However, the class is incredibly time consuming

You can either go to the Lectures or to TA help sessions to get an A. The latter seems to work better. Expect to spend 5-15 hours each week working on long grueling labs. The TA's are very helpful with this and as long as you get all the labs done on time, you will get an A. There is no homework.

If you attend lecture and put a little effort into your programs, this class is an easy A. It requires some time, but it's not too hard. The TAs are almost always worthless and on power trips, but it's easy to excel despite them.

Prof. Burton is SUCH a sweet guy! His cute analogies are very helpful in understanding programming concepts and he is super willing to help you if you need it. It's true that labs are a little confusing, but the TAs are pretty helpful. Make absolutely SURE that you do your readings or you WILL FAIL. :)

I loved the class, and while I wouldn't say that was because of Prof. Burton, he is super devoted to your success and making sure you understand and do well. Loved that. I found the book and lecture enough exposure to mostly tear through labs/tests; TA reviews mostly not helpful(they're afraid to 'give it away'); TA's great for small bugs. Good.

Prof. Burton is a great teacher, he is very concerned about your succeeding in the course. Going to class is helpful, referring to the book is a must. TA's help with the labs, but can't help with the exams, so it's important that you learn the concepts from the labs. It's a challenging course, but if you do the work it's not hard to get an A.

Dr Burton is great! His grading is very fair, he's a very nice and respectful guy and with some effort you can get a good grade. The class wasn't super difficult, particularly if you've had programming experience. The class does take some work though. Tests are really glorified programming projects, which was excellent - it reflected learning well.

Dr. Burton explains concepts so clearly and he cracks nerdy jokes all the time that are hilarious. He gives you the habits that lead to success in his class at beginning of the term and they are accurate. The labs are very time consuming but with adequate preparation anyone can complete them. Finish em' early and you accrue tons of Extra credit.

This class is amazingly fun. Projects are a little time consuming, but they're abnormally fun for CS Projects. Tons of Extra credit opportunities on projects too. Prof. Burton cracks a lot of funny/nerdy jokes. He really knows his stuff, and is extraordinarily helpful to his students. If you're debating taking this class or professor, do it!

I learned SO MUCH in this class! It was engaging and interesting, and it was such a contrast with my regular classes. He really cares about your success and wants to see you succeed. What a great professor.

Prof. Burton is a great teacher. He is very clear in his descriptions in class. Go to the help sessions and lab to get help from TAs because the labs are difficult.

Good teacher to take if you're going into the Comp Sci major, or anything with programming. I learned a ton from his projects. If you're not going to delve much more into programming after 142, I'd suggest taking an easier teacher like Olsen. Tons of extra credit opportunities, and a great learning experience overall. Cracks funny jokes too.

Fantastic at explaining. You never HAD to go to class, but if you do it makes it easy as pie. He uses great explanations and is fun and entertaining. The real work is in the labs, but if you read the book and listen to the lectures then they are all 100% doable. Don't be scared, this class is easy.

Dr. Burton teaches a good class. The class is set up so that you can learn through lecture, if that's your thing, but you can also just read the book and learn yourself. Lecture usually provided some clarification and insights. He goes out of his way to answer questions. The TAs are your friends, get to know them. Be ready to invest alot of time.

Very difficult class if you're not a linear thinker. You'll need to spend a lot of time in the TA lab and ask questions. Put in the work and you can get an A, but make sure you understand the concepts, because the take-home tests are very difficult if you don't mostly get the course material. Go to class, but if it's not helping you, you can stop.

I took Professor Burton's CS 142 class for Fall 2010 and it was one of the easier classes I was taking that semester. He tries pretty hard to explain things in class, but there's no substitute for going to the TA lab, asking questions, and just doing the labs.

An exceptionally good CS professor. Explains difficult concepts well and is very accommodating to questions, even the dumb ones. You never really feel uncomfortable asking him anything. The class labs are pretty difficult, though, but they're standardized and shared with other professors' CS235 sections.

Very helpful and willing to meet out of class. But all he does is uses the books powerpoint in class. Really no point in going. All your grade is based off of the endless hours you spend in the lab. Use the TA's and you will be fine.

Burton is totally awesome. He's nerdy to the core (which shouldn't bother anyone in his classes) and is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. As far as grades go, the syllabus is law, but he's willing to personally work with you to find any loopholes (I missed an A by 0.3% and he helped me find a mistake in the TA grading) CS142 &Cs235

It was rather difficult to rate Dr. Burton. I survived easily without really focusing that much on the lectures and just self-teaching myself. In fact, the main reason why I took the class was so I would force myself to teach myself how to code. You will spend more time in the labs. Fair warning.

This is the easiest CS class I have taken (besides CS 100). Lectures are a bit sparse in real material, but Dr. Burton is very amusing if you have an intellectual sense of humor. The labs are way easier than people make them out to be. Plus the TAs will help you a lot.

Dr Burton was very knowledgeable and willing to help but the labs we did and his lectures were not consistent with each other. The labs we did wouldn't relate very much to what we were learning in class. That made the labs extremely difficult and the only way to even know how to go about them was to go to the TA help sessions so go to those!!

He's so funny and great. He can explain things so well! The class is tough if you've never coded. He's a great person and is really personable.

Burton digresses a lot, and he builds normal people into programmers from the ground up. CS 142 is a weeder class, so those who don't have previous programming experience are going to have to work the hardest. I'd say that Burton is a fairly good instructor. Plus he can make helpful analogies like I've never heard anyone fabricate.

I already knew most everything - in Java. No C++ experience. Adjustment was not too bad, lectures were really good - humor and tangent filled (appropriately so), and he gave good explanations of the various data structures.

This was a really easy class. I didn't attend any lectures the second half of the term. I would have loved to, they were entertaining and fun to listen to all of his jokes he'll sneak in during class, but you can learn everything from the book, so I didn't see a point.

Professor Burton is a great guy! He is really good at helping you understand. to quote another rater,"He can make helpful analogies like I've never heard anyone fabricate." The labs are a bit time consuming but alot of fun and not very hard. Once I finished the last lab I didn't ever go back to class and still got a A+.

Professor Burton is a good guy who tries to help all of his students learn the material. CS 142 really isn't that hard as long as you don't get behind. Going to class helps you learn, but overall, you'll have to figure out how to do the labs outside of class.

Class is helpful, TA's can be helpful-- use them. He goes over a lot of the concepts in class and that is great but I still used the TA's a ton. I had never taken a programming class before and this was still not too difficult. Recommend for beginners. lots of lab time so be ready for that. Class requires effort, not an easy A. extra credit helps

If you are willing to work in the beginning to get a week ahead, you will do great. You earn up to 20% extra credit on each lab by doing them early, and that buys you "insurance" for midterms and the final. Professor Burton is very willing to help when asked. The only benefit of attending lectures is the ability to ask questions and hear analogies.

Burton doesnt require attendance but it helps. I knew nothing about C++ or programming but now i know a lot. He is very helpful if you ask and is slightly funny

Burton is great! 142 is not. I had no previous programming experience whatsoever and I was dying the whole time. Evil textbook makes no sense. The problem is that they combine both those with previous experience and those without in one class. And they write the labs and tests for those with experience. Good luck. Burton's good, though.

Professor Burton is a really nice guy. His lectures are similar to the textbook, and he doesn't take attendance, so you don't have to go. He is very helpful in answering questions and has some humor as well. The labs are pretty easy and the exams are a bit tough.

Professor Burton is one unique guy. If you love corny, nerdy jokes you'll love his lectures. He always makes sure everyone understands the concepts before moving on which can sometimes result in him getting behind on lectures. His class is an easy A if you take advantage of the TA help sessions and are willing to spend time on the labs.

Dr Burton is a really great professor and made the class a lot of fun, yet still educational. He often had interesting, relevant stories and cracked the occasional nerdy joke. The labs weren't that bad, but make sure you start them far in advance. If you did well in 142, this class shouldn't be hard.

This class is divided into two different worlds. The lectures upstairs, and the lab dungeon downstairs. Expect to spend all of your time doing labs and interacting with the TA's. Professor Burton is very friendly, and willing to answer questions. Expect random giveaway quiz questions such as "What do you call a baby Kangaroo?"

Great teacher! At first he's lectures were boring because he taught straight from the PowerPoint slides, which is pretty much the book, but once he realized we weren't getting it, he did more teaching with class interaction, which definitely helped. He's also the kindest (and oldest) soul on the face of the planet. A true pantaloon! -

Brother Burton is a nice man. He's witty, funny, and knows his stuff. He will do what he can to help you. This being said, it's a huge class, and there are many TA's for it. Expect to devote a -lot- of time to completing labs and online assignments.

Dr. Burton is great. He really goes into detail on how to program the assignments while in class, and he explains the concepts very clearly. Class attendance is 5% of your grade, and very helpful.

If you've programmed before, easy A. If not you'll need to spend some time with the TAs in the lab. The multiple choice tests were abnormally difficult, but they aren't worth much of your grade. Do the labs, do them early, (5 days early 5% extra credit) and you're bound to get an A. I never paid any attention in class, but I've programmed before.

Burton was sort of dry during lecture. He was very attentive and attempted to answer people's questions thoroughly, and he had an interesting sense of humor. The TAs are better at helping you understand, and his lectures are essentially the chapters of the textbook repeated. Not bad overall.

Lectures are real dry. Clever humor and puns ( which I personally enjoyed). Extremely knowledgeable on the subject. Mid-semester he started going to the board instead of standing behind the podium and reading from the powerpoint, but returned to that method by the end. Labs are straight out of the book (so is the final, which was tough).

A very caring, funny guy. The class is a bit hard for those who aren't familiar with programming (me included). But he does a pretty good job teaching the concepts, people think that learning computer would be easier is the main problem I think. Offers more extra credit than any other professor I've ever heard of.

Dr. Burton is a bit dry, but his analogies are spot on. Hes obviously been coding for decades, so he knows his stuff. He seemed a little disconnected from the labs/assignments --mostly focused on lecture material. Really great about answering questions in class though.

Dr Burton is very knowledgeable and cares about his students even though it might not seem like that immediately. He seems kind of boring and impersonal but really wants his students to succeed. The labs aren't too difficult but do take time. The textbook is worthless. If you put the time in you will do fine.

Whenever a student asks a question because they don't understand something, he unfailingly comes up with an analogy that explains abstract concepts into familiar terms. CS 142 is definitely a great class for beginners. It might be a little slow for those who already have extensive programming background. The class is enjoyablehe cracks many jokes.

Doctor Burton is such a sweet person! He's very willing to be fair in grading. It's a tough class, but he explains the difficult concepts very well. His analogies are the best! He genuinely cares about all of his students, and wants you to succeed!

Prof. Burton is definitely set in his ways of teaching. If his style works for you, great. if not, you're out of luck. Most of your grade is based on weekly programs you have to write. These can be pretty time-consuming/difficult so use TA's. All that being said, I did enjoy the class, and learned alot.

Professor Burton is a good choice for students who haven't done any programming before because the textbook, the lectures, and the videos go over the same material. If you've taken programming before, you still have to go to class because 5% of you grade is in-class quizzes. All of those and the written tests are all trick questions, so beware...

Computer science is no joke and no easy A. Most people in the reviews are taking this out on Burton, as if he's the reason why they've struggled. Not so. Read your book, go to class, and ask questions. Professor Burton is amazing, and you've got a slew of TA's at your disposal to help you when you need extra assistance. Also, TONS of EC opp.

I loved Dr. Burtons class. He is very funny in a dry way and he really prepares for each lecture. He cares about each student and is willing to talk to you and help you as much as possible. This is a class where there isn't a ton of wiggle room in terms of assignment specifications. You either put in the work and get a good grade, or you don't.