Incredibly easy and helpful professor. Gives a ton of extra credit. Midterm requires some studying, but the final is incredibly easy. Impossible to not do well if you put in any effort at all.

He's a pretty solid teacher. Script grades homework so you get immediate grading and unlimited tries. Tests are really easy. No reason not to get an A in his class.

Excellent professor, homework is all submitted online, assignments are straightforward, this class is very easy to get an A in if you are punctual about the work. Midterm was paper, final is programming and far easier than midterm. Prof is very knowledgeable about topic and is very helpful over email and/or office hours.

I knew a lot going into the class so it wasn't that hard. He is great at explaining and very helpful in emails and office hours. Hes a very approachable guy. If you have no programing experience you should be taking 007 first.

Excellent professor. Approachable and helpful, very fair grader, entertaining class, straightforward lessons. Reasonable workload that is all useful skill building; I never felt like I was wasting my time. I took this class to see if I would like it, and decided to minor in CS because of him. Handin script grading gives great instant feedback.

If you are looking for an informative first step into computer programming then this is a good class/professor for you. He taught the material in a way that was easy to understand and helped with plenty of examples. He can seem aloof at times but he really knows what he's doing and he's willing to give hints if you come for help.

Script Graded Everything, Exams were easy, class averaged around 72 each exam. There is weekly programming assignments and labs. Kind of humorous

Easy A course!!! only 2 projects out of 7 are hard. And exams are the easiest I ever seen.

Systems is not his specialty so he didn't really seem too interested in the topic. Other than that he was a solid lecturer, kinda boring at times. But projects and exams weren't too too difficult as long as you knew the material fairly okay.

Great Professor. Genuinely loves programming. Assignments are super easy, and exams are not much harder.

Would recommend. Pretty entertaining guy. Gets kind of repetitive, but he just wants to make sure you know what you're doing for the assignments. One programming project and lab per week. Not overly difficult if you go to class. Little to no textbook use. Tests are easy if you do the practice exams.

Highly recommend. Short weekly lab assignments, longer weekly projects, a paper midterm, and a programming or paper final (you choose). All programs submitted online w/ unlimited submissions before deadline. He tells you exactly what he wants for each project. Even puts the time into recording lectures and posting them. Always updates class website

Mr. Hoffman is awesome. Great teacher, always helps you out. He's stiff, meaning he's not a pushover. He's a very real and direct professor, meaning if you come to him last minute and ask him to write your code for you, he'll rail you out for it (rightfully so). Cracks jokes and explains things well. Great professor.

EAAASSSSSSYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Pretty easy class if you pay attention.

I had already taken a java class in high school but didn't take the AP and I still learned so much from him. He's so funny and helpful and honest. He also focuses a lot on efficiency which I really appreciated, he talks about big O notation and he really makes lecture fun. Can't recommend him enough. Great experience.

Professor Hoffman is a great guy. He makes lecture fun and doesn't drag on the entire time. There's a lab and project due each week, which can become a lot of work if you don't keep up with it. You can easily get 100% each time, as you can keep submitting until you get a perfect. Midterm is pretty difficult,but otherwise this is a great java class.

The legendary Hoffman. His lectures were awesome. I had already taken IB Computer Science in HS, but I still learned something new everyday of class. The Hoffman experience is something people will write about for generations to come. Open (non-online) resource midterm and final. Can resubmit assignments until you get a 100%. Take Hoffman, man.

There's a project and lab every week. He is most helpful during office hours. His lectures are informative, and he'll usually do a few sample projects in the lecture to prepare the class for the actual project.

Hilarious lecturer. Blends together jokes, anecdotes, trivia, and subject matter in his lectures. Only problem is that some of it can get lost pretty easily if you aren't taking solid notes. You can get by without written notes, though. Also very clear with expectations for projects and labs. Would recommend taking the programming final.

Hoffman is a great guy, really helpful during and outside class. If you pay attention in lecture you should have no problem at all with his projects and labs. Take the programming final its EASY. (Though his 401 can be too easy comparing to 445 & 447) Really hope he teaches some of the higher level classes so that I can take him again.

Lectures are boring but a very helpful professor and really cares about making you a better programmer. Reccomend

This was my first experience with programming, so I had to work really hard to catch up on some of the knowledge I was missing. But I imagine if you have taken 07 or just have general experience then it's probably pretty easy. Hoffman and the TA's were easily accessible outside of class for help. Overall pretty decent class.

Professor Hoffman was incredible, he's the dream Computer Science Professor you can imagine. He is never PC about what he says, is direct, and will be blunt in his words. He is very kind, considerate and thoughtful as far as teachers go, and EXTREMELY lenient on his grading policy for assignments and is understanding that life happens. TAKE HIM!

I got a D on midterm and has no experience. But I end up with A. Do the labs and projects and manage the final will give u a good grade. I think he is really a funny lecturer though. if u really doubt urself then probably take cs007 before this.

Prof Hoffman makes it clear from the start of the course what is expected of his students. He holds office hours consistently and is helpful. You can resubmit projects once graded, and the volume of assignments means you can miss a few points and still come away with a solid A. I took AP CS in highschool and this was a great refresher!

50% of your grade is from project and labs. You are able to submit the projects multiple times and as long as your code matches his output and you do what you are told you get a 100. For the labs, the TA sometimes writes the exact code on the board for you. Hoffman is a little weird and makes random weird(yet funny) comments in class. Final is easy

Professor Hoffman is willing to help you if you have any questions; lectures were interesting; some programs were tough and the midterm that I took was really hard, but the final exam was ok; after taking the course, I felt that I gained a lot.

Excellent professor. If you want someone to develop your CS fundamentals, this is the guy to take. He reviews tough concepts and engages students. It's clear he has been doing this for a while.

Youll learn a lot. He understands that not everyone has solid programming background so he takes it very easy on you in the beginning then builds up gradually after that. 10 labs and 10 projects throughout. Easy A if you put in 5 to 3 hrs a week. Dont buy the book youll never need it. He video records lectures so you dont get lost. Hoffman

Hoffman is extremely helpful during office hours and has a great sense of dry humor. However, the class can sometimes be too easy. He'll occasionally go as far as writing out solutions for assignments on the board during lectures. If you want a class where getting an A is doable and you get a decent sense of the fundamentals, Tim is your guy.

Professor Hoffman does a really great job of connecting at what you are learning to the work you have to do for the class. He knows that you do most of the learning by actually getting out there and writing code and he adjusts his lectures accordingly. Plenty of opportunities for extra credit if you did bad for some reason on an exam or project.

Good professor and explains concepts well. 1 project and 1 lab due every week which can be a lot of work but is the best way to learn CS. Difficult but fair exams and if you pay attention to his lectures and do his practice packets before exams you will be prepared. He records his lectures, don't buy the textbook, lab isn't mandatory.

Great professor. Gives lots of programming assignments, but it helps you learn.

Gives one project and one lab every week that can become very overwhelming if you don't start them immediately. Your grade is made of 2 exams (35% each) and project/labs (30%). Prioritize the class and you'll be fine, but expect to put in a lot of time every week.

Do not be hesitate to take his course.

Chill guy, easy A. If you're a CS major or are serious about programming you might want to take somebody else in order to get a stronger foundation, but for non-CS majors that just need a programming credit, Hoffman is your guy.

Great professor who cares a lot about his students and is really honest with them. Also has a lot of interesting stories about old students. A lot of homework if you don't know what you're doing because it's almost impossible to figure out without going to labs or using google.

Timothy Hoffman is an amazing professor. He's a great teacher, gives interesting lectures, has an online submit website for code, that auto-grades and you can resubmit an unlimited number of times until the auto grader gives you 100 up until the deadline. You will learn a lot, and if you get lower than a B it means you did something wrong.

Timothy Hoffman is an insanely good professor. He's a very comprehensible instructor, attendance not mandatory and his website can be used to hand in programs. Really wish all the profs in Pitt CS are as good as him.

Hoffman is a great teacher and he is a funny dude. His labs and projects are mostly easy and same with the midterm. However, he might make his final really hard so prepare for that

Good professor who taught Java really well. He is also a super nice and understanding person. He was actually a sub for our class after the original teacher left and he did a really good job at making the transition between teachers easy.

i was really nervous to take 401 with him, since I had never had any programming experience at all. but i absolutely LOVED his class, and I found that the way he structured it really made sure you learn the material. even as someone who had no experience, he explained everything so clear and simple, & i was never super stressed. take him !!

Have a project and lab due every week. If you go to the lab your TA usually just writes the code for you. Basically gives you pseudo code for all the projects and labs in his lectures. If you make sure your code works and hand in every assignment should be able to get a B minimum.

Love the format of this class. Lectures are recorded and you submit everything online with an auto-grader. You can submit Labs/Projects as many times till you get a 100. Could pretty much be an online class, except midterm/final which are in-person. I stopped showing up to lecture/labs after 2 weeks and did fine. Easy class if you took 007.

Hoffman is a solid choice for CS classes. His lectures are a bit tedious at times but he's really good at breaking down topics to help explain them better. All lectures are recorded and posted on his website. Loved having instant feedback for projects and being able to submit as many times to get a 100. Super accessible via office hours and email

There's not much I can say that the other reviews haven't. Tim Hoffman is a great lecturer, especially if you don't have much experience with programming. Take him if you haven't already!

Hoffman is a great professor. His weekly labs and projects really help you learn how to code. If you are not majoring in cs and are only taking the class to fulfill a requirement than take someone else. The projects are not terribly difficult and can be done in one day. His online grading system automatically grades your output then its back read.

Hoffman is one of my favorite professors in CS, but be ready to do the work. A majority of your grade is projects and labs, but you can resubmit them to the autograder until you get 100 until the due date. If you get below a B in this class, you didn't try. He is super accessible and will help you finish code if you show you made an effort.

I literally knew nothing about coding and took this as a gen ed. It ended up being an Easy A with all the extra credit.

He is very good at explaining concepts in a way that just about anyone can understand. Assignments and tests were straightforward and not challenging if you study even just a little, although I felt some were TOO easy but hey! Just an excelllent teacher overall and an option you can't go wrong with.

Incredible professor. I can't speak to his remote teaching this semester, but when I had him in-person for 445 last semester he did an outstanding job. Binary search trees can be tricky, but Hoffman explained them so clearly that I had no difficulty mastering tries when I got into 1501. Definitely take this guy for every class he's listed for.

Ive literally had Hoffman for 007, 401 and now 445. He is the best and cs professor Ive had so far. If you dont understand something or if you are lagging behind, If you email him for help, he will literally help you and truly wants you to succeed. His projects and labs were doable if you just watch through the lectures and go to the TAS.

He offered many extra credit opportunities to help students struggling. I had him for 401 and 445 and he's a great CS Professor! He makes the material interesting and overall a caring professor

He'll listen to you and help you out in your projects/labs to clear up information. During midterm and final exams, he'll be open to questions and before both exams, he'll give a very inclusive scope of what will be included on the exam. Hilarious and well educated man for sure.

Hoffman was a great teacher and as someone coming from another department entirely, I found this class to be a breath of fresh air. The class is adaptive to your learning style and the answers are there for you if you really need them. It's a bit on the difficult side if you're not adept in coding but there's plenty of help available.

Hoffman is such an enjoyable professor online, really enjoys what he does. He gives great explanations about a lot of the confusing data structure's details and provides a lot of feedback on labs and projects. The tests have very little room for error so make sure you brush up really well before them because there's only 2 that are all MC!

I had no knowledge of java previous to this class because all I knew was python. This class was really difficult to me because lack of background but Tim was super nice. He was very accessible, very willing to help, and gave a ton of extra credit. I am giving him a 4 because he does assume previous java knowledge but overall would recommend.

Dr. Hoffman is a solid choice for 401. Very accessible via email and always willing to help with projects/labs during office hours. Grades are made up of Labs, Projects, and Exams. Exams are weighted heavily in the course and are more on the difficult side. Opportunities for extra credit as well. Take his course!

A very good teacher/explainer, but he just covers WAY too little actual Data Structures material. Most of lecture time is spent on covering labs/ projects so a ridiculous amount of handholding involved - not a bad thing per se but time could be better spent on actual learning. In my opinion, he's the classic "easy A but learning sacrificed" option.

had him for 441 & 445 one of my fav CS profs at Pitt. Really clear and explains things thoroughly def want to take him if you want a strong grasp of some hard concepts in CS

Made the material easy to understand and clearly explained assignments

Took both CS 445/ 401. Now I know why he has a cult-following. He is hilarious. I used to have no knowledge in java, and now I am confident in my skills going into 1501. He once told us he would give us an A if we solved the knapsack problem. Projects are straightforward I've recommended him to everyone I know solicited and unsolicited.

Hoffman's a great professor, and a nice person. I took him for 445. His lectures can be bland sometimes, but that's only because of the material of the class. The tests are tough but heavily focused on the labs, so you'll be fine if you don't copy the labs off of the internet. He also gives a ton of extra credit. I definitely recommend his classes.

Professor Hoffman was one of my favorites so far at Pitt. For assignments he used an autograder that was on his personal university website, it made projects and assignments very easy since you could work on them early and see what you got wrong so that you could fix it and resubmit. Only criticism is he might have made it too easy at certain parts

honestly, he's the nicest CS professor I've ever had, I've never been to class, but he's helpful when I reach out. all there is to do is small projects and labs, if you refer to the textbook you'll figure it out.

I was honestly just really confused, but he's nice and helps whenever he can.

Hoffman is an alright teacher. His lectures are definitely a bit dense and not super engaging, but that's gonna happen in CS. He lets you use notes, any files on your computer, and the textbook on the midterm and final. Homework is all labs and projects. He is super generous with extra credit, he gave us projects that boosted our grade 5%.

Dr. Hoffman is a great professor. He teaches you without all the stress of doing well on assignments. you are given so much help in doing the labs and projects that sometimes it felt like I wasn't actually learning but I took away a lot from his class. I highly recommend attending the classes but if you don't, he records all the lectures as well.

401 was an easy class. Had to do about 2 programs/week, graded by autograder then verified by professor. Midterm and final were fairly easy. Some lectures were a little boring but Professor Hoffman explained things well. Sometimes came off as a little condescending but joked around a lot.

Hoffman is a good professor. Even though I came in with some Java experience, I still managed to learn a lot from him as it strengthened my foundations. The midterm and the final were a bit tedious in terms of the questions. He does not assign that much homework: just 2 programming assignments each week. I would say he's a good choice for 401.

Hoffman is a character. But he's a pretty alright professor, the class is very lab/project heavy. DO THE LABS/PROJECTS. I say this because the exams together are worth 70 percent of your grade and he throws curveballs on them so it's not impossible by any means to fail an exam. This being said he typically offers 4-5 EC Labs/project DO THEM.

Fairly easy labs, mid term and final are pretty tough but with curve and extra credit an A is easy to get with a little bit of effort.

Hoffman is a great professor. His lectures help you to complete projects. My only complaint is that he didn't really explain the concepts on exams (big O runtime esp) and just expected us to know it, which screwed many people over. The exams make up most of the grade (70%). Luckily, he offers extra credit projects thoughout the semester (DO THEM).

Would be a 5/5 if your grade in CS0445 weren't dictated solely by the midterm and final exams. The combined ~40 multiple choice questions between those two exams make up a whopping 70% of the grade. Roots out cheaters maybe? Otherwise great professor who makes complicated topics very understandable with a good sense of humor.

I had him for 401 and now for 445 and he's awesome! Lectures can be boring but he's really thorough in going through some of the concepts and especially the labs and projects he assigns. You have one lab and one project due every week (spaced out so that you have time in between them) and two exams (midterm and final).

He goes over assignments in detail during lecture and even gives you the pseudo code for most assignments. Sometimes it felt like he was making it too easy. Tests are weighted very heavy but easy if you study and pay attention during lecture. All lectures are recorded and put on canvas. I already knew java and still managed to learn a lot from him.

Hoffman has to be one of the most boring profs I've had (might just be me but he talks painfully slow), but he's good. He goes over every lab/project and gives you the pseudocode. My only issue with him is that the midterm and final make up 70% of the grade; the final was literally only 21 questions and the midterm was 25. Overall, not bad at all

He's chaotic. He'll spend half of lecture on the history of Java, and the other half writing the code for your homework for you. He gives extra days on assignments for pointing out errors in his website. But he gives excellent starters for your coding assignments and is great about answering questions in class. STUDY O(N) NOTATION FOR THE MIDTERM.

prof hoffman is such a sweetheart! take advantage of his office hours. make sure you start assignments on time. during lectures, he would give you a whole history of Java majority of the labs & projects, he gave you pseudocode & you just have to write a little chunk of code. the grade is based on midterm & final. study for BIG O NOTATION.

Hoffman is a great prof for beginner programmers, especially if you come into this class from Python. He holds your hand a lot, which could be frustrating for advanced programmers, but was great for me! His lectures consist of him explaining the weekly labs/projects and going on lots of tangents, which keeps it interesting. Overall a good prof.

Hoffman is a funny professor. Go to lecture, it will help you understand material better, and he mentions things that come up on exams that don't show up in practice exams. Labs and projects aren't that hard but I wouldn't say they helped my understanding. Very Helpful at office hours but is impatient. He wants you to pass and do well.

Professor Hoffman is the goat. He gives a lot of extra credit, records his lectures, and truly cares about his students. He once got in a bike accident, and he is so passionate he snuck out of the trauma unit after arriving unresponsive so that he could teach his class. Take Hoffman if you want to learn CS well, without having too much busy work.

I have taken professor Hoffman for cmpinf 0401 and cs 0445. He always recorded the lectures and often gives tons of extra credit. High recommend!

Hoffman was a decent lecturer, but would often go off topic and start writing the pseudocode for assignments. The class grade is based off labs (10%), projects (20%), and two exams which are 35% each. Learn Big O notation for this class, he teaches it the lecture before the exam. Lectures are always recorded and exams are online and open book.

Hoffman is a good professor. He records all of his lectures and uploads them to his website so you can always go back and look at them. His projects and labs are super easy, but his exams are pretty difficult. Also, very accessible outside of class whether at office hours or through email.

If I should speak and I should sit before the truth of people, I will sit and acknowledge a reality most true. There is a good person in a room amongst the city of Pittsburgh, there are those wholly caring. Right. I would say his kindness is expressive, he is warm, liberating. There are none like him! Take prof Hoffman!

Not a cs major but had to take a cs class for my major and I would say that this is a passable class. He gives clear instructions and him and the TA's are reliable outside of class, tutoring also helps. At the end he assigned 4 extra credits and changed the due date for completion of missed assignments. Also uploads recordings.

Hoffman makes great analogies in his teaching, but lectures are very boring. There are only 2 programs you have to write a week and each lecture he holds your hand through it. I did not learn a lot of new material in this class, but it was a nice refresher. I suggest Hoffman if you want a GPA boost and are not that good at programming yet.

prof hoffman is very caring about his job and passionate about comp sci. sometimes hard to pay attention to in class but i promise if you pay attention you will do good. he is very lenient with grading, but will take points if programs are written inefficiently. very clear with his assignments. he is very kind and likeable person. would take again!

I was brand new to Java (from Python and R) and found this class to be relatively easy. Hoffman is a pretty cool guy, and he is pretty funny when he wants to be. I found his projects to be pretty easy once I got the hang of Java, as he gives very clear instructions and pseudocode to help you out. If you are new to Java, take Hoffman for 401.

I genuinely do not know how I pulled a B in this class. Hoffman records and posts lectures. His lectures in person can become daunting, but he genuinely cares about what he is teaching. He can be bias towards some students, just have a good attitude about the class, you'll be fine. XC is available. By God's grace (curves) I passed this course!

I feel like when it comes to oop we did defintions on it and then did some lab and projects on it. It never really settled for me. He gives one ,ab and one project per week they are usally really easy as he gives you most of the answers. I have heard ramierz might be better though for overall understanding but he is probably much harder.

While Professor Hoffman's lectures can be dry, he's a caring instructor who makes an effort to support students. The assignments are manageable, and Unstuck study proved a helpful study tool alongside the class materials.

he is the GOAT!!

Very kind and sweet. Explains the concepts with lots of examples. Provided a lot of extra credit and communicate via email. This class is easy if you pay attention to his lectures. He records his lectures and posts them after class. Midterm and Final are open note so download notes onto a pdf or have your code open.

Super easy to communicate with. I had a lot of late work and he still gave me full credit for them. Friendly as well as funny. Easy to approach. Would happily take again.

Had Hoffman the year he got a concussion and he still insisted on reviewing the final (spring 2022), boy he was dedicated and very considerate. Lectures were boring but recorded online, lots of HW and projects but they weren't too bad. 2 exams were 70% of the grade but they were open note. I had it easy b/c of his injury but he's a decent prof.

He is a former CMU CS lecturer for crying out loud! Hoffman is likely the best professor for CS that anyone could take here at Pitt. Please take him over anyone else if you can. Lectures are insanely entertaining and informative, easily accessible outside of class, and give great labs and projects for students actually to get hands-on practice.

TONS of extra credit. I ended up getting over 100% in the class. Hoffman is a very respectful dude, the material is tough, so just be prepared to put some work in.

HUGE CURVE IN THE END!

Nice guy, good lecturer, fair assignments. Decent amount of homework but very manageable if you use the textbook. Free +8% on your final grade from extra credit assignments. Test weighting is admittedly a bit nutty (35% of final grade x2), but they're entirely multiple choice and fully open-note. As long as you put some work in you'll be fine.

chill prof easy A take him. class is p boring though