Very good professor, very clear about what is needed for the students to get good grades. He always give good feedback and is very nice to students and very patient to students' questions.

Awesome, one of the best professor that I have ever met. His lectures are so interesting and helpful!

Cao is an excellent, helpful, and reassuring professor. 1st midterm average was 92%, and the day the first project was due, he opened up tutor hours until midnight. He has an accent, but is easy enough to understand. Attendance is mandatory. "It's normal to become frustrated when programming. But don't get discouraged; you can do it!" -Cao

Gives a lot of discussion time

Professor Cao teaches the material well and allows the students ample time to discuss questions amongst themselves. The course material was easy in itself so it's hard to say how much he really helped me. The one thing I really liked about him was how he made an effort to talk to students outside the class. Great professor!

Awesome class. He was very clear and you knew exactly what he wanted you to know thanks to his good use of iclicker questions. My only problem with the class was the fact every assignment (once a week) was with a partner. All around, easy and well-educating class. And he podcasts. Find the book online.

His classes are interesting and the exams are not too hard.

Professor Cao is super patient. However hard ur question is, he will answer u wiz a lot of details and make sure u understand it.

He is a nice professor. He explains things clearly and his tests are fair

I love Professor Cao! He explains everything very clearly and goes through each problem in detail even if no one asks (in case you're shy). There are lots of good examples&info in clicker questions that will help on projects! He's very kind with grading and extra help, and he takes time before class to just sit down and chat with students :)

Wouldn't have been the same without Cao! He's able to explain concepts well and in a way that's easy to understand. Granted, there are certain topics that are just harder to grasp, but he genuinely cares for his students and how they are performing. Coding assignment range from really hard to easy, and quizzes and exams are not hard but not easy

Most would say accent is a problem, but it really is not. Attend lecture or watch podcast, and the tests would be chill. PAs will take time, especially pa2 (start wordcloud early). TA's are great. Tutors are great. In essence, he knows what he is doing.

CSE 8B is harder than 8A, but you have so many chances to get extra credits. Problem Solving Assignments are more fun but more time-consuming. Get ready to devote a couple weekends to PSAs!

Good prof. Very clear and fair. He challenges you to know material, but if you put in the effort and start hw early, you can definitely get an A. Just START EARLY and go to tutors for help and you are golden

Fun class, great professor. Never leaves anyone behind.

There's a lot of work in this class. (Labs, quizzes, homework, midterms) He posts everything online. He even posted the podcast of when we took our midterm, so it was a podcast of us staring at a watch for 80 minutes. But he is pretty good at explaining and he tries really hard. Getting a passing grade isn't hard, but you have to work for the A.

Very veerrrry nice person!!! It is really my pleasure to meet such a nice CSE professor. The final is very identical to all the previous works we had done so far. He gives all the materials such as podcast, past papers, lecture slides notes, study guide, etc. You can prepare all well and develop a strong base of CSE. Take this prof!!!

For those who claim Cao is not clear enough, I think they won't find any cs professor they like in ucsd. Take him, you will get an easy A and have solid cs fundation.

Professor Cao is the best professor I've had at UCSD so far! His lectures are packed with valuable knowledge and material so going to lectures will definitely help your grade. All his PAs are explained very clearly and graded fairly as well. He's one of those professor where going to lecture is actually really worth it! Definitely recommend!

One of the best professor. True. The class is time consuming. Reading quizzes, PSA, but all the cse classes are. It is not his fault. The class is not that hard if you just follow his step. Professor Can is approachable and inspiring. Clear in explaining concepts. I think the university should let him teach more cse classes. He really cares about

Mr. Cao is a wonderful teacher. His lectures are very well structured, and deliver important information. There are reading quizzes due on the morning of each lecture, so reading is important. His class is not extremely difficult, but it isn't a catwalk. 10/10 would take again

Overall a good professor. Exam and quiz got harder this quarter but you should be fine if you study and pay attention during lecture.

Professor Cao's class has been my favorite at ucsd so far. Attendance is mandatory, but I enjoyed his lectures. Exams were very fair. I appreciate that he asks for criticism and comments from his students to improve his own teaching.

has a clear grading standard to follow. easy to pick up all the point.

If you concentrate on lectures you won't need the book at all. You will get an easy A if you take him

Professor Cao is a great instructor. He truly cares about your learning and will help you without judgement, especially on your exams. His lectures are a little hard to follow but he will slow down if you ask him to. There are quizzes during class but as long as you do your PSAs and attend lectures, you should be set. Studying is strongly recommend

Prof. Cao is a well-respected teacher among all my friends. He is kind, accessible outside of class, and sometimes with unexpected humor. His course is well designed and well prepared. Follow his reading assignments, handouts, practice exams, programming assignments and lecture. You will find his assignments doable because he gets you ready.

Paul Cao is a nice professor and tries really hard to make you understand the material, but the material itself is really difficult. There are too many quizzes that we have to take and you can never relax in the class because PSA's are due every week and they take forever to do. Midterm was hard.

A very good professor, can explain things very clear when you have a question.

He's a great professor who really tries to make sure everyone understands and does well. Do your work and you're almost guaranteed an A. Easy midterms and final. Great class overall and great prof!

Knows his stuff. Reading quizzes every alternate day, review quizzes every week. Additional PSAs due every week. Lectures are informative and count for a small percentage of final grade.

He explains things really well. You can understand him clearly even if you don't have any programming experience previously. The programming assignments are a little tough but you will really learn the concepts better after finishing them. Besides, most of the time the assignments are really fun. Good luck!

If you want to learn Java, you should take this class. Paul (Yingjun) Cao goes into great depth explaining concepts, and will pause the lecture to expand on a concept if he feels that the class doesn't get a concept. Even though the PAs are time consuming, I found them relatively straightforward and educational. I did stuff last minute and got a B+

Paul (Yingjun) clearly knows what he is talking about and makes sure you do too. Reading quizzes three times per week, review quizzes and programming assignments due once per week. Weekly lab sections are useful. He has plenty of office hours and there are always tutors in the lab if you need help.

Paul (Yingjun) knows what he is talking about and makes sure you understand. Reading quizzes three times per week and weekly programming assignments. The PA's can be time consuming and you will probably need help to complete them. 3 easy in-class quizzes.

The best way I can describe Paul is that he is a caring and very much a dad-figure to every one in the class. He makes it his goal to help you understand the rather confusing topics in Java and the in class examples (clicker questions) are incredibly helpful in demonstrating the nuances in the code. Do his quizzes on time and pay attention for an A

One the best Professors at UCSD.

He really cares your learning and will take in student feedback. He would modify the class if the majority of the opinion reflected that they want the change. Awesome prof!

If you go to the lectures and do the reading you will probably get the concept. He really explains things really well, the lecture is structural and clear. But the PAs are really time-consuming and tough, and you don't want to expect an extension. The quizzes and mid-term are tricky, I got a 50% on the midterm. The final is ok I got 100%.

The final exam was 261 out of 236, and average was 236, literally 100 percent. I would highly recommend Paul if you want to learn CS well. The class is by no mean easy, but I definitely enjoy the material in cs30

PAs are not extremely difficult, but they are time consuming Lecture is mandatory, Caring for students and listen to feedback Exams are not hard once you get the concept, I barely passed the first quiz and midterm, and got 100% on final after spent a lot of time studying the past exams

One of the best professors Ive had at UCSD. He really knows his stuff. I highly recommend you take his classes if you have the choice. The only slight drawback is that his accent can be a little bit difficult to understand at times.

CSE8A and CSE8B thought by him are really fun. You can finish many interesting programs even though you are just a beginner. However, his CSE100 is hard and he is trying to make harder. Even though exams are easy, PAs take over 24 hours and you may not make it correct. I suggest to take CSE8A/B with him but dont take CSE100 with him!!!

Professor Cao is one of my favorite professors at UCSD, and I definitely learned a lot in this course. He cares about preparing students for the industry, and he's very reasonable. If you're good at computer science or are willing to put in the work, this class should be very fun and fairly easy.

Pros: podcast available, reasonable exams, explain concepts super well, take advice from students, iclicker discussion Cons: bursting workload of PAs, there are times when I spent tons of time and effort on one PA yet still get horrible grade (might bc i'm dumb af), he sound strict and mean at times but doesn't hurt

Paul is one of the best CSE lecturers/professors at UCSD. He is really good at explaining materials. His PAs are hard but as long as you spend time on them, you will learn a looot from them.

Highly recommend if you really wanna learn something. His assignment could be quite hellish if you have no previous experience in programming, but are pretty helpful. And most of all, he's lectures are always helpful with a lot of details, and he explains the material quite well.

I took his CSE8B and CSE100. One of the best professors in CSE Department. You really learn A LOT from his lectures. PAs are time consuming but worth doing them. Hope he can teach some upper division courses and I will definitely take them.

HE IS THE BEST. He cares about students and going to his office hours helps so much. And most importantly, he explains concepts with easy examples, which make so much more sense than just reading off the textbook.

Spent 3 quarters with Paul. Definitely a great prof! Always get wonderful grades by the end of the quarters! Lectures are amazing with insightful contents.

Professor Cao taught me data structures and it was wonderful. The PAs are directly related to the material of the lecture. Overall a wonderful experience.

He was alright. He seemed to have a direct grasp of the knowledge and he answered most of the questions that students had but he did overlook some stuff that made the PAs harder than it needed to be and his final was hard compared to what he gave for the midterm. Overall, solid prof but do not be surprised by harder than usual exams.

His lectures are very informative as his solid understanding allows him to effectively explain many concepts. The PAs get to be pretty time consuming, but there is always help available. Lectures were not mandatory but were very helpful. Readings are also pretty helpful. Prior experience in CS really helps reduce the workload.

Cao is really good at explaining concepts that could be really tough to understand otherwise. The PAs were time-consuming but they definitely helped solidify my knowledge. During our quarter, he co-taught the class with Greg Miranda, so they had the same lectures, assignments, and exams - which seems like it will be a theme going forward.

Paul is very funny and explains the material clearly. Programming assignments can be overwhelming at times, but they are clearly explained and structured. They can be too structured at times though, sometimes there's little thought involved. Textbook work is mandatory, but I found it easy and also very useful.

Paul is a really nice professor and he explains things well. He would use real life examples that are easy to understand to explain hard concepts. Took 8B and 12 with him and learned a great deal from his classes. PAs are time consuming but it's worth the time to do it.

Cao is an amazing teacher. Just make sure to start early on the PAs so that you will be able to get help from autograder tutors. You will need it. Don't expect to do well in the course if you start the night of or the night before. Make sure you study for the midterms and finals (go over all quizzes, pas, and lectures). STAY CAUGHT UP ON LECTURES!

we did python for 8A this quarter. Generally speaking, this class is easy A.

I took CSE 8A with professor Cao this quarter. I had no prior experience with python, and professor Cao was able to make learning this language clear and simple. He is very funny and uses good examples. The hardest part of the class is the PAs, make sure you start early and make use of tutor hours! The TA tutors are extremely helpful.

Professor Cao was the best professor I had in Fall 2021. I found the lectures to be clear, interesting, and engaging. Midterms and Final were fairly easy. PAs were great in further establishing coding concepts as well as your own skills

Paul is such a caring professor. I had no comp sci experience and went in completely blind, but he clearly puts in a lot of effort when it comes to teaching. He took to the time to create and pass out worksheets just so everyone could follow along. Complete all the assignments and you should be fine.

Solid professor for CSE 12. Tests and PAs were fair.

One thing to say: DO YOUR PAs EARLY! Paul's PAs were quite fun, though it took some time to fully understand it. Otherwise, it's mostly using techniques we learnt in class. I enjoyed the way Paul taught CSE8A, it was very engaging with the constant questions to test your understanding of the material. I would take another class with Paul!

gives extra credits and curve!

This class is doable even if you have no experience in coding, like me. the PAs were kind of hard, but starting early and going to tutoring actually helped a lot. There are a lot of components to the final grade so even if you bomb a test it is possible to still do fine in the class. Overall, pretty good and simple class even if u dislike coding.

Definitively one of the best CSE professors in UCSD.

My favorite CSE professor at UCSD.

One of the best CSE profs I've had so far. His lectures consist of introducing the topic and providing a lot of examples/questions to help develop your understanding of the material. He definitely cares about his students. His PA's weren't too hard but his quizzes were pretty tricky which can be tough at times. Great prof, definitely take him.

One of my favorite professors in UCSD. His CSE 11, 12, and 100 are somewhat harder than other professors, but doable. You would learn a lot.

Great lecturer-made content very easy to understand. Programming assignments were easy and interesting. The midterm and final were also relatively easy. Only bad thing was the mandatory attendance.

He teaches well and the structure of the class(workload) actually makes you learn a lot. However, it is tough for non-cs majors and he expects everyone taking this course to have cs major knowledge.

Probably one of the best CSE professors you can have. Exams and PAs correlate with what is taught. He also takes feedback from students since he actually listens to what the students have to say.

PAs and tests weren't too bad. He's a nice guy. Only downside is he requires lecture attendance with iclickers. I would say he's better than Miranda.

I had a medical emergency that took me out of school for a whole week, and Prof. Cao was more than understanding about my situation. Fantastic professor that explains concepts thoroughly without digressing at all and keeps the class engaged with the perfect amount of participation questions. His HW is a great learning tool. Highly recommend

Good professor, as long as you know basic cs stuff you should be fine even though its an accelerated class. Many concepts on the tests come from the PAs, so make sure to do the PAs and try and understand them. Overall, good class.

Really good lectures and posts podcasts too, but clicker attendance is taken. Gives multiple chances for quizzes. Midterm and Final are not too hard. PAs are.. well PAs, get as much points as you can as they worth a lot. Very easy to understand and very patient. Overall a really solid professor and would definitely recommend!

Coming from a non-cs major who didn't take CSE 8A before this, it was definitely one of the hardest classes I've taken across the board. The weekly PAs were difficult and time-consuming, and he uses iclicker to check attendance. Spent a lot of time reading the textbook and attending multiple tutor sessions per week to get an A in the end.

He seems dry at first, but you can tell he cares a lot about teaching. Mandatory attendance through iClicker questions, but they often show up on tests. $40 online textbook for mandatory weekly readings. Weekly coding assignments are very fair. MCQ quizzes during discussion. The class teaches you a lot while not being really hard at all.

good professor teaches well in lectures and is clear on topics for exams. some final and midterm MCQs came from quizzes we had during discussions or Iclicker questions, slight grade curve as well, The cons are $40 eBook for 10% of grade that u lose after quarter, no slip days for PAs, some of which were tedious, lot of content but he made it ez.

Great teacher! He definitely knows what he is talking about and it was so easy to just watch his lectures the day before the test and understand everything. Definitely learned a lot and was still easy to get the grade that I wanted.

Professor Cao's CSE12 class is a solid choice. While the lectures can be a bit dry, the content is well-structured and the homework is a great learning tool. Using unstuck AI and the textbook helped me grasp the material, despite the strict attendance policy. Overall, a rewarding class.

Although Paul requires attendance and clickers (although I've heard he might allow the clicker app now), Paul is on the whole a very competent teacher that cares about his students (and his students getting jobs/internships). zyBooks textbook reading can feel annoyingly long (interactive textbook) but isn't difficult. Tests are completely fair.

Many of the negative reviews on Yingjun (Paul) Cao are nit picky and don't fully represent Cao's weaknesses as a lecture. Expect an "asian dad" level energy when coming to lecture, but also the fairness of a lecturer who wants everyone to pass. PA's are tough, but there are plenty resources. You will get what you make of this course. 4/5

He loves attendance, 8 am, and lots of homework. But the final is really easy, you should get a good grade if you have written the past year's exam.

Initially it was difficult to understand his lectures, but it got better overtime. My favorite part is how he constantly uses real life examples in relation to coding. I just wish he didn't emphasize writing code by hand so much, because you get docked hella even if the logic is right. It ends up being memorization. But tbh, I learned a lot.

He explained every question in class clearly, no matter what it was, and his exams are all based on what he talks about in class. Moreover, Paul is a really nice person and you can communicate with him for all your worries and inconvenience.

i very good instuctor, alway very patient. love him

The best cse prof for lower div

Decent choice. Exams are just based on lectures and PA(he sends part exams too). Though reading is required through zybooks, they are not that needed for exam preparation.

I'm not going to lie, I skipped a lot of the lectures even though they were mandatory (you need an iClicker). But the ones I didn't skip he was a great help. He's great with questions and really wants you to understand the concepts. It also feels like he has a good grasp on the material and how to help students understand the concepts.

Even though I skipped alot of my lectures (despite being mandatory), when I went, he makes all the content clear and concise to us through prewritten notes with additional commentary and code that he handwrites during lectures. Projects aren't super difficult and redundant, you just need a good idea of Java logic to understand most of the content.

Great lecturer who knows the material well, but workload can be somewhat busy with PAs every week and zybook readings. He's very patient and answers questions clearly. Overall a great professor to introduce you to data structures. The notes template he provides is also helpful.