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Bull Crap. Takes too long to mark assigments, doesnt mark them fairly, doesnt tell you what mistakes were, unconsistant marking assigments - was good for 500 but now he sucks- if your gonna take this course take it with tom, much better -

VERY unclear...will not tell class what is on exams....takes WAY too long to mark assignments (and our class only had a dozen students!)

Awesome in itm 500.. I don't know what happened to him here. He ruined my entire semester, basically don't go to any lectures, download his slides, and alter them to make your project work...

i think the schoolof itm didn't have a choice but to get him to teach this course. he was great in itm500, but not in itm605. he answers questions with questions and is sarcastic about it! we are learning we aint competing. he also says that marking assig

Terrible prof, you ask him a question he answers you with a question, and he teaches programming through powerpoint, wow there's a way to teach especially considering the class average is in the 50s, he's really doing something right

We're paying money to learn, not to do research on our own about ASP.net. The lab hours were messed up during the spring/summer term. Difficult to learn software without practice.

this guy is the worst teacher man... he doenst even teach... and he's so boring when he does talk.. dont take this class with him... switch programs if you have to.

The number 1 reason to not take the Application Development major of ITM. Zero communication with students, vague yet overly strict and pedantic requirements, broken project files (obviously not prepared to deal with the new mobile component of the program - still lab based). Bill Gates would fail.

Not the best Prof... had him once and regret it... he was passionate but a little to excited over random stuff in Java... exams are weird...notes are impossible to understand without hearing what they actually mean in lectures. If you talk...he asks your name and uses it against you repeatedly..so make sure he doesn't know you...

Horrible prof, doesn't let you use your laptop when he's lecturing!! He also doesn't help you, if your talking you'll be asked to leave. The class was lik 80+ students, and ppl dropped; only 20 were left.... He doesn't bell curve + no retest....50%+ failed midterm, and he did NOTHING.

Horrible Prof, almost everyone dropped this course, everyone failed the Midterm, he goes so fast, and is hard to understand

HORRIBLE PROF...If u have him change your prof, if you dont have experience with Java..you will fai...if you have experience with java you will fail...the people that dropped this course were smart, everyone who kept this course FAILED!!!.. :/

DROP THIS CLASS OR ELSE YOU WILL CRY!

Terrible prof. Never answers your questions directly. Very hard tests and power points are unclear.

He has a hard time teaching students.If you ask him a question, don't expect an answer. No experience with Java, don't expect to get any from him because he won't help you. Switch out asap or risk failing unless you have prior programming knowledge.

His lectures are boring. He doesn't like people coming late or leaving early. The grade really depends on what he thinks to give you at the end not what you actually got.

He expects you too know everything before the course is taught. He is very boring prof. Avoid if you can.

Exams test if students can manually calculate equations through coding without a calculator. His method of coding is all over the place. He uses numerous Java methods not for the purpose of simplicity but for the purpose of making students fail the exam. Ironic because if he read the textbook, it teaches you that your code should be easy to read.

Horrible prof, does not teach the material. He expects you to know everything and does not provide proper support when you don't.

he's not that bad at teaching, I understood the materials really easily but that's because I also learn fast. HOWEVER he's RUDE. A lot of students dislike him. From personal experience, he told me he would take my phone away once when I wasn't even using it and it wasn't in my reach.

This professor doesn't care about students at all. Whenever I tried to ask him questions, he always told me he can't answer the questions. I think reading the textbook is better than attending his lectures.

Probably the worst professor ever at Ryerson. Very difficult to understand, his tests have nothing to do with his lectures.

I never give profs rating 1 but this time I need to. He seems like he does not care about students. He is a smart person but I wouldn't take his class again. Try your best to avoid this prof since Ryerson has good profs. His explanations are really hard to understand. He could be a smart person but not a good prof/teacher.

Never take his course, worse prof ever at Ryerson. Most people failed mid terms and finals but he did not bell curve any of us. The homework that are assigned are way harder compared to the examples provided in class. Really rude prof and does not reply to your emails or questions.

Very rude teacher, hardly covers anything in class, yet the tests are extremely hard. He doesnt take constructive criticism very well at all

Worst Prof. EVER.

Tests are unfair and too difficult TA is incompetent Labs are useless Mark breakdown is terrible

I made the mistake of not listening to the reviews. When 99% of the reviewers say the same thing LISTEN! Although an intro course he expects you to know everything. Labs were a HUGE waste of time, homework was way too hard and this is something he himself realized 3/4 way into the course and asked for feedback. (FYI- he does not like feed back).

Do whatever you can to avoid his class. Hard midterm and very hard hard labs. Going to class is a waste of time because he literally goes through slides. If you have not done this material in high school then I would highly recommend not to take his class. Its very hard to pass his class.

Avoid this prof at all costs, take this class with George Foltak if you want to do well, this profs tests are unreasonably hard.

Honestly, he's one of the most rude prof's I ever had in my first year of Ryerson. He has an attitude when a student doesn't understand something, goes too fast in his lectures which leaves half the students clueless as to what's going on, and his tests are just absurd. If you have him, IMMEDIATELY drop his class and switch, or take summer school.

awful prof, horrible course, extremely hard! Take with diff prof!!!!

Terrible prof, goes to fast when reaching and tried getting in an argument with me during a lecture. When i asked him to explain something again he was very arrogant and just assumed that I should understand new material. Avoid this prof at all costs.

This class is super hard and professor Derbal makes it even harder. He rushes through his lectures so some important information is always missed. He doesn't tolerate any talking he is not afraid to single anyone out in a lecture. He is also not a nice person his responses are very aggressive back almost like he is upset that you are asking.

This man is ur gpa killer. I failed his course once already he simply is just so bad at teaching and pray and wish new itm teachers teach 207.

AVOID AT ALL COST. anyone but him.

GPA Homicide

Not a good professor, lectures are great but the labs are not helpful. Final exam was unfair and outright bad. Midterm was ok. It's a unfair class and shouldn't be taken with this professor unfortunately. Unlikely to change.

Don't waste your time taking intro programming online with Derbal. The "text" is a free online Python resource that has links to many interactive resources and learning tools that are FAR better. And again, free. He keeps the discussion board locked except for a 48 hour window after assignments. No audio, no video, no interaction. Only text. Avoid.

Honestly just stay away and switch profs

This prof throws stuff on d2l and if we have questions he redirects us to the forum which he makes available for 48 hours of the week. Also hope you dont have tech issues because the only time he puts in effort is to combat you. Unfathomably, he's senior faculty so fighting him on anything will require video evidence. worst experience in my 4 yrs

this teachers an absolute bum. i was expecting this to be an easy a for me because im pretty proficient with python and this is an introduction course but youre going to be getting homework you wont understand unless you know python well the final exam is worth 50% and you have no time to completely get through each question. lectures r useless

Lectures were the most boring thing ever. He did not encourage challenging questions, and never answered your questions fully. Just study off the slides and get some raptor practice and you'll be fine. Do the homework too - that's what messed up my grade.

He does not care about anything and makes the exam so hard and only teaches students who have a comp sci background. The professors made the exam super hard. it is worth 50%, 80% of people failed.

final exam was wayyyyyyyyyyyy to difficult.

final will destroy you

For you first/second years, do not take this class with him. Listen to me. Do not take it. For you BTM students that are self learning software development that thinks you have a chance. Also don't do this. I am you. I read a review and thought pff, I did a python course I should be okay. You will NOT be okay. You're better off taking C/CPS109.

This guy is soo horrible, he does not know how to make an exam. It was ridiculously hard for no reason. To everyone that did their exam on DECEMBER 16, 2021 we should send him emails and request some sort of bell curve or something.

AWFUL.

useless, and terrible professor. does not care about students, marks way too hard, final exam is 50 % drop out of his class asap!

THE FINAL IS GONNAA END YOU, it's worth 50% and the difficulty of the questions is no where near the amount of time that is given.

He teaches the bare minimum, assigns work that is way too hard for what you just learnt. A good analogy would be he teaches you to apply a band-aid then tells you to perform brain surgery. His exams dont reflect course content well.

hardest final exam ive ever done and thats on god.

Worst final exam I've ever written. Did not provide enough time at all.

weekly homeworks were bad enough, the final exam was the worst. it was worth 50% of your mark and made it as if we were professional coders. if you care about your mental health, choose a different prof.

I think most students got failed this exam and it was worth 50% of your final mark. I can guarantee you a python pro coder will not be able to complete this exam in 1 hr. I only was able to answer 1 question right and each question takes 30 mins to get right and 20 questions

This is hands down the worst prof in Ryerson and if not Ryerson he is the worst prof in North America... I feel like he gets excitement from torturing his students on exams.

He expects you to be a pro at python coding in an introductory course. Assignments and exams are very difficult, and the time given to complete your homework and exams are very limited. I struggled a lot in this class, and I did not learn much from him.

unnecessarily hard exam. even a professional coder would need more than an hour to get through to the end.

Worst prof worst class worst exam Ive ever had

Worst itm prof in the school, lectures dont add up to the assignments and exams

Nothing in the lecture added up to the difficulty of the testing, might as well teach yourself. Worst prof Ive had in the school

Expects too much from students based on what he lectures. In this course as well as itm207 never take him switch to any other professor

disgusting prof! He likes when his students fail.. i could only answer 2/20 questions on the final because he made the questions sooo hard and only gave 1 hr.. ANYONE TRYING TO TAKE HIM PLS DONT. THIS PROF NEEDS TO GET INVESTIGATED AND FIRED

Literally a clown - he expects you to know your entire code in theory, gives 20 huge theory heavy quests in the final exam (worth 50% btw). Expects you to manipulate multiple instances of class, kwargs, args, etc in an intro course. Literally one of the hardest exams I've seen.

This man released the final exam grades today (which he knew weren't that great) and then proceeded to email everyone saying I'm off until January 6th. This means no one can email him about their grade and by the time Jan 6 arrives, final marks will soon be official. An absolute snake move. I wish nothing but the worst for him.

My advice to anyone new in Ryerson is not to take a course with this professor, the final exam worth 50% with very tough questions in one hour that needs someone who is professional to solve them. In the assignments, you have to write the code exactly as he wants and it should work 100%, otherwise you get zero on weekly assignment.

When you email this professor, he replies you rudely after 3-4 days and if you ask to meet with him to discuss about a code, he gives you an appointment after 10 days. The TA is not available other than the lab time.

Week one is an assignment that makes zero sense for even people with a coding background. The midterm was a breeze then comes the obliteration of your GPA. Assignments become literally impossible. He teaches the ABCs in lectures then asks for Calculus on the assignment. The exam was IMPOSSIBLE. The average was probably close to 35%

Bro, what was that final exam?

Unfortunately, if you are going/having to take any ITM course at Ryerson you will encounter Derbal. He is one of the most difficult professors that I have ever had. For homework, it's all very easy questions but come time for the exam worth 50% of our grade it's the most confusing super-complex questions you have ever seen.

mans went to mars got the final exam questions and came back. thats all i have to say.

This guy is trash, he literally teaches mickey mouse stuff, then tests you like you are some insane programmer. regardless of who you take, the final will mess you up because he made it LMAO. I know people in Aziz and Anjum got bodied because they didn't expect madness by like derbal. He needs to be investigated if you failed in chang ur dumb tho.

Just don't ever take this professor in your life. He makes mistakes on exams and makes you accountable. He absolutely does not know what he's talking about half the time. Just don't take him I promise you it won't be fun. The list goes on with this proffessor. Never again will I take him

we should appeal to this professor, no PowerPoint, no notes, etc. Students are completely self-taught, and the final exam questions are very difficult, and he does not want students to pass this course.

Avoid at all costs, this prof does not care about his students, does not reply to emails and his final exam is worth 50% in where the questions are not relevant to the questions given for weekly homework assignments.

Don't pick this professor, he doesn't teach students and doesn't give feedback. The whole course is self-taught, and he has no respect for the students at all

He's very knowledgeable but refuses to understand where students are coming from when they complain about something. Didn't allow calculators on the final exam which was worth 50% of our mark. The midterm was harder than anything I've ever done in my life, I had to guess so many questions because the time was simply not enough. DONT CHOOSE HIM!!

I have background information on using Python. The material he teaches and his readings are NOTHING like his assignments. He expects you to know an expert level of math and an expert level of coding, he also responds so slow to questions and e-mails. ITM 200 should be an introductory course to coding but he made it so difficult. WORSE ITM PROF

very difficult professor does NOT respond to student emails, and his major goal is to fail students, t if you take his class be prepared to teach yourself and use youtube to learn. what he teaches during class is baby material compared to tests. he will literally teach you 1 + 1 and then test you on Einstein's theory.

Horrible prof do not take exam was impossible

Yeah don't take this professor, he teaches very basic material during the lectures and very difficult homework without proper preparation. Exam is very difficult and worth 50%.

Avoid this Professor at all cost, I took 2 classes with him and barely passed them both. His grading criteria are fairly straighforward (Homework - 20%, Midterm - 30% and Final - 50%). His lectures are informative, and he does easy examples in class but when it comes to exams, YOU ARE DONE. The midterm was easy, but the final was shambles

This professor is the down right lowest of the low professor he gave a 50% final to which all the questions were way to difficult for an introduction class. Homework is unreasonably difficult for no reason. I wish him the worst possible outcomes in his future endeavours in anything he does, Do not take his class!!! take Anjum do not take Derbal !!

I have never left a review on profs before, but I couldn't help myself. The worst prof ever. The exam was the hardest thing to be written ever and worth 50%. I'm a software developer myself and the stuff he put on there was ridiculous. He genuinely wants you to fail. Take any other prof and save yourself from his garbage. He needs to get evaluated.

Worse prof ever! His midterm and homework has nothing to do with the lectures. Not to mention the fact that the final is worth 50%. If you ever happen to cam across him while picking courses, DO NOT TAKE HIM!!!! Anjum would be the better prof, I don't understand why he has a worst review.

This prof is the worst prof ever. 50% final that is LITERALLY impossible to pass and he doesn't provide feedback for any of the midterms, exams and assignments. He just posts the solution to the homework and if you don't write the solution EXACTLY how he wants it he gives you a zero. Please take any other prof if you value your peace of mind.

Terrible prof who doesn't know what he's doing. His main goal is to fail students. I have a coding background and I failed this course. Final Exam is the hardest thing I've done and I had to guess each question because there was no time. The class average for the final exam was 30%. This guy needs to be investigated.

Worst prof ever I've literally had to change programs because of how bad he is. Very rude, does not respond to emails, gives the hardest exam possible to mankind. He literally makes fake ratings on this site to make it look like he's not a bad prof but he's the worst prof in North America. Words cannot describe how much I hate this man.

THIS GUY NEEDS TO GET FIRED HE MADE THE FINAL EXAM IMPOSSIBLE. 15 RAPTOR QUESTIONS AND EACH QUESTION TAKES AT LEAST 5 MINUTES TO ANSWER BUT HE ONLY GAVE AN HOUR. HE NEEDS TO GET FIRED.

Stay away from him. Take anyone but this guy. He doesn't know how to teach and does not care about his students. He's the rudest prof I've ever met in my life and he gets annoyed when you ask him questions about assignments. He made an introductory course the hardest course in the entire program. The list goes on with this clown.

I actually don't know how this guy is still teaching in this university. Very egoistic, rude and he think's he's above everyone. Does not teach well and he sways away from the material so hard no wonder everyone fails his exams. The whole BTM program is known for being notorious due to the actions of Derbal. Please do not take this prof.

Dr. Derbal's ITM 200 course was difficult due to exams that didn't align with the course content and a professor who was unclear and passive-aggressive when answering questions. Review materials and clear communication are important for a fair and effective learning environment.

Worst prof ever.

Very tough grader and does not try to help his students whatsoever. Compared to other profs who like to see their students succeed hes the complete opposite.

He does not respond to students emails unless contacted by the program manager, his homework assignments increase in complexity every week. SWITCH TO ANOTHER PROFESSOR ASAP!!! You might get homework marks at least because he makes the midterms and finals.

Never take him

Do not take this prof

Despite his poor reviews, I had him for my course. And you know what, those poor reviews are right. I had basic knowledge of Python and this is a hard course. His assignment was more difficult than needed and didn't connect with the lectures. He is also passive-aggressive towards students.I would take a different prof or do the course through chang

Youcef Derbal is probably the worst professor you could take for ITM200, what he teaches in class does not correlate with the work he gives. His biggest fault is the way that he writes the exam. Extremely difficult for no reason mostly due to the fact that the questions arent presented in a logical way. ITM200's a gpa killer and derbal is the knife

The worst prof I've had so far. Makes things difficult for no reason. Class was through Chang, and he didn't hold a single lecture or post any videos. Everything is self-taught, especially for students who have no experience with coding. He makes it his goal to fail students and gets some sort of kink out of making the exam unnecessarily hard.

This professor makes his assignments and exams very hard, and I would recommend against taking him at all whatsoever. I tried taking him over the summer, and the course was unnecessarily difficult.

Yousef is very awful. Homework is not worth nearly as much as it should be ( like 5%). the final exam has nothing to do with any real world code content. Im a moderately experienced coder but memorizing syntax errors and code formats should not be on the final exam and worth 60% of your grade. this does not represent the real world programming

not a very good prof at all, The actual course content is not hard nor is what you are learning, However the prof makes the exams unnecessary hard and the course percentage balence is not worth it for the amount of work you do. (5%) homework that takes 8-12 hours per assignment for 12 assignments.

I can go on abt how unfair his exams r,how crazy basing over half an exam on an obscure software like Raptor is,how confusing he makes concepts,or how most of us will never use the majority of content we learned here in our careers with a BComm,but what it all boils down to is if u have Derbal,ur cooked,especially if u mess up early bc the 50% exam

He reads off the slides for his lessons.

A final exam worth 65% of your grade should be enough of a red flag.... there are hardly any materials provided to set up students for success. I would highly advise students to take ITM courses in person, bc Derbal will not teach you, only give you vague course modules and lots of self-learning that leaves you lost.

This professor does not know how to teach he does not care about his students. The TA for this class was horrible and was worse than Derbal. No one came to class because it was pointless. Overall he is the worst prof for this course I highly recommend taking it with Aziz or Anjum. I would rate him 0 stars. He needs to get fired ASAP.

One of the worst professors I have ever had. Makes it so much harder for everyone to understand. Don't even think about using his modules unless you want to be more confused. The weekly hw is way too hard and a 65% in-person exam is just crazy! Ik the course itself is hard but he makes it soo much harder.

I can't use the words I'd like to use on here, but by all means if he is your professor: RUN. Drop the course, take it in the summer, even taking a whole extra semester just to avoid him is better than actually having him as your professor. Never replies to emails, does not tell you how to correct your mistakes, and so much more. Advice: Don't.

Might be worst professor at TMU. Doesn't explain anything, his assignments become literally impossible, and he does not help at all. Expects you to know everything about this course out the womb. Do not take him if you wish to stay sane, Lord knows those days are before me due to him.

Do it for me, do not take this Professor! Course was so much more difficult than it needed to be, all thanks to him. Chatgpt saved my life along with countless lives I'm sure. For you own mental health, do not take this professor unless you want a near impossible challenge. I just want to learn Python but I have to deal with an impossible Prof now.

He is knowledgeable but the way the class is taught does not make one learn, a real pain.

This guy thinks he's the main character, the terminator, the final boss I hope your pillow is permanently hot, both sides You cannot escape this professor. His exams are harder than the Bar Exam, than the SAT, than the MCAT He wants to torture students and stain their GPAs HE IS BEING PAID 230K PER YEAR TO FAIL STUDENTS.. 230K TO FAIL STUDENTS

The average on the exam was

Don't take him. He teaches the material pretty nicely but will test you on nothing related to assignments or what you were taught. Avoid at all costs.

Hes not bad at teaching if you go out of your way to get that understanding from him, just when it comes to assignments and tests they are pretty heavy and at certain times it does not seem like he had taught enough or there weren't enough resources to get where you need to be for the exam

makes the exam nothing similar to the inclass content good luck

Good at teaching, just watch out when it comes to exams. there very heavy and difficult as they rarely relate to what he teaches in class. 50% final and half of the questions are not even close to what the assignmenrs and in class labs are about.

Avoid him and take the course with another prof. Tough exams and the in class content doesn't prepare you at all. Good luck

Very bad professor who does not care at all for student success. Tough exam and class content does not properly prepare you on what it will be on. Avoid this professor at all costs.

Worst professor in all of tmu. Take him if you want to fail, this guy is brutal and everyone who has had him can agree he makes the exams hard and unrelated to any topics to fail you. You are all doomed.

The exam is awful, worth 50% of your grade and hard to study for. The material in the lecture slides and labs isn't enough to take the exam

He is the worst professor at TMU, he purposefully makes the final exams tedious and impossible, knowing that every year the final average is well below the pass mark. The way the course is taught is terrible and no practice prepares you for the insane final exam worth 50%. This man should be fired.

This is the most hated professor at TMU. Almost 90% of my study shows that students at tmu does not want this prof. His final exams are brutal, All his class averages specially for finals are well below 50%. With all the statistics, he does not care. Nor does the university in evaluating him. Avoid him, but his unavoidable he makes the final exams.

Do not take Derbal ever. Horrible professor, I was warned before taking him and I ended up failing the course because of his final exam that was 65%. No one in their right mind makes a final weighted that much for course material like this. They need to swap him out.

Worst prof, needs to be fired

Super hard assignments and final exam.

I don't know how I survived the course but calling the teachings a rollercoaster is an understatement, Run!

Although he seems to teach the necessary content, the exam will definitely have complex problems which you won't find anywhere. The midterm 40% and the final 50%. He does make the exams, but nothing will prepare you for the final. I attended all lectures/labs, took notes and UNDERSTOOD what was taught and almost 90% of the exam I guessed :(

Probably the worst professor of all time. Took him in the summer through chang, best time to take this course is in the fall semester with Anjum, hes the goat

Yea this man needs to be fired

Worst prof I've ever taken, doesnt know how to teach or to be a decent human being

Youcef Derbal is hands down the worst professor I've ever had. His teaching style is nonexistent—lectures are disorganized, and he seems completely uninterested in whether students actually learn. Avoid this class at all costs unless you enjoy self-teaching while being set up to fail. The department should seriously reevaluate its methods.

DO NOTT TAKE THIS PROF- SWAP CLASSES QUICK. The class is 1000x harder you wont understand and learn anything - taking this prof will drain your wallet cause and you will fail. YOU WILL END UP IN VICTORIA STREET WHEN TRYING TO TAKE HIS CLASS. This whole course is like it meant to extort money from us. DO NOT TAKE THIS PROF.

He is the final boss of ITM207, the exterminator, if you have him, he will drain your pockets and leave you in depth for life in which Victoria street will be your future. The point is, making exams worth 80% in which are clearly impossible to solve within the time given and his teaching style is just horrible.

He does easy basic practice questions in class and tells students that if you can answer those questions they will be set for the exam, then on the exam its nothing like what he showed in lectures.

His exams are so hard and whatever he teaches in class does NOT compare to what is on the final. He seems like a nice guy but this course is just really hard, its set up for you to fail to weed out the stupid students. What I recommend, is try your absolute best to score high in the assignments and midterm and tank as much as you can on the final.

Has a doctorate in Computer Engineering but doesn't understand the concept of "poor code requests get poor code". Assignment instructions are often unclear and give vague or ambiguous direction. Such a vital course for introducing python, has potential to be so much more.

Midterm was way harder than every other prof and the assignments are also way harder

sad miserable man who's never felt love or affection and takes it out on the final. Purposely makes the final extremely difficult and based on concepts not taught and will never be needed in btm. tmu doesn't care about this, as he generates a profit for them by forcing students to retake the course.

Minimal notes and easy explanations but does not prepare you at all for his 30-50% valued exams. Homework is super easy but worth 1% of your grade. I have taken this class twice with this prof and have single handedly wasted so much time and money on him.