Professor: Krishnamurthi Course format: Lecture Number of respondents: 16 Total Enrollment: 24 Class Composition: Froshs: 0 Sophs: 3 Jrs: 4 Srs: 6 Concs: 15 Non-Concs: 0 Don't Know: 0

Instructor Average: 1.28 Course Average: 1.29

“Introduction to Programming Languages” is a lecture course in which students analyze different programming languages. Formal prerequisites for the course included CS 15/16 or CS 17/18, CS 22, CS 31, and CS 51. Survey respondents also indicated that experience with the Scheme programming language is useful.

Students described Professor Krishnamurthi as engaging, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and organized. He has “a wicked sense of humor”, according to one respondent, and made intimidating topics easy to digest. Professor Krishnamurthi often called on people at random to ask them questions about the topics being discussed. While students generally agreed that this kept them on their toes, they also felt that he may have relied a bit too heavily on that method of teaching and wished that he would give them more information instead of constantly questioning them.

There were no exams for the course, but students were required to complete seven programming assignments, three written assignments, and one essay assignment. Students generally agreed that the programming assignments were much better than the written assignments.

Survey respondents spent an average of about eight hours per week completing assignments for this course. Some indicated that the course workload was more demanding than they’d expected, while others indicated that they spent about as much time as they’d anticipated. Most class members recommended the course to prospective students. Said one student: “It would be a serious mistake not to take this class if you have the remotest interest in computer programming.” Another student remarked that it was the best CS class he or she had taken so far. If your interest is computer science, “Introduction to Programming Languages” might be for you.

View CS/0173 in the Brown Online Course Announcement.