Spring 2027

Programming II

Programming II covers Object-Oriented Programming, introducing array-based and linked data structures like lists, stacks, and queues to solve complex problems.

offering recorded3 credits

Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Jim Williams3.1/5 Scott Swanson2.1/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Jim Williams

The course involved a large amount of busy work, some of which was challenging. Projects varied heavily in time consumption, and some students encountered more exams than anticipated.

What you’ll be able to do

List and describe common operations for List, Stack, Queue, Priority Queue, Tree.
Analyze the time-complexity and compare the Big-Oh O(n) worse case complexity of different ADT implementations, and the complexity for any data structures and algorithms used to implement those operations.
Identify and properly test all boundary conditions for comprehensive testing of their programs.
Interpret and create a variety of diagrams: Call Stack trace; Stack, Queue, and Tree Data Structures; Recursive call (list or tree), control flow charts, class diagrams, object diagrams, and use-case diagrams.
Implement Object-Oriented (multi-class) standalone programs that manage a variety of data storage and retrieval operations (Program development skills and experience).
Evaluate models and arguments using quantitative information.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗

average GPA
letter grades

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Course details

Credits3 credits

Typically offeredFall, Spring, Summer

Subjects

Computer Sciences

About this course

Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming using classes and objects to solve more complex problems. Introduces array-based and linked data structures: including lists, stacks, and queues. Programming assignments require writing and developing multi-class (file) programs using interfaces, generics, and exception handling to solve challenging real world problems. Topics reviewed include reading/writing data and objects from/to files and exception handling, and command line arguments. Topics introduced: object-oriented design; class vs. object; create and define interfaces and iterators; searching and sorting; abstract data types (List,Stack,Queue,PriorityQueue(Heap),Binary Search Tree); generic interfaces (parametric polymorphism); how to design and write test methods and classes; array based vs. linked node implementations; introduction to complexity analysis; recursion.

Prerequisites

Course map

Satisfied QR-A and (COMP SCI 200, 220, 310, 301, or placement into COMP SCI 300) or (E C E/COMP SCI 252 and E C E 203); graduate/professional standing; declared in Capstone Certificate in COMP SCI. Not open to students with credit for COMP SCI 367.

- - - Satisfied QR-A
    - - COMPSCI 200
      - COMPSCI 220
      - COMPSCI 310
      - 301
      - placement into COMP SCI 300
      take one
    take all
  - - COMPSCI/ECE 252
    - ECE 203
    take all
  - graduate/professional standing
  - declared in Capstone Certificate in COMP SCI
  take one
- - credit for COMP SCI 367
  not eligible with
take all

COMPSCI 300 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

All of
- Any of
  - All of
    - Satisfied QR-A
    - Any of
      - COMPSCI 200
      - COMPSCI 220
      - COMPSCI 310
      - 301
      - placement into COMP SCI 300
  - All of
    - COMPSCI/ECE 252
    - ECE 203
  - graduate/professional standing
  - declared in Capstone Certificate in COMP SCI
- Not eligible with
  - credit for COMP SCI 367

Professors

Spring 2027

Jim Williams

Adjusted rating

RMP difficulty

captured reviews

About this rating

Raw average: 2.98/5 from 155 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 3.8/5 raw quality · 3.3/5 difficulty · 6 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Jim Williams

Jim Williams taught an organized course with helpful lectures, though students disagreed on clarity and test consistency. The workload included required topHat participation and projects that varied heavily in time consumption. Some found lectures slow, preferring to learn through projects and zybook activities, while others found the lectures informational.

Scott Swanson

Adjusted rating

RMP difficulty

captured reviews

About this rating

Raw average: 1.69/5 from 70 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Alexander Brooks, Laura Legault

Alexander Brooks taught a class where automated grading felt tough and harsh, though he was available outside class for struggling students. Laura Legault described her lectures as fun and thorough, noting that most grades came from three tests, with weekly projects and quizzes also contributing to the final mark.

ALEXANDER BROOKS is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Fall 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

BLERINA GKOTSE is recorded teaching in Fall 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

GARY DAHL is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JEFF NYHOFF is recorded teaching in Fall 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LAURA LEGAULT is recorded teaching in Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARK MANSI is recorded teaching in Fall 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MOUNA AYARI BEN HADJ KACEM is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

Section	Mode	Enrolled / capacity	Waitlist
LEC 001	Classroom Instruction	0 / 250	0
LEC 002	Classroom Instruction	0 / 250	0

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records

Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Jim Williams

Professor Williams was very nice and willing to help, making the class enjoyable for students who did not mind coding despite its difficulty.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.00 GPA, 40.1% A/AB (n=593 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.37 GPA, 62.9% A/AB (n=556 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.17 GPA, 48.3% A/AB (n=478 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Jim Williams

The course involved a large amount of busy work, some of which was challenging. Projects varied heavily in time consumption, and some students encountered more exams than anticipated.

Past student reviews · Jim Williams

Some students found lectures boring and learned more through projects and zybook activities. Others felt the class was not well put together and tests were confusing.

Topics

Object-oriented design and interfaces
Abstract data types including trees and heaps
Searching and sorting algorithms
File I/O, exception handling, and CLI arguments

Skills

Object-Oriented Programming with classes and objects
Array-based and linked data structures implementation
Complexity analysis and recursion
Generic interfaces and test method design

Grades

Spring 2027 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

7 earlier forecasts · 0.23 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1

Selected offering source records

COMPSCI 300 · Spring 2027

Programming II

Recorded 2026-10-29

Raw records

[
  {
    "run_id": "20261029T213040-0fa85c20",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:266:024795",
    "course_id": "COMPSCI 300",
    "course_uid": "course_28c3390ba944d49fd17f7c72",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "024795",
    "source_subject_id": "266",
    "title": "Programming II",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]

Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews

Download part 1

Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades

Model outputs & technical records

Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B

LLM outputs across runs

Download part 1 Download part 2

Full model traces

Model & dataset provenance

{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "a33cc495a34d5200de74b31cf9c4885c4f2e5e4a88f51885c37a60a2a84b4e05",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "c9cd06eaa45f9ddf7e69faa38b89ff3d3dd995dd",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00"
}

Programming II

Summary

What you’ll be able to do

Grade history

Prerequisites

Professors

Jim Williams

Scott Swanson

Calendar & sections

Student experience

the class

difficulty & workload

Topics

Skills

Grades

Spring 2027 · Projected

Grades over time

Where this course fits relative to UW–Madison

Sources & history

Catalog & offerings

Student reviews

Grade history

Where this course fits relative to