I thought that Florian did an outstanding job teaching cs400. He was very engaging and he made his lectures easy to pay attention to. He was decently accessible outside of class. He was very friendly and it was important to him that you learned the topic. Best cs professor I have had so far.

Course material is a bit dry and coding projects can be unclear, but tests are not too hard and overall class was not that bad. A bit harder than CS300, but if you take notes and pay attention you should be fine.

Taught ok but very not helpful and didn't offer any assistance when I ran into technical issues, causing me to lose a lot of my grade.

Florian is a great professor for a terrible class. His lectures on data structures and algorithms are clear and easy to understand, and the homework is manageable as long as you are not juggling five more classes. The projects are easier than those of CS300, but they are extremely dull—also, there are absolutely no drops, which is bad.

I am very convinved he picked a butt load of money hungry sellout TA's that didn't do anything, and they were the ones creating the projects. I am convinced these projects haven't been proofread, as they constantly get updated because one of the TA's mistakes, even though they had an entire semester to fix these problems.

Florian is a great professor. He teaches the material extremely well and he is super thorough. Although he does move at a slow pace, watching the lectures on 2x speed is a game changer for the course. He goes through many examples and makes understanding the concepts easy. He also inadvertently has a silly personality that I enjoyed.

Florian is a great professor who is great at explaining things. The one problem is that I feel like his TAs barely proofread what they post. So many errors in exams and projects. Also you learn some useful topics but you also learn topics that I doubt you will ever use again

Slow lecturer, not super engaging, but lectures were extremely helpful for projects and exams. Course is poorly run though, projects are made by TAs and have a lot of issues with them that often don't get resolved until a few days before the due date and a lot of TAs and peer mentors don't understand the projects/can't help you.

Explains things well, but does not answer any questions in lecture if you raise your hand. Also for my semester he ended up falling behind in lecture because he kept getting out of breath

Florian seems like a pretty cool guy and he does a great job explaining complex things in a manner that easy to understand. The only issue is that he explains everything like the audience is 5 and so there are some lectures where he genuinely spends 45 minutes going through a very basic example that doesn't really teach us anything new.

Out of the professors teaching the course's difficult topics, he definitely does it best. His lectures actually have descriptions and pictures that you can reference later compared to the other teacher who forces you to rewatch recordings to see the diagrams he makes. Florian is a good teacher trying to make an overall difficult class easier.

Grading rubric sucks, 93 or higher for an A, no dropped assignments, no curve. I cannot stay awake for any of his lectures because of how bad his lectures are. I have 8 AM lectures and I manage to stay awake for those better than this guys lectures. The class isn't even hard, it's the people managing the class that suck

Excellent professor. I don't think there is any gap between the CS300 and this. Projects are going really well and are not difficult at all. Most of the time, you only need to implement 2-3 methods. You should be able to finish this without much effort if you did well in 300. (I aced the 300 with a 100% final grade though)

Yay Florian! He's definitely the way to go between him and Gray. Florian does a great job presenting the material in a clear and easy fashion. He's also a really nice and wholesome guy, especially during office hours. You get the same assignments/group projs/tests whether you have Gary or Florian so I'd go for Florian for the better lectures.

This is not a good class but it is not Florians fault. Much of the material is not very useful (haven't heard the words red-black tree since taking this course) and the group projects are obviously horribly structured. Overall he is a good professor and lectures are very clear. He is a nice guy, and I don't understand the hate.

Lectures are well-structured and he explains algorithms and other course material in a helpful way.

Poor code, poor instruction, assignment not organized lots of bug in given assignments, didnt show responsiblilty for the code

Florian is the better option of the two. Not too boring and covers the material well. Tough exams and group projects, projects aren't that bad if your partner is good. Write up's are easy to understand and straight forward.

Florian himself is a boring but meticulous lecturer. He covers things well enough and does do a good job explaining the algorithms for you. The class structure is horrendous. "Group" projects are lengthy and much harder than anything you do in 300. The writeups are NOT proofread and have errors. Just a no fun class with so much potential.

This is the most poorly structured course in the CS department other than 577 so get ready for that. However I think Florian is a good choice. He is very nice and explains concepts in a boring but helpful way.

His style of lecturing is a bit boring but he stays back for quite a while after each lecture and is very helpful. I was a bit unsure about how to study for exams because the quizzes only cover a portion of the topics.

A competent instructor who explains algorithms and other course materials well.

Lectures are great and helpful, but I wasn't a fan of the projects.

Absolutely horrible class.

Florian is not that bad, but the whole CS400 class structure is a complete joke. No write-ups, no requirements, and no help from TA's. The jump from CS300 to CS400 is very big. Expect to spend a long time looking through your code and putting together what they want based off method names, without any help and hours in piazza.

He's energetic and won't put you to sleep during class. He definitely prepares for his class, as we never saw him encounter "unexpected" bugs during class. The way he explains algorithms are very clear, and I personally believe every minute in his class was not wasted.

Don't really understand the negative reviews for the prof. I thought that Florian was one of the best lecturers I have had - he explained everything very clearly and was accessible outside of class to provide any clarification. However, the course could have definitely been structured better. Write-ups were at times very unclear. TAs are helpful

Great at explaining things slowly, but otherwise lectures were pretty boring. Seemed to focus more on how to code/implement the algorithms we were learning instead of understanding them at a baseline conceptual level first. Group projects were disorganized at best but the workload was fairly consistent. Two exams each count for 16% of the grade.

Professor seems nice and accommodating, however project/assignment expectations were often confusing. Exams were difficult, with final seeming to focus less on bigger algorithm topics than intricacies like javascript/html/bash/java FX. Overall workload usually wasn't too bad, as the class has smaller assignments + weekly project work.

He seems to be a nice enough person, but does not explain the content very well. The entire course is structured terribly and is just generally difficult due to the huge jump from CS300. You'll probably have to teach yourself regardless of whether you go to lecture.

I've taken this class once with Gary(dropped it halfway through) and once with Florian. If you are trying to choose which one, the are both really nice and the issues with the class are more the project writeups than the professors themselves and the assignments are the same for both professors. Tests ok if you study. Good professor, bad class.

Very boring lectures and CS400 is honestly structured terribly and the group projects suck. Florian doesn't cover content well.

Does tophat almost every lec so his lec mandatory but his teach is so fast for first learns. The exam material way harder than quiz and code writing as partial question in exams.The projects concept gets harder same grading criteria. Be aware of the group projects bc there's someone who always lose out.

He's alright... Be responsible for your learning and he's there to support you

A very kind professor who simply doesn't provide enough resources for students to succeed. Each lecture is barely covered in the homework, with some subjects being skipped, but when it comes time for the final things are brought up that were mentioned once. Pencil and paper tests with questions on terminal commands were awful too.

Florian's lectures were always well-structured & helped clear up any confusion I had. He almost always moved at the perfect pace-- not too fast nor too slow. I learned a ton in this class that I'm certain I'll continue to use far into the future, & it would not have been the same without Florian's help.

The lecturer is exceptional, providing remarkable, enduring notes. He clearly elucidates concepts & writes during lectures, eschewing presentations. The finest CS class I've experienced, fostering immense learning. He genuinely cares for students, exuding kindness & striving to simplify our lives.

Great lectures, and there all recorded and provided to the students via cultura gallery.

This class is awful. Tests 1/3 of grade but much of it was over obscure topics mentioned once in lecture (avg 70 on first midterm). Projects range from 1 hour a week to 20+ and that was with a good group. Grades are heavily dependent on group and TAs were extremely unhelpful. Structure was a mess and lectures were slow and boring. Avoid if you can.

The only reason I ended up with an A in this class was because of Florian's amazing lectures and notes. He is very underrated!

Best CS professor I've had till now!

The only reason I ended with an A in the class is because of Florian's lectures!

Lectures are incredibly slow paced and unbearable to the point I ended up having someone else let me know when Tophat attendance was taken in class. Contacting him by email or making a Piazza post is quite helpful since the TAs don't respond quickly at all. The exams were very difficult compared to the quizzes and what we worked on in lectures.

An amazing professor, and is very underrated in my opinion. Explained concepts really well.

Very amazing professor! Taught all the material very well! I think he Is underrated.

Florian is a super nice and enthusiastic lecturer who really cares about his students. He goes pretty slow in lectures and spends too long on each data structure and it's true that he often sounds nervous, but he's always there to help. The grading in this class is pretty fair, there was a practice exam for the midterm. The group projects tho......

I feel really bad rating him low, but he didn't bring the expected competence to the classroom. The lectures were scattered and he seemed constantly frantic, but his off-campus lecture was amazing. He has great positive energy & high potential, but must remedy his extremely anxious demeanor to achieve it. also you're SOL if your group goes missing

i am so dead for this semester bouncing man bounce but he bounce through lecture rip 1 week in already 2 lectures behind

He one said 'ummm' 13 times in the 1st minute. If you can get past his somewhat awkward speaking style the class is great. Professor has really good visuals and slides in the class. Online lectures were posted in a timely manner, and I especially liked how everything you needed to know for every homework and project was included in the lectures.

Professor has attendance quizzes for most lectures. When he teaches new topics via example, e.g. anything that he literally codes in front of us, he goes super super fast, to the point that even if I have my laptop out and am trying to follow along, I can't. And I'm a pretty fast typer :/. Exams are easy enough though.

Professor Heimerl's lectures are structured extremely poorly. It's very difficult to learn all of the information needed for this class from the lectures. The workload is significant and consumes a lot of time outside of class.

Some people just were not cut out for this

When a time sensitive appointment is created but the professor didn't show up...

Although he seems like he knows what hes talking about, Florians awkward pace in class makes it impossible to understand anything. Also, his handwriting is impossible to read.

My biggest issue with Florian is his lecturing ability. He speaks at an unbearably awkward pace and is super hard to follow in lectures, with completely illegible handwriting. Watching lectures from home at a higher speed can be helpful but is less than adequate compared to the quality I would expect from UW-Madison. Also the projects are a mess.

Florian was a terrible lecturer. He rambled on topics for a whole lecture that only needed 5 min to be explained, never responded to emails, and never had assignments graded on time.

Not available outside of class. I have to watch other professors' lectures just to stay on the course path. At the time of writing this, he is currently behind a full lecture. The group projects are stupid and I am stuck with goobers as partners. I try to reach out for help, but no response. Without a doubt, the worst professor I have ever had.

Florian's lectures do not cover the necessary material, to the point where there are exam questions which discuss topics that were never even introduced. Watching videos of the other lecturers lessons has become mandatory for me to learn the material. I will not be taking another class taught by him.

Not a great professor, I feel that he has not presented all of the material we are tested on although I like that he gives examples of code/data structures. The lectures are disorganized and I feel like we cover sections of three different topics every class. Also the group projects suck.

His lectures barely explain any of the corse material and he is almost completely unavailable outside of class, I sent him a couple emails over the semester and I got no responses.

Singlehandedly the worst lecturer I have ever had. Had to watch other professors recorded lectures to learn and stay on track with the course schedule.

His lectures were well presented and got straight to the point which was why this course was easy for me. But the downside of this course is that your group projects might take you a lot more time and make you frustrated depending on your group partners

Florian was good overall, the class was well organized. His lectures were clear and easy to follow, not amazing but did a good job explaining everything clearly. The group projects went well for me, there is a lot of busy work every week though. The tests weren't too difficult.

This was an okay class but the group projects ruined it. I really liked his lectures and they always gave me a really good understanding of the topics. The group projects however STAY AWAY. I don't know anyone who had a solid group in this class, and we were stuck with the same groups the whole semester.

He is a good lecturer, but fails at every other aspect of being a professor. The syllabus was not at all kept up to date, the grading scale was changed without any warning. He's a chill guy, but is mediocre at best as a professor; and I need a good professor not a chill professor. I'd stay cautious with him.