Historical instructor

PAUL BARFORD

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.07/5 from 28 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.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

COMPSCI 640
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Nice person, but lectures are a bit old fashioned(talk a lot about historical stuff and physical layer) and not recorded. Must read textbook in great detail and take notes carefully. This isn't a surprise if you look at his research focus, so decide yourself if you want a more modern style & content (take with Ming Liu) or Barford.
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COMPSCI 640
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Fairly big class, but Prof. Barford makes it feel like a discussion and the focus is on understanding the material. Really interesting, and Barford is so willing to go into in depth explanations during lecture. Extremely nontechnical course, tests are easy if you just listen/engage in lecture (do not skip class), plus 3 month-long Python projects.
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COMPSCI 640
Quality 5/5Difficulty 1/5
Amazing professor! Teaching a class as difficult as this and making it easy to understand is his specialty. There are a lot of big projects you work on and they are pretty difficult but he delivers lectures like Steve Jobs and his very passionate about his job. Would 100% recommend.
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COMPSCI 640
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
He's a great lecturer but in every other aspect the class was kinda meh. The projects are fine. The quizzes are not super hard. This class is great for undergrad students who want to learn stuff from scratch but probably not as helpful for grad students who know a lot of this stuff and are really trying to get into the details.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with PAUL BARFORD

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2026COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2025COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2025COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2025COMPSCI 740Advanced Computer Networks
Spring 2025COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2025COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2024COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Fall 2024COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2024COMPSCI 638Undergraduate Topics in Computing
Spring 2024COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2024COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2023COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Fall 2023COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2023COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2023COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2023COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Spring 2023COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2023COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2023COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2022COMPSCI 740Advanced Computer Networks
Fall 2022COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2022COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2022COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2022COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2022COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2021COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2021COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2020COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2020COMPSCI 740Advanced Computer Networks
Fall 2020COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2020COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2020COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Spring 2020COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2019COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Fall 2019COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2019COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2019COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Spring 2019COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2019COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2018COMPSCI 740Advanced Computer Networks
Fall 2018COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2018COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2018COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2018COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2017COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Fall 2017COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2017COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2017COMPSCI 740Advanced Computer Networks
Spring 2017COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2017COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2017COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2016COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Fall 2016COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2016COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2016COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2016COMPSCI 740Advanced Computer Networks
Spring 2016COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2016COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2016COMPSCI 999Dissertator Research
Fall 2015COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Fall 2015COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2015COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2015COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2015COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2015COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2014COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2014COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2014COMPSCI 638Undergraduate Topics in Computing
Spring 2014COMPSCI 740Advanced Computer Networks
Spring 2014COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2014COMPSCI 999Dissertator Research
Fall 2013COMPSCI 638Undergraduate Topics in Computing
Fall 2013COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Fall 2013COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2013COMPSCI 999Dissertator Research
Spring 2013COMPSCI 638Undergraduate Topics in Computing
Spring 2013COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2013COMPSCI 790Master's Thesis
Spring 2013COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2013COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2012COMPSCI 638Undergraduate Topics in Computing
Fall 2012COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Fall 2012COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2012COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2012COMPSCI 999Dissertator Research
Spring 2012COMPSCI 699Directed Study
Spring 2012COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Spring 2012COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Spring 2012COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2012COMPSCI 999Dissertator Research
Fall 2011COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks
Fall 2011COMPSCI 799Master's Research
Fall 2011COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2011COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2011COMPSCI 999Dissertator Research
Spring 2011COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Fall 2010COMPSCI 899Pre-dissertator Research
Fall 2010COMPSCI 990Dissertation
Spring 2010COMPSCI 640Introduction to Computer Networks

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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