Dave Parillo

CISC186 · CISC181 · CISC187 · CS187 · 23 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 89/100
RMP rating: 4.8/5
Take again: 93.75%
Difficulty: 3.2

The decision

if you want to actually become a strong programmer and can commit serious weekly hours.

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerIndustry Coding MentorLots of LabsTough but FairInspirationalC++ Deep Dive

Students overwhelmingly call him one of the ++ and professional practice
Expect , and serious weekly time commitment
many say they became better programmers and

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

38/100

Projects and labs are repeatedly called tough; high grades come from heavy .

Both online and ; online has one especially negative survival story.

Is the course easy?

Challenging

28/100

Students , and high weekly time demands.

Difficulty emphasis is consistent across formats, with CISC187 especially hard.

Is attendance flexible?

MustTake

93/100

Nearly universal take-again support for students who want real CS skill growth.

In-person recommendations are extremely strong; online is positive overall with .

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Fair

58/100

Students call him picky about code quality but fair, with and .

Format shift

; in-person more often says fair with high standards.

Workload

Heavy

24/100

Daily labs, multi-hour projects, and .

Format shift

Both formats report lots of coding; .

Teaching experience

Excellent

93/100

Industry experience, clear examples, humor, and .

Format shift

In-person praise is near-unanimous; online is mostly excellent with one severe complaint.

Assessment method

FocusOnAssignments

32/100

Grades center on frequent labs and .

Format shift

and project focus dominates; .

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

20 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

In-person students consistently praise , and career-changing C++ teaching.

Main concern

and fast lab pace can overwhelm students who fall behind early.

What students said

“ as early as possible!”
CISC187

“I would not be the programmer I am now ... without his teachings.”
CISC181

“If 100%.”
CISC187

Remote format

Online

3 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

and GitHub workflows, with one harsh review calling him unclear and disrespectful.

Main concern

A minority online student found him unsupportive and extremely demanding.

What students said

“With his industry experience (that other profs lack), Dave can teach you professional coding practice.”
CISC187

“I ! ... He is disrespectful, and acts like you are his employee and not his student.”
CS187

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Quizzes and tests can be hard, but the core risk is demanding coding projects rather than proctored online lockdown exams.

Hard Quizzes and TestsProject HeavyGitHub SubmissionLab Intensive

Assessment risk

Standard

48/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

In-person reviews mention difficult quizzes and details.

Difficult Quizzes and TestsDaily LabsHard Projects

“Quizzes and , but .”
CISC187

“Each class has a lab, and .”
CISC187

Online

Online comments focus on hard C++ projects and GitHub submission more than camera or lockdown proctoring.

GitHub Repo SubmissionHard C++ ProjectsTough Grader

“You submit work to GitHub repo he creates, so you can refer back to the code after this class ends.”
CISC187

“the course is hard and C++ will beat you down”
CISC187

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“If 100%. It's not even a choice.”
Voice snapshots generated from 23 reviews, , and strong recommendations. Credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Quality

93/100

“Probably the .”

💻 Career Impact

95/100

“I would not be the programmer I am now (fulltime Blender developer under the devfund) without his teachings.”

📚 Heavy Workload

24/100

“ commit 10-15 hrs a week.”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

He really knows his stuff
funny/crazy and extremely knowledgeable about C++

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

Very tough class
Start the
Lots of homework

Theme 3

❤️ About Character

Caring
Inspirational
Da real homie

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

Lifetime ratings

90/100

Evidence confidence

23 reviews over many years show highly consistent praise for teaching quality and workload intensity, with only rare dissent.

Inside 23 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 521

4 out of 51

3 out of 50

2 out of 50

1 out of 51

Course coverage

CISC18110 reviews

CISC18710 reviews

CS1872 reviews

CISC1861 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

16 reported outcomes

A range

A+ 2 · A 7

B range

B+ 1 · B 3

C range

No reported values

D range

No reported values

F

No reported values

No letter grade reported

Not sure yet 2 · Rather not say 1

Dave Parillo

x x if you want to actually become a strong programmer and can commit serious weekly hours.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

HardWork

Challenging

Recommended

MustTake

See how this professor fits your week.

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

In person

Online

See what students actually said.

🎯 Teaching Quality

💻 Career Impact

📚 Heavy Workload

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

❤️ About Character

See exactly what the AI read.

Quality ratings

Course coverage

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

A range

B range

C range

D range

F

No letter grade reported

if you want to actually become a strong programmer and can commit serious weekly hours.