CSE 3300
Rapid Prototype Development and Creative Programming
This course uses web development as a vehicle for developing skills in rapid prototyping. Students acquire the skills to build a Linux web server in Apache, to write a web site from scratch in PHP, to run an SQL database, to perform scripting in Python, to employ various web frameworks, and to develop modern web applications in client-side and server-side JavaScript. The course culminates with a creative project in which students are able to synthesize the course material into a project of their own interest. The course implements an interactive studio format: after a formal presentation of a topic, students develop a related project under the supervision of the instructor.
Instructors
Reviews
Just start all your assignments early and you should be chillin
12/17/2025
Class is entirely project-based so you'll learn a good amount. It is quite time consuming if you're not a seasoned developer already but grading is very fair (and you have a partner) Didn't love the way it was taught -- videos that have been recycled for years, zero lecture. Class needs to be updated on content and taught in person
12/5/2025
todd sproull is awesome and so funny. made going to class fun and he has a lot of knowledge to share, you just have to put in the effort in this class and put in the effort to talk to him and then hes super down to help you. everyone wants u to succeed in this class. grading is very chill and straightforward.
4/24/2025
class is a couple of projects every few weeks. they give u a lot of time for each one and tbh it takes maybe a day to learn the framework and then another day to build out the project w that framework. a lot of them build off each other too so its not an overload of information. this class made me like ui stuff and feel confident w development
4/24/2025
I think ppl expect this class to be easy with minimal work like the other cs classes here, but u dont learn anything this way. this class is a spot of light in a sea of darkness of poorly structured classes where u can get away with learning and doing nothing. I loved this tho and it rlly pushed me to like cs more
4/24/2025
great class, I've never learned as much as I did in this class. class is basically office hours so help is always there. just try your hardest and you will be rewarded
4/24/2025
Only class this semester where I enjoyed doing the homework (only projects). And all the project rubrics/expectations are online so you can see them rn. Such an awesome class, reasonable amount of work but not too difficult—you just have to put effort. You learn so much in this class! Attendance isn't mandatory but way more fun if you show up!
4/24/2025
I loved coming to this class every day. I am not a cs nerd so don't think that either. it's just fun to have projects u can call your own and its fun to collaborate with other people. u gain so much experience working w in teams, debugging, and solving ur own problems which is super important in the real world. Todd is the goat.
4/24/2025
It's a semi-self taught class, so you get what you put into it. If you want to learn a lot and make projects that you can be proud of, definitely take this class. Any problems TAs or Sproull usually can 100% fix easily because they know a lot about the frameworks. Just don't larp your time away in this class and it's cake.
4/24/2025
This was such a fun class—some projects def take a lot of time, but if you enjoy learning by doing and talking to people you will love this class. Sproull and TAs are always willing to help and the class is very collaborative. No exams, it's def manageable as long as you don't start work late!! Easily one of my favorite classes i've taken.
4/23/2025
His rating is not entirely his fault. The class is structured where you have 6 large projects, and class time is used for work. The class is essentially run by TAs, most of which are useless. If you set aside time for this class and complete all the work, you should get an A. However, it is a lot of work. Todd is helpful if you reach out to him
1/8/2025
Sproull does not teach this course, his outdated lectures from 10 years ago do. If you have a good team this course is easy to succeed in and adds helpful projects to your portfolio. That said, Sproull does minimal work for this class, only take it for your personal development.
12/20/2024
8-10 hrs/week
This class is quite hard, you need to start on assignments early or you will suffer. The professor might as well not exist, the TAs (in my experience) are not very useful. Also, I feel like the first couple modules are not as useful and are talking about things that are quite outdated, but YMMV.
11/12/2024
YOU MUST start on assignments early. Don't leave it up to second week for you to start on the assignment, as you wont be able to finish it. A lot of the stuff in this class seems outdated, and is probably not as useful for a cs student to learn. This class is an insane workload compared to other cs courses, only take if you need cs credits
11/8/2024
The biggest reason why people struggle in this class is they don't start early. I completed the majority of projects early on so I barely need to attend class/pay attention to the work for a semester. This would've been a great class 10 years ago when companies were still using these technologies since his videos haven't been updated since 2016.
7/1/2024
If you value your mental health, don't take this class. All the Wikipedia/assignments are available online with a google search, so if you want to learn the material, just self pace. The workload on top of 4 other classes is unreasonable.
5/30/2024
8-10 hrs/week
Make sure to stay ahead of your work. Not extremely difficult but very time consuming. Make sure you can work well and trust your partner. The TAs are all great
5/23/2024
8-10 hrs/week
i needed to put a TON of work in, but i enjoyed the content sm and learned an insane amount. super helpful but u need to start assignments early
5/21/2024
6-8 hrs/week
Lot of work but you learn a ton. Great option for CS elective. Get ahead and its a non-problem
5/21/2024