Orr

10+ hrs/week

361 is a notoriously difficult class and is personally for me the hardest one I've ever taken at WashU so far in four semesters (normalized for 3 credits). Very content-heavy and having everything squeezed into 15 weeks is already challenging in and of itself; a decent amount of material is really boring and hard to describe, but there are some very interesting topics e.g. security vulnerabilities in C & C++. Orr does a great job teaching it though and he's always willing to help & is decent at explaining things and answering questions. The labs are nothing short of straight up demoralizing, but most of them make you learn so much and you feel so rewarding after doing them. In terms of of difficulty and time consumption, Labs 2 and 3 are somewhat reasonable, Lab 1 completely makes no sense, and Lab 5 is the literal definition of the final boss that takes away all your mental sanity. As for exams, our midterm had a raw median of 47.66%...

5/9/2025

this class is not bad at all. labs r so interesting and rewarding plus there's only 5. u learn so much. I think other washu cs classes r for coasting. ppl don't go to lecture which is not orrs fault. autograder on labs always tells u what ur gonna get. OH r so helpful if u get the right ta. tests r so straightforward if u understand the class

8/6/2024

Orr's a nice guy and very willing to help, but be ready to spend countless hours self-studying this course. The lectures were not very helpful, and the labs were super time consuming and this class was pretty poorly organized. It felt like you were learning nothing in lecture and then expected to know everything when it came to exams/labs

6/5/2024

6-8 hrs/week

Useful class with real-world applications but poorly structured and organized. TAs do pretty much everything but Hall and Orr are very happy to help when they're around. Assignments can be very challenging and time consuming so try to get a good partner. Exams aren't too bad.

5/21/2024

6-8 hrs/week

There is no lecture in this class so you will end up spending a lot of time in office hours for the assignments. They are long and tedious, but not difficult, especially if you have a partner. Be prepared to teach yourself all the material, and spend a while in office hours on assignments

5/21/2024

CSE 361 is a difficult class, but Orr does a decent job of delivering the content. Grades are harsh, as there are few opportunities for partial credit on assignments. Exams are difficult, but not unreasonable if you study. Orr was kind and often moved back deadlines. Cares about students, it's just a difficult course that should've been broken up.

5/21/2024

6-8 hrs/week

One of my favorite classes it ever; it tried to kill me, but super interesting.nn361 is great for CS majors interested in lower-level programming (C, x86 assembly) and how hardware influences software. It is challenging (time, mostly), especially compared to 200-level CS courses, but it's currently not required for the CS major.nnThere were two professor-led, slides-based lectures and a TA-led recitation weekly. Attendance isn't required for any of them, but there was a weekly Canvas quiz about the week's content.nnThe 5 labs are the meat of the class. Lab 1: implement functions using low level types (ints, floats) and operations (bitwise, boolean). Lab 2: disassemble code to find the magic values to defuse a bomb; the bomb exploding took off points from grade. Lab 3: disassembly code to find and exploit vulnerabilities. Lab 4: simulate cache functionality; optimize matrix transposition. Lab 5: efficiently implement dynamic memory allocation. Labs 1-3 are doable, 4 sneaks up on you and hurts, and 5 makes you question whether you really want your degree.nnThere's one midterm and a final. Most did bad on the midterm. It covers a lot of content. There was a 6 point curve my semester. Most did better on the final since half of it had been seen before on the midterm, and new topics mimicked previous problems.nnOrr is a good professor who's enthusiastic and versed with the course. He struggles a bit in the lecture setting, occasionally stumbling. He shines, though, in his office hours and 1-on-1s after lecture. Very approachable.nnThere were ~5 TAs. What they lack in quantity they make up for in quality. Great understanding of course content; they could all probably lead a lecture. Also, amazing debuggers. Though they're not expected to fix code, their knowledge from doing the labs themselves is invaluable. Going to TA office hours is the best way to get help on labs and get stuff done. For labs 4 & 5, the help list gets long because a lot of people need help, but the TAs do their best to get to everyone.nnGrade breakdown: weekly Quizzes 5%, Labs: 56% (Breakdown: 10/11/11/12/12), Midterm: 15%, Final: 24%.

5/19/2024

4-6 hrs/week

If you have a good partner it's really not that bad. If you don't, or aren't a very strong programmer, it can become a headache pretty quickly. Don't put off assignments (especially assignment 7) and go to office hours earlier in the week since they get pretty full on Wednesdays and Thursdays

5/18/2024

10+ hrs/week

Very time intensive course- material is really interesting and good knowledge if you are interested in how lower level systems function and it will definitely make you a better programmer. Would recommend taking it during a lighter semester due to how time intensive the labs can be. Also, Orr's lectures are boring, but can be supplemented with lectures from other universities since many universities have copied it from CMU (virtually the same course)

5/18/2024

This class was very tough, but Orr's clear lectures make it manageable. Professor Orr set up lots of office hour opportunities and provided clear guidance for the assignments.

4/23/2024

Bro is the actual GOAT. Like I would show up to class every day, huge smile on my face, ready to see him. If you think a professor can't make your day, think again pal! James Orr saved my life. Without him, there would be no meaning, no purpose, and no happiness in my life. He lifted the veil from my eyes and showed me the way of the compiler

4/23/2024

Orr is a really nice guy (based on a few interactions), he was always willing to give help when needed and was nice with his explanations. Besides that 132 was a pretty terribly organized class (in my opinion). Sure I got an A, but I didn't really feel like I learned a lot from it. I wish they did live lectures instead but I cant complain too much.

3/1/2024

Have never taken a class that is more poorly organized than CSE 132. Everyone got an A in the end but basically learned nothing.

2/27/2024

Professor Orr does a decent job running the class along with TAs but it's hard to properly rate him when the class itself is lecture-less. Assignments are time-consuming, so it would be best to find a partner and work together. Almost everything is self-taught through videos and studios. Be ready to invest time in office hours for assignments.

12/13/2023

If there was an 'N/A' rating for professor quality, then that would apply here. He never professed; the whole class is self-taught, which, for someone with little to not background in computer science, is absolutely horrible. Not a good class at all. The content has potential but is ailed by a horribly organized class and harrowing assignments.

12/7/2023

Assignments are time consuming, but exams are manageable especially due to their low weight in the final grade. Lots of extra credit opportunities and the prof is responsive to questions/regrades. Best thing you can do is find a friend in the class or a friend who has already taken it

5/15/2023

He is not the best at explaining things, but his recitation videos are helpful. Start the assignments early and that will help you a lot.

5/5/2023

I only interacted with Orr once or twice during 132. When I watched his recitations, he was actually really great at explaining concepts in a clear way. The issue is he designs his class to have as little interaction with students possible. 132 is self-taught or taught by TAs. The grading is easy though - go to office hours and you will get an A.

4/27/2023

Professor Orr is absolutely over-hated. His teaching style is not particularly exciting but he presents the material in a coherent way and he fully answers questions during lecture or in office hours.nnThe main problems with 361, cheating and low lecture attendance, are not Orr's fault and cause many students to perform poorly.

12/20/2022

There is no doubt that this class is difficult, but Orr's lectures are clear and informative. The tests are similar to practice exams and the weekly participation quizzes. Orr also curved the midterm exam (which professors in the past have not done). The labs can be difficult ant time consuming, but they come with an automatic 2 day extension.

12/17/2022

Barely teaches. You could learn more by just going online and learning about GDB and C. All the stuff is CMU 213 anyway. Lectures are lifeless. Monotone. TAs basically don't care about the course. You can get good grades on the first three assignments, but you WILL bomb the test and you WILL bomb the next two labs. Don't take if you care about GPA.

11/16/2022

I think Orr gets a lot of flack for teaching classes that are broken to begin with. 361 is hard, but Orr teaches it fine. He gave us more extra credit + curved exams than past profs. He does want students to succeed, and is always willing to explain anything ppl are confused by on piazza or after class. Overall, nice guy and fine lecturer.

7/21/2022

Orr has very little interaction with the class. All the videos (which are okay) are from a different professor. Orr's young and so he's easy to talk and communicate with if you reach out to him. If you want help I'm sure he'll provide it. He replies decently to piazza post. Allowed a cheat sheet on exams. Watch prep vids, read tb, and you'll be goo

5/6/2022

I am not sure if it was the structure of the class or Orr himself, but 132 at washu is terrible. Very little real world application, all the material is on the online text, and the test are difficult since most of the test is material you never cover. Do not take this class if you do not have to. I think I saw Orr maybe twice the whole year

5/4/2022

Better self-learn than going to lectrures. He's like a PowerPoint Reader.

1/5/2022