CSE 6040 Final Thoughts on the class
I posted several months ago early in the semester (Spring 2026) about how awful this class was…well it did suck. The first exam was nearly impossible got a 1/12 on it. The 2nd exam I got a 100 but that’s because I already knew SQL coming in (this exam saved me). The final I ended up with a 9/15 and therefore will end the class with a 79%. I am hopeful that they will curve but either way just wanted to give some context before I give my final thoughts.
Final thoughts:
This class is very difficult, if you do not have a coding background you will suffer (I only knew SQL and a little pandas). Also if you do not have a disciplined mindset to study and practice you will fail. This isn’t a class you can just hope to use the google AI for or try and cheat because they have revamped the questions and exams in such a manner that you really cannot cheat or use google AI. Like if you compare the first years exams to the most recent you will see its drastically changed. The final was a crazy eye opener seeing so many debugging questions (which honestly in a world with AI this is how the exams should be). My assumption is that going forward they probably will make exams purely debugging (be warned debugging wasn’t easy in any sense in my opinion those questions were harder than actual coding questions).
Overall do not take this class lightly. If I wasn’t already 8 courses deep before this class I would have probably quit the masters program all together because of this class. Needless to say I am now done with my 9th class I have 8 As and well whatever grade gets posted for this class (pray they curve it to a B)