Butler, Dennis  

Everyone who has taken him knows: Huge ego, self-centered, not much help on an individual basis. There is only one right way to write a program: his way. He likes inefficient, pain in the ass, bulky programming because its "easier to understand". Assignments take forever and are graded anally. People who hadn't taken programming before in my class were totally lost. You don't have to go to the lab though, and you do get to use notes on the tests. Still, I'd deffinately take someone else.

Well, most of us have heard of Butler as some evil robotic teacher. That pretty much sums him up, but you just have to get used to the way he teaches as fast as possible. It helps to have read the first chapter before the class starts, and reading the book after that is pretty much not necessary if you take good lecture notes, and look at the examples. Oh yeah, and definitions are a good thing to look at too. The rest is just, you know, there. Don't get me wrong, you still need the book. Just making sure.

I found Prof. Butler to be very motivating for me as a student. He forced me to take ownership in my education and learn on my own. In class, we would work both indepentantly and in groups which gave me an idea each day how much I understood the material. He would also adjust his teaching based on how well the class was learning. But let me warn you, don't plan on sitting in class each day observing the teaching lecture and get "spoon fed". You have to work in this class or you will get left in the dust. You will also find that he covers more material than other CSC 101 classes. Butler is very much up to date on programming as he currently does consulting work and only recenlty started teaching. So in conclusion, if you are looking for a challenge and have the time--take Butler. I am taking him again right now for CSC 102 if that says anything...

What a great prof. Helpful during office hours...always available...clear assignments. Straightforward exams.

Dennis Butler is the singlemost worst professor I have ever had and ever will have. While he does an o.k. job getting you to learn the material, your grades will not necessarily reflect that. He totally plays favorites. For example, I tutored someone who was pretty much clueless in one of his classes (I'd rather not say which one) and ended up doing all the guy's projects for him. Well, I never received anything higher than a 'B' on a project, and the guy I tutored got an 'A' on every one. And believe me, they were good projects, conforming to his every anal standard. I always made mine "that much better" too, but the grades showed otherwise. The problem was, he liked the guy I tutored and he seemed to hate me. Professors like Butler should not be allowed to teach until they can learn to grade unbiasedly. Just don't offend the guy, make a good first impression, but avoid him at all costs!

Dennis Butler is, without any doubt, the worst professor I have ever had in higher learning. He demands that you read his mind when it comes to programming standards, and his lectures do not present the material in an understandable (or even accurate) manner. His sample code was buggy in ways that make Microsoft look great his C++ code usually appeared in Ada syntax and contained errors by the truckload. He's worthless in office hours. You could spend an entire day going over your code and formulating your questions, and he usually just gives some BS answer to something you didn't even ask, followed by a remark he thinks is clever. Maybe his ego wouldn't be so disgusting if he was actually a competent professor, but when someone knows less about the language than you, any snide-ness is purely motivation to punch him in the face. Do not, under any circumstances, take this beady-eyed little prick. Save your sanity for a good professor.

I had to re-take 101 after failing due to the fact that Dalbey was the worst teacher in memory. I was fearing that I'd chose the wrong major cuz CSC 101 (in 1998 - C/C++ Top Down Design) made ZERO SENSE TO ME. The learning curve for HP-UX was steep too. Pretty much nothing made sense. Dr. Butler explained everything in a way that it all made sense. I aced the class i'd just failed, 102 (w/ him) was awesome, informative...my fav. class freshman yr. I was fully prepared for 103 w/ Dr. Len Myers, Len was not as good of a teach but Butler taught me so much in 8 units that I didnt NEED CSC profs to help me (most don't anyway). We were rockin' C++/STL using templates for everything and tons of algorithm analysis...IT BECAME EASY. Also he bitched about whatever was on his mind - especially Cal Poly - and no one begrudged him that, he acknowledged that we were overworked so he cancelled lectures often and even walked out a few times, saying "we could go get f-ed up now..." Once he even showed us his paycheck on an overhead projector w/ his SSN blacked out. They were paying him (CalTech grad, IBM, JPL/NASA Veteran) less than minimum wage. He was an associate professor so they don't even acknowledge officially on the csc pages that he ever taught there - I figure he quit or hopefully got a better job. to whomever said he was "creepy" and "touches you a lot" that sounds like bullsh-- or ur over-reacting OR you were a FEMALE CSC MAJOR, he was cool as f---, you probably came on to him. A Genius - one of the few good things about CP CSC (besides how talented & educated we all are) lulz & mudkipz - Tapper

Self-centered, huge ego, it helps if he likes you - so kiss butt. Tests are easy though, and the whole class is pretty laid back, so if you don't mind having to do things his way, it's not too bad.

Butler is a very weird prof! He makes you feel uncomfortable by rubbing your shoulders in weird ways. He acts like he will help you out, but when you go to his office hour he only confuses you further. He cares more about himself rather than his students. I would definitely not recommend this prof.

Dennis Butler is the second worst teacher i have ever had/heardof/seen. He is only eclipsed by the king of all jackass teachers, Kent Smith. Butler's ego is HUGE. His work ethic is none. I turned in a 67 page programming document which he graded in 1 minute writting C on the top (no lie). He lost one of my projects and just madeup a grade for the program (B). When you first enter his class, he tells you (and writes on the board) that "I am NOT a teacher. I am a learning assistant." He assisted in jack s**t. Only reason i got an A in the class is because his tests resemble those of csc101-102 tests, same material. He frequently canceled classes remarking "i dont feel like teaching anymore" .. and also was never found in lab. On the bright side, Mr. Butler is very good at explaining why "The Man" is bad, and how 99% of the US are sheep. He also is great about bitching on other subjects reguarding the US government, and i feel that he would be an AWESOME pols teacher. As for csc, avoid him, you will thank me and might learn something from someone else.

I do not want this to be a personal attack, but Dr. Butler makes it hard to remain objective. When I had his class, he was trying what he called "self-directed learning." His idea was that students are at very different levels and have different interests and should decide for themselves what they want to learn about. It sounds like an okay idea, but in our class it failed completely. He did not lecture or assign any reading. We had to come up with a new learning proposal every 2 or 3 class meetings. He had to approve the learning proposal, and if he did not like it, you had to come up with a new one, formally presented, before the end of class. This was very difficult because we had to make up a proposal before we knew anything about it. If you were unable to come up with something he liked before the end of the class, you received an F. He also had annoying journal checks. You had to keep a journal which described all the different steps you took during the projects. They had to be very specific too. I missed one of these checks because I was in the hospital because they were trying to save my kidney. He gave me an F on the check even though I had documentation to prove it. He was very condescending and rude to anyone who asked questions. He talked to you like a child and like he could not believe you did not already know something. He would also leave the classroom for long periods of time and not tell anyone where he was going. The time that he was actually in class he was checking his email and working on his own projects. He did not like to be disturbed. I guess that his grading policy was okay, although it seemed somewhat arbitrary. If he thought that you had not completely proven without a doubt that you acheived your goals, he would mark you down. You had to be very explicit. You should also avoid any grad students teaching his other sections. The teacher is listed as "staff" in the schedule, but they closely follow his example. I guess that he directs/advises them. He is the most inflexible teacher that I have ever met. I would avoid him at all costs.

BOYCOTT!!!

Professor Butler assumes that his students have superb knowledge in the subject he teaches. I knew nothing about C++ when i took his class. I thought i would learn something, but after one whole quarter, i felt i learn nothing. His attitude of teaching is totally ridiculous. He calls himself a coach not an instructor. He doesn't teach, rather you are suppose to teach yourself. You'll feel lucky if you can learn something from him if he's in a good mood. He has super high ego. He should reflect on his teaching. Because of him, i'm struggling at my csc102 class. Professor Butler should go back to college and get his teaching credential again. I think he fails that misearably. If i were to think about one positive thing about this instructor, i guess i can say that he allows you to use your note and book on the test. But then again, you won't anything if you have to look at the book and take the test.