Eliyahu Barzilay is a Computer Science professor at Northeastern University rated 3.33/5 by 314 students, with 3.88/5 difficulty and 50.0% who would take them again (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
Eliyahu Barzilay professor reviews and ratings: 3.33/5 from 314 student reviews at Northeastern (50.0% would take again). TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
If you can't take his jokes, you'll probably hate him, but I find him hilarious. People complain about his rambling (true), but without it, I'm not sure if I would've been able to sit through 3hrs of lecture. He's very knowledgable and asks tricky questions that you can learn a lot from. He listens, cares, and it shows—you just need to talk to him.CS4400 2025-06-20 10:55:25 +0000 UTC
Eli is a great instructor and a great person. He's a little different than the other professors, but the best thing is he knows a lot about his stuff, a lot more than the average professor here. Lectures and assignments are well organized. Even if you don't take this course, his lecture notes will still be helpful if you want to learn PL.CS5400 2023-12-20 13:02:49 +0000 UTC
Insane professor, literally. Unconventional and sometimes in-your-face in his teaching methods, but hilarious and entertaining. HWs are done in Racket variants, often homebrew made by Eli himself. He's always available on IRC or the mailing list to answer questions. Great person to have a conversation with about anything related to programming.PL4400 2011-04-18 19:25:16 +0000 UTC
Well it's pretty dumb that we're using Scheme. On top of that, we write interpreters for "Scheme-like languages" in... you guessed it, Scheme. Basically, you will learn this: parse a string of text to break it into other stuff, then evaluate those other things (recursively if necessary). The end.CSU660 2008-11-02 20:55:06 +0000 UTC
Decent professor. Hard course material and homeworks are graded harshly (if parentheses aren't lined up correctly or if you have extra ones, be prepared to lose 5%), but he definently helps in understanding it. Randomly calls on students in class (he has a program for this). Midterms and finals are long (4 hours). Grades are scaled.CS660 2006-12-10 10:14:07 +0000 UTC
Genuinely the worst professor I have ever been taught by. He wastes the entire lecture rambling incoherently about random parts of the notes which are terrible to begin with, and grades based on arbitrary criteria like whether or not you think the definition of a word is exactly like how he wants to think about it. Would absolutely not recommendCS4400 2025-01-26 23:53:40 +0000 UTC
CS 5400 will be tough since many grad students do not know Racket. On top of it, grad students need to complete additional homework assignments. Each HW takes > 5 hours. There are no exams only pop quizzes in each class, so you can't skip any class. With all of this being said, I enjoyed this class very much, Eli is a real gem.CS5400 2020-04-15 07:55:25 +0000 UTC
I'm not entirely sure if it was his fault or the way the class is set up, but I learned absolutely nothing. Grades are not based on class material but rather scheme knowledge (especially homeworks). Your entire grade will be completely random and reflect nothing at all. Just buy a horseshoe and don't feel dumb when you get a 60 on the midterm.CSU660 2008-01-08 21:34:28 +0000 UTC
Eli really knows his stuff, so if you're into PLT, he's a great guy to talk to. However, his teaching methods need work. He wastes a TON of class time talking about unrelated things. He's also pretty condescending to students, saying things like "this should be obvious" or "seriously? you didn't know that?"CS4400 2024-04-17 18:20:23 +0000 UTC
Really knows how to make theoretical computer science sound interesting and can squash any silly ideas you might have about how programming really works.CSU660 2007-02-14 21:49:05 +0000 UTC
Hilarious professor. He will ramble during class, but he does it in a very entertaining way which keeps students engaged. Very laid back and approachable during and outside class. In-class quizzes can be difficult, but you can get a decent score if you pay attention.CS4400 2023-04-17 15:50:03 +0000 UTC
Rants for half the class and berates students for not knowing material that is never taught in the class nor in any other class at Northeastern.CS4400 2023-02-22 00:34:52 +0000 UTC
Ridiculous. I don't know who let him teach. He ridicules his students when they ask questions and has the most cockamamie grading style. 50% homework, 50% pop quizzes, and some unspecified percentage of 'karma points.' Grade boundaries aren't determined until they are finalized. He shows up late and wastes so much class time. Absolutely terrible.CS4400 2020-04-08 18:31:30 +0000 UTC
Pros: He knows his stuff, he's accessible outside of class nearly 24/7 (via Piazza or email), he keeps class entertaining Cons: He's not entirely approachable (will feel like he's talking down to you), he doesn't really listen to others' arguments and just asserts that he is correct on all matters, he says some problematic thingsCS4400 2020-03-10 13:56:36 +0000 UTC
Funny guyCS4400 2018-02-08 23:46:06 +0000 UTC
Eliyahu Barzilay has an average rating of 3.33/5 from 314 student reviews. 50.0% of students said they would take them again.
Eliyahu Barzilay's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.88/5 based on student reviews.
Eliyahu Barzilay has taught CS4400, CS5400 at Northeastern.
Data updated July 2026.