COMP9021 Principles of Programming (UNSW Sydney): rated 3.0/5 overall, difficulty 2.5/5 (higher is harder), would-recommend 2.5/5 across 35 reviews collected on UNSW Wall.
COMP9021 is a UNSW Sydney course taught by the Faculty of Engineering in School of Computer Science and Engineering. This page brings together its handbook details and what UNSW students say about it.
Review data updated 2026-10-24.
Chinese title: 编程原理
Type: Postgraduate course
Credit points: 6
Subject area: School of Computer Science and Engineering
Faculty: Faculty of Engineering
Level: Postgraduate Level 9
Handbook year: 2026
This course provides students with solid conceptual knowledge and practical skills of both generic programming techniques and Python programming, to be used effectively in the many specialised courses that expect students to have acquired strong enough programming skills and well mastered the Python language. The features of the language are covered to a significant depth, and there is a strong emphasis on problem solving, from a broad base of application domains, with qui…
COMP9021 has 35 scored reviews: overall 3.0/5 · usefulness 2.4 · difficulty 2.5 · would-recommend 2.5 (all out of 5; higher difficulty means harder).
Sources: 2 reviews by UNSW students on UNSW Wall (2.5/5 overall); 3 StudentVIP reviews (average 4.0 stars); 30 Reddit comments that an AI model judged to be reviewing this course (average would-recommend 2.9/5).
On Reddit: "I'll caveat my opinion by saying that I didn't complete COM9021 and dropped it prior to census date (so maybe it gets easier later in the course). I was also working full-time and only doing the 1 subject per term (with COMP9021 being my first). I really liked the content and I …"
On Reddit: "No one can replace god Eric Martin. However all the exercise are made by Eric. So difficulty remains same. Prepare well. Similarly Michael Thielscher for Data structures. Good luck."
The course panel on UNSW Wall shows every review and discussion in full.
Q: Is COMP9021 hard?
A: Students rate COMP9021's difficulty 2.5/5 on average (higher is harder), which makes it moderately difficult.
Q: Is COMP9021 worth taking?
A: Averaged over 35 reviews: would-recommend 2.5/5, usefulness 2.4/5, overall 3.0/5.
Q: Which faculty teaches COMP9021, and when is it offered?
A: COMP9021 is taught by the Faculty of Engineering. Check the official handbook for the current year.
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