My teaching is built around one core idea: the knowledge and experience I have accumulated over more than 30 years exist for one purpose—to be passed on to you in ways that lead to concrete, measurable improvements in your life.
I recognize that many students at a community college are here for practical goal-oriented reasons—career change, upward mobility professionally or academically, financial stability, or a second chance. I respect that. My job is not simply to expose you to computer science concepts but to prepare you to function competently and confidently in professional technical environments. That requires extreme rigor, discipline, and accountability, and that is demonstrated in my approach and philosophy.
Computer science has a strong theoretical foundation, and theory matters. However, in this program, theory is not taught for its own sake. It is taught because it explains why systems behave the way they do, why certain designs fail, and why some solutions scale while others collapse. Every theoretical concept you encounter in my courses is there to support practical application. Practical application is the blade; theory is the sharpening stone.
A common complaint in college technical education is that school is not the “real world.” I take that as a challenge.
In my courses, especially those teaching practical skills such as programming, you will use the same tools and workflows used in industry: Linux-based environments, professional version control, and structured testing. You will be expected to submit work using these tools correctly. These are not extras. They are essential.
Code is treated as professional work. If it does not compile, does not meet specifications, or does not pass required tests, it is not acceptable. In the workplace, non-working or incomplete code is not “mostly correct”—it is simply wrong.
Communication, both wrtiten and verbal, and concepts and theory are treated the same way. If you cannot explain why a concept works, or how to apply it, you do not understand it. In the workplace, not understanding a concept is not “close enough”—it is simply wrong.
Grading in my courses reflects that hard reality.
With that said, our goal, together, is not to punish failure but to build competence. We learn by doing, failing, correcting, and improving.
A defining feature of my philosophy is strict enforcement of critical thinking, computational rigor, coding discipline, and both academic and industry best practices. You will be required to follow explicit rules regarding computer science theory as well as industry-standard engineering conventions. Some of these rules are widely accepted computer science and industry standards. Others are intentionally strict training constraints for the purpose of developing discipline.
These constraints exist for a reason. They force you to slow down, think, plan, and design before solving. They train you to build structure instead of relying on trial-and-error. Over time, they sharpen you into a disciplined, precise, and effective professional.
My courses are challenging. The standards are high. The workload is significant. I do not believe my role is to produce students who can eventually make systems work if given enough time and tolerance. My goal is to help you become a precise, disciplined professional who can deliver correct solutions under real constraints.
I hold high standards because I take you seriously. When you leave this program, you represent not only yourself but also the training you received. I take personal responsibility for that. I do not lower expectations to create the illusion of success. I prepare students to earn it.
If you succeed in my courses, you will know why. If you struggle, you will know exactly where and why—and you will be given a clear and disciplined opportunity to improve or to re-evaluate your goals.
I will give you the tools, structure, and standards of the professional world, sharpened with strong theoretical foundations.
What you do with them is up to you.
If you would also like to read about why I teach at ACC, you can do so on Medium.