EECS 370

FA15, Prof. Dreslinski, Prof. Mudge, Prof. Wenisch

I liked learning about caches and pipelining in this course. A really good thing about EECS 370 - the material really makes sense in the real world. This is stuff that people really care about and you will use it later on in life. I did not enjoy the projects or exams. The homework was fine. Since everyone gets 100% on every project, the exams are really what determine your grade. What makes it worse is these exams are also very difficult. Start the projects as early as possible, especially if you're taking EECS 281 at the same time. Don't put off studying for the exam. I would recommend starting at least a week early. These exams are what's going to separate everyone out since all students get high grades on the projects and homework.

FA15, Prof. Dreslinski, Prof. Mudge, Prof. Wenisch

I thought this class was very interesting. I enjoyed learning at a very surface level about computer architecture and what's going on underneath the hood. I feel as though, compared to previous semesters, this course is improving (the exams are more reasonable, course staff is great, etc.). The projects are pretty straightforward, homework is not bad; the exams can be a bit tricky because of the time limit and meticulous hex-binary-decimal conversions. Finish the projects early, make sure you're completely comfortable with the material well in advance (before the exams).

WN15, prof. unspecified

It was interesting to learn about how the "magic" happens in a computer inside the hardware. I enjoyed building an assembler and learning about how that works. The GSIs were extremely helpful during discussion and really added to the lectures. The course was difficult for people who had not taken 270, as at the beginning the basics were just kind of touched upon. I really had to teach myself a lot about things like binary and logic gates in order to keep up. Lectures were sometimes confusing, and the first exam was very challenging. I recommend going over lectures after the professors have taught them and working through the class problems. I also recommend going to office hours at the beginning to make sure you understand the basics. The textbook is pretty useless so don't worry about that.

(Abby George)

WN15, prof. unspecified

This class deals with computer organization, and is not a programming course, so it's a nice break in that regard. The projects are not incredibly difficult, and your final project grade is the grade from the autograder, which is nice. This class is really helpful in contributing to your overall understanding of how computers work. The exams are difficult for this class. Also, there are some topics which aren't explained very clearly, and students have to ask for clarification. The class is usually taught by more than 1 professor, some better than others. Take this class with EECS 281 if you are capable of managing your time. The project due dates and exams are at most only a few days apart, but if you can handle that, the classes work well together.

The time commitment of this class isn't too heavy. It's less than a programming course, though you do have to program for the projects.

WN15, prof. unspecified

I really like how straightforward everything is. The projects outline everything you need, and focus on the concepts taught in lecture. Your grade is mostly determined by your exam grades, which is unfortunate for people who aren't great exam takers. Submit your projects often. The score you get on the autograder is the score you get on your project.