for Oregon State University's Computer Science Post-Bacc Program
Lower Division
Core Class
CS 271
Computer Architecture & Assembly Language
Filter:
201
Reviews
13
Hours per Week
3.4
/ 5.0 Difficulty
CS 162:
66 times
CS 261:
44 times
CS 290:
18 times
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Everyone says it, but the last two projects do ramp up quite a bit in difficulty. Also, do the extra credit!
Submitted Sun Oct 01 2023
The course starts deceptively easy but gets more challenging as weeks progress. You start off with training wells and take them off by project 6. Project 1-5 are manageable in 1-2 sittings, but project 6 I would set aside more time about 3-4 days.
Submitted Mon Aug 21 2023
It really is all about the last two projects. DEFINITELY take this course over summer. There's no midterm/final, and it completely changes the level of chill in the class. You still got to get through those two projects, but you're not facing a final after that. Go to office hours, plan ahead, and prepare to hack away the last couple of weeks of the quarter.
Submitted Sun Aug 20 2023
So far the only course where I've actually learned something in this program. Useless for webdev but eye-opening for anyone with C/C++ experience to finally straighten out how everything really works under the hood. Course structure is ok, can't jump-start on future lessons/projects which can be annoying but otherwise the pacing is fine. First week is an info dump but it gets better afterwards. VERY important to not skip any topics since the material is cumulative and later concepts require a bulletproof understanding of the basics.
Submitted Thu Jun 22 2023
For me, the most difficult part of this class was the lack of exposure to actual code for the first 2 weeks or so. The first module goes over the fundamentals of assembly (i.e. hex, binary, what's a register, the structure of a computer, etc) and it's incredibly easy to get lost in these abstract concepts. Writing, running, and debugging code was what finally made it all click for me. After I had exposure to some code, I finally started to understand all the fundamentals. The last two assignments are HARD - start as early as you can. Also, I personally do not recommend attempted the extra credit. I made one attempt on the 1st homework assignment and could not figure it out (spent like 3 hours before giving up). By week 10, I realized that the extra credit I had attempted required knowledge from week 8... Personally, I don't think the extra 2 to 3 points are worth the added effort but to each their own.
Submitted Wed Apr 05 2023
Most of the class was fine but the last 2 projects are significantly more challenging than other projects.
Submitted Wed Mar 29 2023
Take it by itself if you can! It's a helpful class for learning basics about debugging and critical thinking in programming. The last few projects are difficult. Starting early makes them manageable.
Submitted Mon Mar 27 2023
If you start the projects early and give yourself ample time to absorb the content, the class is relatively straightforward. I went into the final with a 102% in the class because of the extra credit on projects 1-4. The final had an average score of 61%, but I was able to get a 99% with not much studying. I was able to score highly due to taking my time on the projects and really learning the material by doing. Also, the quizzes are taken right from the module summary questions and can be easy 100s if you study through them ahead of time.
Submitted Mon Mar 27 2023
Honestly this class was not as bad as I thought it would be. If you have experience with lower level languages and a lot of experience debugging it isn't THAT bad. This was probably on par with 225 difficulty (I don't like math). Make sure that you read the rubric and comment everything. If you think you have commented enough double the comments. I will end with a B in this class and if I commented better it would be an A (the professor thinks we live in a fantasy land where we comment every line and block in the real world). Like others said projects 1-4 are easy and if you have time do the extra credit. Projects 5 and 6 were the hardest of any class so far in the program (161,162,225) but not awful.
Submitted Sun Mar 26 2023
I was little nervous to take this class because of some reviews but it wasn't that bad. I think it was similar to 261 in difficulty and time. The way I studied for this class was to first read modules, watch lecture videos, solve all practice problems in module & exercises and then start working on projects. Project 1-4 are pretty easy. Project 5,6 requires more time to complete but it's not that hard once you have good understanding the concepts in module 7&8 (There are some helpful example .asm program files to understand this concepts). exam and quiz are similar to exercises but just slightly more difficult
Submitted Tue Mar 21 2023
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