COM SCI 118
Computer Network Fundamentals
Description: Lecture, four hours; discussion, two hours; outside study, six hours. Enforced requisite: course 111. Designed for juniors/seniors. Introduction to design and performance evaluation of computer networks, including such topics as what protocols are, layered network architecture, Internet protocol architecture, network applications, transport protocols, routing algorithms and protocols, internetworking, congestion control, and link layer protocols including Ethernet and wireless channels. Letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - The prof is neither as spectacular nor as horrific as some of these reviews are raving about. The class with him is very much a YMMV type of thing. ======================== On one hand the professor is clearly very passionate about the subject and really wants students to believe that all these cool things done by cool people are very much within our capabilities. He brings in very accomplished guest speakers from the field and lets students understand their work more. Lectures are also very involved he frequently asks for volunteers to come up with ideas. He wants to walk you through the thought processes before giving solutions. If you're into networking and genuinely want to work in the field or do research then this class is very much for you. ======================== On the other hand his lectures can come off as disorganized and paced poorly. He takes a while to get to the point. You're not gonna get away with memorizing concepts and just regurgitating them because tests don't just ask you the same questions you've seen before. Professor isn't too in tune with homeworks and projects so you kinda have to pray the TAs are on their game. Piazza can sometimes be a ghost town. Unfortunately I am not a networking nut so I did not enjoy this class that much and if you're like me this class might be a bit of a slog. ======================== So anyway some tips if you do decide to take the class: -His notes are good and are pretty much his lectures without the constant stopping for questions. I would usually read those and skim his lectures because sometimes the notes go too in-depth than necessary. -Homeworks have long wordcounts but are straight forward as he usually walks you through the steps one by one. Sometimes you don't even need to watch the lectures at all to know how to solve them. -Tests are more difficult. He likes to take a concept and change something about it and ask you to solve this new problem. It's likely not something you've seen before but you have the necessary tools to solve, you just have to be creative about it. -The graders can be harsh but you are able to ask for regrades and they aren't that unreasonable about them. -Projects are a pain in the ass if you start late but overall aren't the worst things in the CS curriculum. Standard stuff, build incrementally, test often, ask for help(especially the semantics). The TAs made a project guide that helped a lot with semantics of the router project. ========================= TL;DR, not a class you can get away with minimal effort, but also not the hardest class evarrr. Speaking from the POV of someone who doesn't care much about the topic, I unfortunately could not meet the enthusiasm of the professor, but that might not true for you. Also I have no idea where the hell people from Dec 2021 are getting their grades from because grades aren't even out yet.
Fall 2021 - The prof is neither as spectacular nor as horrific as some of these reviews are raving about. The class with him is very much a YMMV type of thing. ======================== On one hand the professor is clearly very passionate about the subject and really wants students to believe that all these cool things done by cool people are very much within our capabilities. He brings in very accomplished guest speakers from the field and lets students understand their work more. Lectures are also very involved he frequently asks for volunteers to come up with ideas. He wants to walk you through the thought processes before giving solutions. If you're into networking and genuinely want to work in the field or do research then this class is very much for you. ======================== On the other hand his lectures can come off as disorganized and paced poorly. He takes a while to get to the point. You're not gonna get away with memorizing concepts and just regurgitating them because tests don't just ask you the same questions you've seen before. Professor isn't too in tune with homeworks and projects so you kinda have to pray the TAs are on their game. Piazza can sometimes be a ghost town. Unfortunately I am not a networking nut so I did not enjoy this class that much and if you're like me this class might be a bit of a slog. ======================== So anyway some tips if you do decide to take the class: -His notes are good and are pretty much his lectures without the constant stopping for questions. I would usually read those and skim his lectures because sometimes the notes go too in-depth than necessary. -Homeworks have long wordcounts but are straight forward as he usually walks you through the steps one by one. Sometimes you don't even need to watch the lectures at all to know how to solve them. -Tests are more difficult. He likes to take a concept and change something about it and ask you to solve this new problem. It's likely not something you've seen before but you have the necessary tools to solve, you just have to be creative about it. -The graders can be harsh but you are able to ask for regrades and they aren't that unreasonable about them. -Projects are a pain in the ass if you start late but overall aren't the worst things in the CS curriculum. Standard stuff, build incrementally, test often, ask for help(especially the semantics). The TAs made a project guide that helped a lot with semantics of the router project. ========================= TL;DR, not a class you can get away with minimal effort, but also not the hardest class evarrr. Speaking from the POV of someone who doesn't care much about the topic, I unfortunately could not meet the enthusiasm of the professor, but that might not true for you. Also I have no idea where the hell people from Dec 2021 are getting their grades from because grades aren't even out yet.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - To be honest, I didn't attend many of the class lectures. However, I did fine by doing all the assigned reading (which was a bit heavy but the textbook is interesting) and checking the slides to review the important topics. The lectures I did attend were interesting, but I had trouble paying attention because her voice is a bit quiet at times. However, you can definitely tell that the professor knows what she's talking about. Sometimes she tells funny stories, too! The homework questions are sometimes a bit vague, but the TAs do a good job of clarifying on Piazza. The homework assignments also took varying amounts of time, but none of them were too long. I thought the projects were really useful for learning about networking concepts. We got to have a group (1-3) for the second project, which was time consuming to debug but overall fine. For the midterm, you should be fine as long as you understand the slides and how to do the homework. I'm not sure about the final because we were allowed to opt-out due to COVID-19.
Winter 2020 - To be honest, I didn't attend many of the class lectures. However, I did fine by doing all the assigned reading (which was a bit heavy but the textbook is interesting) and checking the slides to review the important topics. The lectures I did attend were interesting, but I had trouble paying attention because her voice is a bit quiet at times. However, you can definitely tell that the professor knows what she's talking about. Sometimes she tells funny stories, too! The homework questions are sometimes a bit vague, but the TAs do a good job of clarifying on Piazza. The homework assignments also took varying amounts of time, but none of them were too long. I thought the projects were really useful for learning about networking concepts. We got to have a group (1-3) for the second project, which was time consuming to debug but overall fine. For the midterm, you should be fine as long as you understand the slides and how to do the homework. I'm not sure about the final because we were allowed to opt-out due to COVID-19.
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