Professor
Anthony Nowatzki
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - CS33 is a pretty hard class but Professor Nowatzki is an amazing professor. Content/Lectures: The content of this class is very different from CS31 and CS32 (which is really a continuation of CS31) but I do think that I did learn some valuable things from this class. This class is essentially about dissecting the layer between software and hardware and connects the commands you type with the keyboard to what is actually happening inside a computer (somewhat). Professor Nowatzki is really passionate about this class because the topic is relevant to his research. As a result, he is extremely knowledgeable. He uses slides during lectures, which he will put up. To be honest, I found the class to be a bit fast-paced, as a lot of material requires further thinking and trying to understand why things work they way they do. It is HIGHLY recommended to read the textbook before class (which I didnt do, but I did find the textbook helpful for when I was looking at the slides on my own but couldnt understand some concepts), so that you will have an easier time following along in class. It is really easy to be lost during lecture, but I would highly highly recommend staying engaged (once again, by reading textbook beforehand, even skimming helps) and asking questions if you have any. For my quarter, lectures were mandatory for participation and the professor enforced it by having "pop quizzes" randomly, which is an online poll that you have to fill out during lecture. There were 3 in my class. Discussions/Participation: I personally didnt find discussions really helpful, but it involved the TA going over again the content from the past week and then the LAs going over a worksheet. This quarter, discussion was made mandatory and enforced with an online poll every section. However, in past quarters, discussion was not mandatory and there was homework that was checked for completeness instead. I'm not sure if this will change for future quarters Projects/Labs: The projects are actually really really manageable, in my opinion. The first one, data lab, took a lot of thinking and a lightbulb going off in my head before I figured it out. The bomb lab and attack/buffer lab I actually found to be really fun. The malloc lab was infamously hard for having bugs and seg faults, but during my quarter, there was a much easier solution and, as a result, many people (including me) were able to complete it without that much difficulty. I'm not sure if the test cases will be changed, because that simpler solution is very dependent on the test cases given and it might not work as well for some test cases. After the malloc lab, the last one, thread lab, is a breeze. Exams: One thing I really like about Professor Nowatzki is that he has past exams and full solutions that he provides as practice. However, those dont cover all the types of the problems and concepts that may be covered for your actual exam. Not that he will ask questions about things you've never learned or hes never talked about, but more like, just because you see bomb lab questions on two past exams doesnt mean you should expect a bomb lab question to appear on your exam. However, his exams are pretty doable and fair (in retrospect). Piazza: Both Professor Nowatzki and the TAs are very active on piazza and will answer questions very quickly. Extra Credit: Professor Nowatzki gives extra credit on almost every lab and on both midterm and final exam! ALSO, THIS IS KIND OF IRRELEVANT TO THE COURSE, BUT PROFESSOR NOWATZKI IS AN AWESOME PERSON. HE IS FUNNY AND I HONESTLY LOVE READING HIS REPLIES ON PIAZZA. Overall, would recommend.
Fall 2019 - CS33 is a pretty hard class but Professor Nowatzki is an amazing professor. Content/Lectures: The content of this class is very different from CS31 and CS32 (which is really a continuation of CS31) but I do think that I did learn some valuable things from this class. This class is essentially about dissecting the layer between software and hardware and connects the commands you type with the keyboard to what is actually happening inside a computer (somewhat). Professor Nowatzki is really passionate about this class because the topic is relevant to his research. As a result, he is extremely knowledgeable. He uses slides during lectures, which he will put up. To be honest, I found the class to be a bit fast-paced, as a lot of material requires further thinking and trying to understand why things work they way they do. It is HIGHLY recommended to read the textbook before class (which I didnt do, but I did find the textbook helpful for when I was looking at the slides on my own but couldnt understand some concepts), so that you will have an easier time following along in class. It is really easy to be lost during lecture, but I would highly highly recommend staying engaged (once again, by reading textbook beforehand, even skimming helps) and asking questions if you have any. For my quarter, lectures were mandatory for participation and the professor enforced it by having "pop quizzes" randomly, which is an online poll that you have to fill out during lecture. There were 3 in my class. Discussions/Participation: I personally didnt find discussions really helpful, but it involved the TA going over again the content from the past week and then the LAs going over a worksheet. This quarter, discussion was made mandatory and enforced with an online poll every section. However, in past quarters, discussion was not mandatory and there was homework that was checked for completeness instead. I'm not sure if this will change for future quarters Projects/Labs: The projects are actually really really manageable, in my opinion. The first one, data lab, took a lot of thinking and a lightbulb going off in my head before I figured it out. The bomb lab and attack/buffer lab I actually found to be really fun. The malloc lab was infamously hard for having bugs and seg faults, but during my quarter, there was a much easier solution and, as a result, many people (including me) were able to complete it without that much difficulty. I'm not sure if the test cases will be changed, because that simpler solution is very dependent on the test cases given and it might not work as well for some test cases. After the malloc lab, the last one, thread lab, is a breeze. Exams: One thing I really like about Professor Nowatzki is that he has past exams and full solutions that he provides as practice. However, those dont cover all the types of the problems and concepts that may be covered for your actual exam. Not that he will ask questions about things you've never learned or hes never talked about, but more like, just because you see bomb lab questions on two past exams doesnt mean you should expect a bomb lab question to appear on your exam. However, his exams are pretty doable and fair (in retrospect). Piazza: Both Professor Nowatzki and the TAs are very active on piazza and will answer questions very quickly. Extra Credit: Professor Nowatzki gives extra credit on almost every lab and on both midterm and final exam! ALSO, THIS IS KIND OF IRRELEVANT TO THE COURSE, BUT PROFESSOR NOWATZKI IS AN AWESOME PERSON. HE IS FUNNY AND I HONESTLY LOVE READING HIS REPLIES ON PIAZZA. Overall, would recommend.
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