This class is entirely conceptual, i.e., no coding, but the concepts themselves are not easy. We have 7 homework (graded on completeness), one midterm and one final. With 90% of grade is based on exams, if you screw up an exam you basically screw up the class. The midterm is relatively easy. The final involves a lot of multiple choice questions about designs and concepts which are easy to make mistakes. While I really dislike hardware, I don't think there is a better choice to have M151B other than Reinman.

I liked this class! Flipped classroom didn't bother me because I kind of stopped watching the videos... the prof introduces and goes over everything in lecture, so I don't think it's necessary to watch the prerecorded videos... he will only test you on what he's gone over in class, anyway. He draws everything out and walks you through everything you need to know. As long as you spend time going over whatever is fuzzy and don't fall behind, his lectures should be easy to keep up with and understand. The discussions are also very helpful because the TAs review everything he lectured that week, so whatever you didn't understand you can always go over again with the TAs. His handwriting and drawings are messy but the TAs have nice slides that sum it all up. Homeworks are also not time consuming. He tells you exactly what he will test you on the midterm, and the final wasn't surprising, every problem was something he had covered in lecture. As long as you stay on top of everything this class is very manageable and I would definitely take it again with Reinmann!

Anyone can tell you Reinman is a nice professor. But his style of teaching has a few gripes. For one, all of his classes are 'flipped classroom'. This means you have to waste twice the amount of time you normally would watching mind-numbing lectures. If you think you can get by just reading the actual text, you're wrong; Reinman always talks about things in lecture that will be on the test. So you have to try and attend lectures.

And if you go to his lectures live, don't blink; his handwriting and drawing skills are horrendous and incomprehensible. You have to follow along carefully to not get lost.

His homeworks are super light and could be done the night before. But this also means they aren't comprehensive or instructive in any meaningful manner.

His tests are okay. The midterms are usually easier than the final. He prefers to give hard tests and curve, rather than give accommodating tests and let their grades stand. Because of his flipped classroom style, he can just hand you all the lecture content at the start of the quarter and put the onus on you to watch it; like this he's technically never "behind schedule", compared to teachers who lecture live. I didn't see this as a plus.

He's nice, a great guy, fun lecturer. But his rating is deceptive because of it. Reinman is the best choice for this class, undoubtedly; but don't take it easy, and don't be confused into believing he is without flaw.

Glenn is a great guy. He's funny and really interested in what he teaches. I would say he's one of, if not my favorite professor at UCLA. The topic of this class are things like CPUs, registers, ALUs, etc. Really, really interesting stuff. The workload is surprisingly not that bad e.g. it features homeworks that are graded moreso on completion than correctness. The midterm is not too bad actually, and lots of people got 90% or above on it. The final is harder.

The format of this class is pretty special, as it's a "flipped classroom". You don't actually have to attend class since everything's recorded. Glenn uses in-person lectures as just a review session and for questions. Just make sure that you actually WATCH the recordings and don't procrastinate, and you'll do fine. I think part of the reason as to why the grade distro is so spread out, is because of this freedom — lots of people are responsible and keep up with lectures either in-person or via watching the videos, and lots of people don't.

Just be responsible and keep up with the topics, regardless of whether you actually attend class or just watch the videos, and I promise you'll do fine.

Reinman is an amazing professor and I'd definitely recommend taking this class with him. The flipped classroom style does require a bit more work on the students' end (have to watch pre-lecture videos), but I feel it really does work to learn the material better. In addition, having the basic material taught through the videos allowed Reinman to answer more questions and cover more examples during lecture.

The final for this quarter was made optional due to COVID-19, so I did not take it. Most people did very well on the midterm (average around 95), and I heard the final was substantially more difficult. In addition, the material covered in the latter half of the quarter is more challenging, so definitely make sure you don't fall behind after the midterm. In addition, both exams are open-note and open-book, and you're allowed to use a calculator.

The amount of time required from the homework varies week to week, but I didn't think the assigned homework was ever excessive. We had a total of 7 assignments (due Friday weeks 2-9). The homework is also graded based on participation, so as long as you put in a reasonable amount of effort you should be fine. I thought the homework was useful for the exam.

Overall, a great class that I highly recommend you take with Reinman.

Didn’t take final cuz I aced midterm. Midterm was really easy. He’s funny but his lecturers are fast paced. It’s an A if u put in work

Fantastic Professor. You learn a lot in his class and he makes difficult concepts very clear. He also bruincast his lectures which allows you to learn in your own time although you need to have the self discipline to catch up with his lectures. Got lucky that he made the final optional this quarter but even if I have a B- in his class, I would've rated him the same.

Professor Reinman is easily one of the best professors I have had at UCLA. He cares greatly for his students and his lectures are clear, and straight to the point. I like how every class feels very interactive and because some materials are covered in the video, the professor has time to answer most of the student's questions. His homeworks are very helpful in re-enforcing the ideas taught in class and ensures that students have a solid grasp of the material. He is understanding of different circumstances and is reasonable in his decisions towards concerns of students. He addresses questions of all students with respect, even if other students consider the questions "dumb" or redundant. He is funny at times, which makes the lecture more interesting, and he tries his absolute best to make sure all his students understand what is going on during lecture. He is a role model for all CS professors at UCLA. Even though, I am not very interested in the content of this class, I still had a great time.
His midterm was fairly straightforward if you paid attention in class! His finals tend to be more difficult.
I 100% recommend taking 151B with Reinman if you have the chance to! He is just a great guy.

Reinman is a good professor, although he lectures fast. The style is flipped classroom, so be prepared to watch a lot of videos (they are helpful though). The exams are fair, since he tells you what kinds of questions will be on there, but they're not necessarily easy. The final was difficult and long, and I don't think a lot of people were able to finish within the time. Overall, be prepared to put in effort for the course, but the professor teaches it well.

For M151B:

His exams are very reasonable. He tells you exactly what is going to be on there. In his lectures he goes over multiple examples of the types of questions he will ask you on the exam. Go to class. He isn’t an easy A, but if you go to class and understand his examples it is very reasonable for you to get an A on all of his exams.

This class is about two things: rules, and tradeoffs. If you learn all of the rules in ALU design, pipelining, caches, etc, you are good to go. There are no “tricks,” and nothing inherently difficult, just a bunch of rules you have to apply to examples.

The only “downside” of Reinman I can think of is that although he is a very good communicator, he may talk too fast for some people to keep up with. That being said, go to all the lectures and do not fall asleep. He is a funny guy, so that should not be so bad. Take notes on his examples, and if you do not understand what he said, ask questions. He will go out of his way to repeat and explain concepts.

In Winter 2014, he added an extra midterm, 2 instead of 1, to spread out the content and not have your grade weighted so heavily on just two exams. The homeworks are not graded rigorously which takes off some of the stress, but do them as they’re indicative of exam questions.

Besides Paul Eggert, Glenn Reinman is probably one of my favorite CS professors at UCLA. He is a smart guy and you can tell he is very passionate about the subject. He once let everyone who wanted to leave 40 minutes into the lecture, so he could go into details about Core i7 pipelining (optional material that was not at all part of the class).

For CS 33:
If you’re a CS major taking this class as a freshman, it can be a little intimidating at first. It exposes you to many new topics at once at a very fast pace. Plus, there are labs that can be frustrating and take up a lot of time. But generally all I said above applies here. His exams are reasonable because he tells you what is on there and does example problems in class.