Professor Srivastava is probably one of the most helpful professors that I've met so far at UCLA - he was constantly on Piazza, and willing to answer most of the questions that the students have. His lectures do lack some clarity, but the overall concept becomes clear with a little self-study. My decision of taking this class on P/NP wasn't due to the quality of his teaching though - I accidentally took too many classes, so I changed this class to P/NP so that I don't mess other classes up. If possible, taking this class on letter grade would be the most sensible option since the materials are quite important for EE majors. Like some other posts suggested, I would recommend taking this course with him only if you're someone who truly enjoys digital systems, since he gives out tons of work towards the end of the quarter. Otherwise, taking this course with other professor would alleviate a lot of pressure.

Prof. Srivastava was very passionate about teaching. He puts in effort to hold extra office hours and responds to Piazza questions extremely quickly, sometimes very bluntly but still gets the point across well. Towards the middle of the course pacing ramped up and quizzes were definitely hard, but grading scheme was generous and TAs helped a lot with projects. Participation was counted if you showed up to class or office hours or posted on Piazza, pretty sure everyone got full marks. Would recommend his class but definitely be ready to put in the work and be patient!

Honestly it really depends- if you are an EE major and really interested in digital system stuff, then be prepared for hard work and go ahead and take this class. But if you are a CS major just taking this class to fulfill requirements- then wait for another professor's M51A or M16 PLEASE. Mani is a super nice guy and very very passionate about teaching. His lectures are really inspirational and he interacts a lot with students via piazza, answering almost all questions on his own. He is super willing to help, so take him if you are really interested in the topic.

OK here let's see something about the course. The first 7 or 8 weeks of the quarter is nice- almost no homework, only things to do is understand what is going on in lectures. But the last two weeks are driving me crazy. There is a project due every week in the last few weeks, not including the finals week since there is another final project.. It really takes a lot of time and efforts, especially when everybody is under the stress of other finals, etc. For the quizzes, I think the professor is really expecting you to go though every corner of the class materials carefully. And the time is very very tight- something around 30 min 15 questions.

This class was very tough, but also very rewarding. Professor Mani put in a lot of work to transition the class to the online format, and it definitely shows. Expect to spend a lot of time on the design assignments, especially the later ones. The quizzes were very tough, but the curve was generous as most of us got lot scores. I would recommend reading the textbook, as the lecture draws a lot from the chapters, and it helps to get exposed to the concepts twice, especially later in the quarter when it gets more complicated. During this online quarter, there were multiple grading schemes, and the best grade overall was chosen. I learned a lot from this class, and Professor Mani is a great teacher.

Mani's M16 is a lot of work. This was the first class EVER to make me cry, although that might have been from the pandemic. Still can't believe how stressful this class was for me and made me feel like I was failing until I saw that final grade. He expects hard work from his students but also works really hard himself. He's willing to hold extra office hours over zoom to answer questions and help you debug. His quizzes are a timed disaster, but in the end they won't hurt your final grade too much, as he has many grading schemes choices. His lectures can be a little long to sit through but they are worth the time. The projects can take very VERY long, so really do start early. Overall, this class is one of the more organized ones I took this online quarter (but also made me cry)

I'm a CS major, and I found this class EXTREMELY DIFFICULT, but Mani is actually a very good professor. I recommend this class only if you are an EE major that wants to master the material.

There are weekly homework sets and design problems that are helpful, but also very time consuming. They are graded rather harshly, so double check everything.

The midterm was very difficult, and per his grading policy, you have to get a C on the tests to pass the class, so some people were forced to drop out half way through the quarter. The average was low, and curved up to a C. The final was super difficult, encompassing the hardest problems from the course. I was one of 2 people to get an A+ in the class.

The test format is part short answer, where you lose points for guessing the wrong answer (yes- you can get a negative score), and challenge problems similar to the homework.

Mani records videos of all the lectures and posts them, as well as the slides, online. They are very helpful.

He recommends a textbook, but it is useless. Don't get it.

What saved me was the TA- Elmalaki was a GOD-TIER TA, and she gave life saving discussion sections really.

There is an optional final project that is to program a combinational lock in verilog. This was very time consuming and difficult, but VERY worth it, as it replaces a large portion of the final grade.

Professor Mani is a very good professor, but he's VERY HARD in my opinion. He gave homework that took a long time to complete and requires you to understand the class material very well. I spent a few days on the homeworks but his projects were fairly easy. The only caveat to his projects is that if you get one test case wrong, you lose 25% of your project points. So if you get 4 wrong, you get 0 in your projects. Harsh, but I can see why it's necessary.

The mid term was fair, it tested on concepts. One of the questions with parts (a,b,c, ... etc) had points taken off if you answered it wrong/didn't attempt it.

The final exam was had the same format. If you get something wrong or didn't attempt a question, your points are deducted, if you got it right, you'd get points. But the final asked questions that were far more conceptual and required a deeper understanding of the material.

He normalizes everything and is super transparent about your grade. In other words, you can track your grade in the course (median = 80%, highest = 100%). Say you fall somewhere in the 80's range, you know you're going to get some form of B. If you're in the 70's range, you know you're going to get some form of C. IF you're in the 50-60's range, you know you're in trouble cause you might fail. Yes, failing in this course is REAL. Don't fall behind!

These were the final grades given:
A's: 15
B's: 22
C's: 10
D's: 3
F's: 6

If you plan to take him, be ready to work hard! It's definitely not easy, and some people are really good at it. In the end it pays off! You'll understand logic gates more than anyone else. It's worth all the work!

I took M16 with him. The biggest thing I would say is get ready to put in work. For a this rivals as one of the most time intensive lower div classes I have taken, I would even compare it with the workload from EE 110 and classes like that.

I very much enjoyed the class, but this is because I liked the material. He does cover a lot of material so if you want to learn take him. If your looking for a easy class I would avoid it.

The course itself is very interesting and the content is much different than anything I have seen in academic setting. With that being said though it is very challenging and you can plan having multiple long nights with this one. Mani is a very nice guy, I went to office hours when I was struggling and he was glad to help out. My only complaints would be that I got lost in lecture frequently, and that the professor is not loud enough, but this was likely only because he taught in a huge lecture hall with few students. He can also get tracked into talking while looking down at his computer and writing annotations to the slides in which case you can't hear him much at all.

All in all, the content is pretty enjoyable as far as technology goes, but the workload is going to be tough. I know some other people who have taken this class with a different professor and never had the same issue. Credit to Mani, though, he does do a ton to make sure students can get help if they need it and offers resources through the internet which are extremely valuable. Also seriously recommend getting the book, many of the examples in the slides come right from there.

He's not a bad guy, but the way he teaches this class is radically different from other professors' ways of doing so. There is a great amount of content to learn in this class in comparison to other M16 classes, and he is generally difficult to approach.

The content isn't difficult, but there is just too much to learn at one time. The homeworks were all notoriously difficult and extremely time-consuming, and the Logisim projects he gave us were extremely tough. I remember him extending the deadline for one project for another weekend and people still not being able to understand and do it.

That being said, you will gain a lot of insight if you happen to survive and pass this class, but I would not recommend you take it under a busy schedule. Overall, the absolute hardest class and professor I have ever taken in my years at UCLA.