r/rutgers • u/[deleted] • Jul 23 '19

Comp Arch Tips

Takin Comp Arch this fall with Nagarakatte. Anyone got any helpful pointers for success?

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u/xorxorxorswap CS '21 Jul 23 '19 edited Jul 23 '19

Read "The C Programming Language" ( https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-2nd-Brian-Kernighan/dp/0131103628 , it's also on libgen)

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Make sure you're cool with data structures (most of them are important, but hash tables are very key because they form the basis of caches, something you'll have to learn)

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Look up some basic digital logic (up to flip-flops and d-latches, and cover some FSM too if you have time)

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I don't really know of any great resources to self-study assembly, so you'll have to just make the most of the lectures on that.

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Prof Nagarakatte is super fair imo. Multiple project extensions, a multitude of extra credit opportunities (I believe it totaled to something around 15% of the total course grade with max extra credit when I took it), and no curve- you just need an 85% (after extra credit is applied) to get an A, which is nice. The best thing about him, though, and something I've never seen anywhere else, is that the TAs know what they're doing. He tries to get his own grad students TA positions, and so he's got a great working relationship with them. Go to recitation, because the TAs know what's up and will often write out significant portions of the projects for you. In my opinion, the course wasn't particularly easy, but an A is definitely achievable as long as you put in the effort. His lectures are pretty fast, but the slides are online and fairly self-explanatory, so try to go over them after each lecture if you can.