COS 518 Comments

Comments for COS 518

This is an absolute gem of a class, and it is a real waste that, because it is a graduate class, only a couple of undergraduates take it every year. All you need for this class is an interest in systems and some degree of comfort with the stuff covered in CS318: being a super systems hacker is not necessary so don't let that scare you off. I certainly am not an accomplished hacker, but did fine in the class and enjoyed it very, very much.

The workload is comparable to standard upper-level undergraduate classes. You have to read one research paper before every lecture and submit comments/questions on it. And there is a research project for the second half of the semester. 'Research project' sounds a little intimidating, but you'll get a fair amount of guidance and it really is quite doable. The first three or four papers you'll read will be a little inaccessible: don't let that turn you off, because the papers get more fun after that. There is also a midterm and a final, each worth 10% of the grade. If you pay attention in lecture, these are no problem at all.

Randy Wang is an absolutely great lecture, really knows his stuff and communicates excitement about research very very effectively. He is really good at presenting just the right combination of basics, details and the big picture, so this class is a fantastic and accessible introduction to systems research. In addition to technical details, you'll learn what constitutes a good research paper and a good research talk. Both these things are very important for anyone considering graduate school. And Randy Wang knows many great 'Dijkstra Jokes' - take the class to find out what they are :)

You'll have to work fairly hard in this class. You're expected to do all the reading, and do a respectable project: that will be made clear in the first lecture. But it really is very worthwhile. This class has, without exaggeration, left me jumping up and down with excitement over systems research. I think that this class has really enriched my undergraduate CS experience, and I hope this review will persuade many more undergraduates to consider taking this class.

Semester Taken: Fall 2001
Professor: Randy Wang
User's major: CS

Thu Apr 11 14:05:19 EDT 2002

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