Hanzhe "Alfred" Long

Overall, the course is very challenging. The average weekly workload is around 30 hours. It covers three basic topics in operating systems: Virtualization, Concurrency, and Persistence. The textbook, OSTEP, is one of the best-written textbooks I've read. The author of OSTEP, unsurprisingly, is Remzi, another professor at UW. We are fortunate to have him as the designer of the introductory course on Operating Systems. Learning OS is indeed challenging, but once you complete it, you'll feel such a great sense of achievement that it will be unforgettable.

This is a pretty chill course that covers the basics of designing and implementing a DBMS (Database Management System). Relational Algebra is all you need to know. The projects are quite interesting and require a thorough understanding of every detail. You will build the entire system from scratch in C++. Interestingly, the instructors seem to assume that everyone already has some understanding of the language. So, be prepared if you're not familiar with it. The exams are straightforward, covering what's been discussed in lectures and on slides. The weekly workload is usually less than 10 hours, even though it's a 4-credit course.