The Foundations of Computer Design (Udemy.com)

I am finding this course very difficult but rewarding. I have learn't some of the early components before but having trouble putting it all together. Despite this the explanations are very clear and I am getting somewhere. The great thing about Udemy is that you can stop the course for a break and go back a repeat sections or the entire course. Thank you to Udemy and this instructor.

At first the course started out great when covering binary numbers in computing. I already have some basic understanding of logic circuits so had no trouble understanding the purposes of the gates when those were introduced. Unfortunately by the time it's discussing the Full Adder and Latch circuits, it becomes more of "tell" rather than "show". We get convoluted descriptions of complex circuits that go on for minutes, but often without clearly indicating which parts of the slide images he is talking about. You don't even get a mouse hover over the areas being discussed which would've made it much easier to follow, IMO. I've seen free 20 minute YT videos explain the same topics in much better and clearer form, often even with visuals and animations. *Technically* this course is a couple of hours, but it feels much longer - probably due to unfortunately necessary backtracking and googling because of the confusing explanations. In a nutshell, the mathematics and calculations are fairly well-taught but the actual circuits are not which is too bad. It's still a decent starter course for aspiring computer scientists and engineers, but could have been explained a lot of things better.

This is a detailed explaination of how you go from basic binary and boolean algebra to designing a basic processor. As the instructor says during the course, it is easy to lose track of this progression and I found it necessary to review past sections several times to ensure my understanding. It is important not to be put off by the pacing and take advantage of the replay.

This was a great video and provided what I had been seeking for some time - and more! The outline taken on describing each part of the process was very informational and well explained. However, it was a tad more than I was expecting (and most definitely not in a bad way) but something I will review again and again. I love to learn and constantly push myself to get a better grasp of how computers work in their fullest. I followed along quite well in regards to the gate states but it started getting a tad fuzzy until for a bit. Eventually I got back on course with the way content was described and asserted - job well done on being detailed yet concise. Reading the bios of both authors, I can sense the passion both put into this. Thank you to you both and I will be sure to visit some other content produced by either of you.

I was taking an Electrical Engineering course, and was very lost in the logic gates, addiction, R-S Latch, and so on, so I was so glad I found this course. At first everything goes right, but when it gets to the ALU (arithmetic logic unit), I get lost again. The instructor talks very slow, while repeats a lot. I tried a couple of times going back and try to get the idea, while a lot of thing go unexplained. (Maybe my brain just doesn't work for electrical engineering) I think if the instructor can be more detailed when he refers all the logic gates (sometimes I feel like he is just talking about ones and zeros out of no where), especially for some complex wiring. And when explaining examples, explain more instead of just reading the tables; knowing the principles doesn't mean that we understand a real case!! Anyway, thanks for having this course, but I think I will need some other more resource to help me through EE.

This course is definitely not for the faint of heart. It starts at the basics of binary 1s and 0s, examines the simple operations that can be done using basic logic gates, uses those to build adders (and other circuits), and ultimately shows how the components fit together to create a basic CPU. For anyone with a basic understanding of binary, the course starts out a bit slow. However, the pace increases substantially. A lot of information is covered in a very short amount of time. The instructor refers to follow-up courses that would cover the MIPS language and more advanced CPU features, but unfortunately, no such courses exist yet.

Really informative and interesting but it is indeed not for everyone and not easily accessible. It can get really hard to follow when static schema are explained without any dynamic visual to help understand better what we are talking about and represent motion in the circuit. I feel working on that part would make the course much more accessible and comprehensible for more people as it is a high quality and really interesting course and topic

It's really great, especially for startup programmers who don't want to take a computer engineering degree to understand what happens inside the computer. But I do believe you need a basic understanding of electricity, basic logic gates and how circuit board works. This course needs more attention on the screen and listening(Wish the instructor could add a bit more animation)

Among all the online courses I have taken so far, this is the best. The techniques explained in the video lectures are very basic and logical. You can relate why this thing is happening, or why we count the number this way. This is the good course for all those who wants to know the in-depth knowledge about Digital Electronics. I personally believe that every Digital Electronics enthusiast should take this course. There is always something awesome to learn from everyone.

I signed up for this with an interest in how computers did what they did at the lowest level. I was not disappointed. When he says challenge yourself and try to figure something out, just try, fun to think about if you never have before. Glad I got the course. Learned a lot, and it will definitely translate to my work. You'll have to pause. Look something up if you really wanna bridge some of the gaps. But this is one you can keep coming back to.