<p>How difficult did you guys think this class was in terms of material and workload? I plan to take it next semester as my first CS class at Berkeley. Any tips/advice?</p>
<p>When I took it long ago (different course number but same name Machine Structures), I thought it was easy, but I had previous experience with assembly language programming (can you understand the file that “gcc -S” or “g++ -S” produces?). Based on how a lot of people did on the tests (one of them had a median score of only about a third of the possible points), it was difficult for many students. Also, I heard from students who took that course a few semesters after that a significant size programming project was added (have you had CS 61A and 61B equivalent courses elsewhere?).</p>