Fri, 20 Feb 2026

A student writes:


Good morning, Dr. Patt,

Thank you for the additional details regarding the upcoming weeks and the
initial design review.

Regarding a follow-up class by Dr. Suleman - what would the alternative be,
if he were to not give a second lecture?

Sincerely,
<<name withheld as is my usual policy on student emails

Thanks for your email.  As to your question about "what instead," I have not
decided yet.  This is a graduate course and like most graduate courses, it has
a major project that in this case will determine 2/3 of your final grade.  My
feeling about this course is that while you are working on the project, I can
use the lectures to introduce you to topics that provide a general  foundation
that I don't have the luxury to do in 460N, for example.  The project will give
you a solid taste of Microarchitecture. The lectures will provide other stuff,
often not directly related to microarchitecture, but things I want to be sure
you are exposed to before you graduate.  Feedback I have gotten from graduates
over the years has been mostly positive, although certainly different from what
you normally experience in most courses.

Yale Patt