CS 250Fundamentals of Computers and Computer Systems
- Faculty
- Mathematics
- Offered
- Fall, Winter
- Credit
- 0.5
- Last listed
- 1988–89
No longer offered. It’s in Waterloo’s scanned calendars from 1978–79 to 1988–89; the 1995–96 to 2023–24 calendars are on ucalendar.
To give a thorough introduction to what goes on inside a computer, of machine organization, and of machine and assembly-language programming. To introduce students to computer software designed to assist user programs. Specific topics include: addressing modes, subroutines and macros, microcomputer architecture, and operating system components.
As printed in the 1983–84 to 1988–89 calendars, read by OCR; the scanned page is the original.
Requirements, as last listed
Prereq: CS 140 and second-year standing in a Computer Science Major program
Antireq: CS 117, 235
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
13 posts and comments in 11 threads mention CS 250, August 2016 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Winter 2023
Transfer Worth It? 8 points, 21 comments
“First year mechatronics student wondering if transferring to another program is worth it for high paying software jobs. Current avg is 92.5. …”
u/clean_mint_mouthwash: “gonna need to leetcode your way to cali anyways, CS/SE/CE doesn't fix that courses are mostly useless for getting a job, just take whatever interests you (even if unrelated to SWE)”
u/clean_mint_mouthwash: “… There are a few key courses that you'd be missing out on by not taking CS: CS341 – Algorithms CS250 – Computer Architecture CS350 – Operating Systems The first one can be substituted by leetcode, and the latter two are really only relevant if you ever pursue a career in …”
Fall 2022
CS 346 Difficulty and Workload 8 points, 6 comments
“Hi! Has anyone taken CS 346 before and if so, how difficult is it and how heavy is the workload? I heard many great things about Jeff Avery but since it is a relatively new course offered by …”
u/asdfg_lkjh: “What is CS250?”
Spring 2021
Course to take over coop (2A CS) 15 points, 10 comments
u/uw_throwaway872021: “… I'm planning on just following the suggested courseload, so my 2B (W22) will have CS 250, CS 241, CS 240, MATH 239, plus a non-math elective. I'm wondering if I should take a course over my easy co-op to lighten the load for 2B since I've heard that 239 and 240 are really hard? …”
u/LilFluffyUnicorn: “I assume by CS 250 you mean CS 251 but anyways, I think any of those courses could be manageable on co-op. …”
Fall 2020
Igor Ivkovic Remembrance Thread 1,058 points, 131 comments
“Devastating news today, our amazing and beloved professor Igor Ivkovic tragically passed away today. Use this thread to share your thoughts or special memories. …”
u/StarIU: “RIP It’s been a while since I was a student. Was he the prof of CS 250?”
An honest opinion on CFM 9 points, 6 comments
“Fall 2021 applicant here. If you talk about interest, I'm in awe with both the aspects of the degree. But I was overwhelmed with doubt when I saw people saying that trade-off between program depth …”
u/lixxiee: “you take all the required CS and MATH courses as a CS major, excepting CS 250 and CS 350. CS 350 (Operating Systems) can be taken as a CS elective course, while CS 250 can still be taken as a general elective. otherwise, you take close to a 50/50 split of CS and AFM courses. …”
Fall 2019
CO 250 vs CS 245 vs Math 239 3 points, 9 comments
“I'm looking for a 5th course for Winter 2020. My other courses are CS 246, CS 230, CS 371, ECON 254. I was wondering what would be a doable 5th course along since all of them are required!”
u/BubonicPython: “I haven't done CS 250 so I can't speak to it. I found CS 245 was pretty trivial (MATH 145 and CS 146 helped with that though) and spent about 1-2 hours a week on course work (doing the assignments). …”
Spring 2019
UWaterloo during the 1990s, 10 things that happened then that you can't do now. 384 points, 71 comments
“1. Computer Lab Gangs: Back before everyone had their own laptop, you needed a computer lab to type up your essays. You could also rent out a typewriter but that was lame. …”
u/grandhommecajun: “an 80's version of this would be great too!”
u/grandhommecajun: “WatBOL, SpitBOL, WatFIV, 6809 Assembler (CS250), Prolog, Real-Time OS (i.e. the Train course), and yes it was still open skies in terms of getting into the program. NO CHANCE I would make it in with my marks today.”
Winter 2018
The ECE Chad 45 points, 6 comments
u/50in07allstar: “… I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in CS 245 and CS 250 with dean's list honors, and I’ve been involved in numerous NP complete proofs, and I have over 300 completed assignments. …”
Fall 2017
Studying for CS 250 1 point, 3 comments
u/703982174098213709: “Does anyone have any tips on studying for CO 250? Anything in general about what to keep in mind or what to focus on would be helpful! I usually do well on when I have many practice problems with solutions to work on. …”
Fall 2016
PSA: Class Schedule is up on Quest 37 points, 38 comments
“Enrol -> Class Schedule -> Fast forward to first week of January”
[deleted]: [deleted]
u/beaverlyknight: “… I don't think CS 250 is a course. CS 251 is a birdy course anyway, no big deal. Anyway, MATH 239 is a course that tends to be challenging. Tends to be one of the biggest hurdles for most CS students. …”
Spring 2016
How closely related are CS241 and CS250? 2 points, 3 comments
u/NegativeBinomialM136: “EDIT: Sorry I meant CS241 and CS251”
u/SterlingAdmiral: “You're probably talking about CS251 as this is a common question and CS250 isn't a thing. I won't get too much into details but there is no reason to not take them at the same time. …”
Check it elsewhere
In the scanned calendars
How it read in each calendar from 1978–79 to 1988–89, newest first. The text is OCR of the scanned pages; years whose wording matches are shown once, from the clearest scan. Each year links to its page on uwloo and to that page of the scanned PDF.
1983–84 to 1988–89 6 calendars
To give a thorough introduction to what goes on inside a computer, of machine organization, and of machine and assembly-language programming. To introduce students to computer software designed to assist user programs. Specific topics include: addressing modes, subroutines and macros, microcomputer architecture, and operating system components.
Prereq: CS 140 and second-year standing in a Computer Science Major program
Antireq: CS 117, 235
Offered Fall, Winter · 3 class, 1 tutorial hours a week · 0.5 credit
1978–79 to 1982–83 5 calendars
Titled Characteristics of Computers and Computer Systems.
Introduction to machine and assembly language programming and basic machine architecture. Addressing modes, indexing, and indirection. Subroutine linkage and macro instructions. Characteristics of peripheral devices. A survey of software which assists user programs: assemblers, compilers, loaders, input/output routines, operating systems.