uwloo

ECE 222Digital Computers

Units
0.50
Faculty
Engineering
Subject
Electrical and Computer Engineering

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 5 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 3 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Computer organization. Memory units, control units, I/O operations. Assembly language programming, translation and loading. Arithmetic logic units. Computer case studies.

Prerequisites

  • Complete all of the following
    • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
      • BME121 - Digital Computation (0.50)
      • CS115 - Introduction to Computer Science 1 (0.50)
      • CS135 - Designing Functional Programs (0.50)
      • CS137 - Programming Principles (0.50)
      • CS145 - Designing Functional Programs (Advanced Level) (0.50)
      • ECE150 - Fundamentals of Programming (0.50)
      • MSE121 - Introduction to Computer Programming (0.50)
      • MTE121 - Digital Computation (0.50)
      • SYDE121 - Digital Computation (0.50)
    • Complete 1 of the following
      • Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
        • BME393 - Digital Systems (0.50)
        • ECE124 - Digital Circuits and Systems (0.50)
        • MTE262 - Introduction to Digital Logic (0.50)
      • Must have completed the following:
    • Students must be in level 2A or higher
    • Complete 1 of the following

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 0014627129 / 155MWF 11:30–12:20
Sep 16 10:30–11:20
Sep 30 10:30–11:20
Oct 21 10:30–11:20
Nov 4 10:30–11:20
Nov 18 10:30–11:20
Dec 2 10:30–11:20
LEC 0028509134 / 140MWF 12:30–13:20
LAB 201468135 / 40Sep 24 13:30–16:20
Oct 8 13:30–16:20
Nov 5 13:30–16:20
Nov 19 13:30–16:20
Dec 3 13:30–16:20
LAB 202468238 / 40Sep 25 13:30–16:20
Oct 9 13:30–16:20
Nov 6 13:30–16:20
Nov 20 13:30–16:20
Dec 4 13:30–16:20
LAB 203468341 / 40Sep 22 13:30–16:20
Oct 6 13:30–16:20
Nov 3 13:30–16:20
Nov 17 13:30–16:20
Dec 1 13:30–16:20
LAB 204503915 / 32Sep 23 13:30–16:20
Oct 7 13:30–16:20
Nov 4 13:30–16:20
Nov 18 13:30–16:20
Dec 2 13:30–16:20
LAB 205851146 / 50Sep 14 08:30–11:20
Sep 28 08:30–11:20
Oct 19 08:30–11:20
Nov 9 08:30–11:20
Nov 23 08:30–11:20
LAB 206851244 / 45Sep 16 08:30–11:20
Sep 30 08:30–11:20
Oct 21 08:30–11:20
Nov 11 08:30–11:20
Nov 25 08:30–11:20
LAB 207851344 / 45Sep 18 08:30–11:20
Oct 2 08:30–11:20
Oct 23 08:30–11:20
Nov 13 08:30–11:20
Nov 27 08:30–11:20
TUT 1014599129 / 155M 14:30–15:20
TUT 1028510134 / 140Th 16:30–17:20

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 0014512141 / 155MTTh 11:30–12:20
Jan 22 11:30–12:20
Feb 5 11:30–12:20
Feb 26 11:30–12:20
Mar 12 11:30–12:20
Mar 26 11:30–12:20
Apr 9 11:30–12:20
LEC 0024579114 / 145MWF 12:30–13:20
Jan 21 12:30–13:20
Feb 4 12:30–13:20
Feb 25 12:30–13:20
Mar 11 12:30–13:20
Mar 25 12:30–13:20
Apr 8 12:30–13:20
LEC 70119420 / 9999Online or by arrangement
LAB 201520038 / 40Jan 20 13:30–16:20
Feb 3 13:30–16:20
Feb 24 13:30–16:20
Mar 17 13:30–16:20
Mar 31 13:30–16:20
LAB 202520138 / 40Jan 21 13:30–16:20
Feb 4 13:30–16:20
Feb 25 13:30–16:20
Mar 18 13:30–16:20
Apr 1 13:30–16:20
LAB 203520237 / 40Jan 18 13:30–16:20
Feb 1 13:30–16:20
Feb 22 13:30–16:20
Mar 15 13:30–16:20
Mar 29 13:30–16:20
LAB 204520328 / 35Jan 19 13:30–16:20
Feb 2 13:30–16:20
Feb 23 13:30–16:20
Mar 16 13:30–16:20
Mar 30 13:30–16:20
LAB 205520432 / 40Jan 20 08:30–11:20
Feb 3 08:30–11:20
Feb 24 08:30–11:20
Mar 17 08:30–11:20
Mar 31 08:30–11:20
LAB 206520530 / 40Jan 21 08:30–11:20
Feb 4 08:30–11:20
Feb 25 08:30–11:20
Mar 18 08:30–11:20
Apr 1 08:30–11:20
LAB 207520630 / 40Jan 18 08:30–11:20
Feb 1 08:30–11:20
Feb 22 08:30–11:20
Mar 15 08:30–11:20
Mar 29 08:30–11:20
LAB 208520722 / 25Jan 19 08:30–11:20
Feb 2 08:30–11:20
Feb 23 08:30–11:20
Mar 16 08:30–11:20
Mar 30 08:30–11:20
TUT 1014513141 / 155F 13:30–14:20
TUT 1024580114 / 145F 10:30–11:20

Resources

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Reviewed on UW Flow

65% liked it48% easy81% useful

From 480 ratings and 107 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • If you have Catherine Gebotys, good luck kiddo! Course is unorganized as hell. You try and watch her YouTube videos? you wont understand shit. Read the textbook? Boring as hell. When course transitioned from online to in person, she just played her yt videos in class 💀💀💀💀 . Had 4 chapter exams and quizzes but she never released the solution or atleast let us even see the questions we got wrong so we can use it as practice for the final. The lab document is so ambiguous lol that even the TAs are unsure of what its asking. This course is a shit show cuz of the prof teaching it.

    Apr 2022 · didn’t like it · 4 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Really cool concepts held back by a very bad prof and poorly designed tests

    Apr 2022 · didn’t like it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Read the textbook if you have Agnew.

    Dec 2020 · didn’t like it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand ECE 222. The logic is extremely subtle and without a solid grasp of memorization most of the concepts will go over a typical student's head. There’s also Agnew's cryptographic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation- his personal philosophy draws heavily from Willian Tutte and Bletchley Park, for instance. The highest IQ students understand this stuff, they have the memory capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these concepts, to realize that they're not just concepts- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike ECE 222 truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for…

    Oct 2017 · didn’t like it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Gives a very useful and intuitive low level understanding of how computers execute code and are built. The questions in the exams are very straightforward, but often require a small piece of "trivia" that may only be mentioned in one place

    Apr 2026 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

300 posts and comments in 213 threads mention ECE 222, December 2010 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.

Fall 2024

ECE 350 Horror Stories 2 points, 3 comments

“How hard and tedious are ECE350 labs compared to ECE252/298 labs? I'm quite interested in knowing how fucked the labs are. …”

u/ehhthing: “ECE 350 Labs are great, brush up on ECE 222 ARMv7. Note that the board you'll be using is the same as ECE 198. For how much the labs are worth, they're not actually that much work although lab 2 was somewhat frustrating to debug. …”

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Spring 2024

Fall 2023

Did anyone here transfer into Engineering 2nd year? 1 point, 1 comment

“I'm at UofT and I plan to transfer to UW CompE. I had already been admitted as a freshman but I now realise that I made a huge mistake selecting UofT over UW. So I'm going to apply for a transfer. …”

u/Lemonade3223: “Hi! I’m in a similar position. I was admitted to the mechatronics engineering program and took the offer. …”

u/uwthrowaway111111: “… The courses I needed to make up were ECE 222, ECE 108, and ECE 106 (I think?). I was taking 222 and 108 over my co-op term and ended up WDing them when I decided not to go ahead with the transfer. …”

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Admissions / High School Megathread (Fall 2023) 21 points, 71 comments

“This megathread is for prospective frosh and current high school students interested in Waterloo! PSA for new students Ask your questions down below! …”

u/Deni_Vu2304: “Is it practical to put EE as my first choice and transfer to CE later on or maybe choose courses that are software oriented in order to have similar experience to CE? …”

u/dl9500: “… - UW EEs do have access to specific relevant SW courses, including core courses ECE150, 222 and 250, and then are able to take ECE35x and 45x courses in 3B, 4A and 4B. …”

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Spring 2023

taking Digital Hardware Specialization 1 point, 5 comments

“I'm currently 3A CS. Kinda interested in those low-level stuff. I'm wondering if it is too late to take the Digital Hardware Specialization (considering all the courses that are required). …”

u/2kofawsome: “Too late, you need to apply in 1A to have it fit https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/current/programs/dighard/”

u/2kofawsome: “… If you look at the courses, ECE 124 -> ECE 222 -> ECE 327 -> ECE 423 which means you need 4 terms (and also you likely already took CS251 which conflicts with ECE 222). …”

u/ZeroooLuck: “First of all, 251 doesn't conflict with ECE 222. I took both of them. For any other readers of this thread in the future, it is not too late! Always have a chat with an advisor first!”

u/2kofawsome: “CS251 has ECE222 as an anti-req https://ucalendar.uwaterloo.ca/2324/COURSE/course-CS.html”

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ECE 222 or MTE 241 1 point, 1 comment

u/Ok-Sea-7342: “I'm looking at electives for this coming fall term and I'm unsure of which course would be more useful. I'm looking to learn more about low level embedded coding and microprocessors but I can't decide between these 2. …”

u/InternalAdagio: “If gebotys is teaching ECE 222 dont bother, you will learn nothing”

u/GapPuzzleheaded8442: “take ECE 222. MTE 241 is on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRXcHfGhRmpE3YCvCaib6mOswWSLoLc”

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ECE 2A 3 points, 10 comments

“How bad is ece 2A compared to 1B? Any tips on how to survive the next term which is fall23 since I barely passed 1B. I just hope I wont end up being braindead when learning the new 2A content lol. …”

u/ece240amirite: “I was in this situation once, please fix your shit and make sure you at least try to develop a study ethic for 2A esp with 240”

u/Tight_Document_1513: “Who were your profs for 2A? Afaik, mine will be ECE240 - Christopher Wilson ECE204 - Ayman El Hag ECE222 - Andrew Morton ECE250 - Ladan Thavildari”

u/SirNinjaToast: “ECE240 - Levine ECE204 - Douglas Harder ECE222 - Gebotys ECE250 - Ladan”

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Winter 2023

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar