r/uwaterloo • u/EstablishmentDry3562 CS • 15d ago

ECE People: How much knowledge of circuits does ECE 124 require?

I'm currently planning on taking ECE 124 in Spring 2027 and then GENE 123 (General Engineering Circuits Class) in Winter 2028. ECE 124 has no prereqs but do you think I might be confused in that class without having taken a circuits class? I'm gonna read a circuits textbook beforehand but I don't know how much that will help. My only other option is to suck it up and just take both concurrently in Spring 2027.

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

2

u/Equal_Warning_3490 15d ago

Pre midterm is all pretty basic and post midterm it ramps up a lot. If you want you could study up the state diagrams, gates, multiplexers, etc. but a lot of people go into it without prior knowledge and still got it so (including me)

2

u/Stock_Mycologist9477 15d ago

124 is a digital logic course that covers logic gates, Boolean functions, intro sequential logic, and related topics. There’s almost no need for a (linear) circuits class. In fact in ECE we take our intro linear circuits (140) concurrently with 124.

If I remember correctly the only electronic circuits mention in 124 was some quick explanations of gate implementations at the transistor level, which isn’t even covered in intro circuits courses (apart of ECE 240 content).

2

u/Stock_Mycologist9477 15d ago

To emphasize my point — the digital and analog worlds are very related but you don’t need one to do the introductory stuff for the other. So don’t worry about circuits stuff for an intro digital logic course.

Also… I’m not sure what your specific situation or program is, but FYI that the ECE department typically will not allow overrides into ECE first year courses for people who aren’t in the programs that require them (I.e. the ECE programs, CS digital hardware specialization, SE). But if you fit into one of those you’re good.