This was one of my favorite CS classes at UCLA. Professor Palsberg is an amazing professor. He developed this course because he became interested in quantum programming and you can really tell his passion for the subject. Each lecture is very clear and organized and he provides nicely typed-up lecture notes for each lecture.

The first half of the course covers quantum mechanics, linear algebra, and quantum algorithms. If you don't have a strong background in linear algebra, the homeworks and midterm will be a little rough. Palsberg recommends Math 115A as an unofficial pre-req to this course. The second half of the course involves actually writing and running quantum programs in different languages, and then writing reports on the results. It's very cool!

The course covers some of the most elementary and fundamental concepts in quantum programming. The class starts at first principles and does much to break down the layers of notation, which I greatly appreciate. (I've personally found quantum computing quite notation-heavy and generally inaccessible to an outsider when I first explored it on my own.)

On the other hand, I wish there were more discussions about how can we learn more about quantum computing on our own. I found that there is still a gap between what’s covered in the course and the literature, which often makes heavy use of terms from physics. I think a component dedicated to reading recent literature would be quite useful, especially for a graduate-level course like this one.

Additionally, I think it would be a very real boon to the CS instruction at UCLA if the course is offered as cross-listed for both undergraduate and graduate students. The course material is, and from what I can tell is designed to be, quite accessible to undergraduates. But the enrollment process was a bit nerve-inducing for myself, an undergrad.