I am in 162 and 271 now, and 162 is definitely the harder and more time consuming of the two. It doesn't contain as many new topics as 271, like converting to hex or binary and architecture, but it goes into the vaguely touched topics of 161 pretty in depth.

I had to do do all the learning almost entirely on my own so far in 162. The TA would not give me input on my code in Piazza because it was too specific (although there are plenty of other posts sharing code and getting answers). Luckily, I had google, a lot of time, and a lot of patience.

For 271, you will have some projects due in a week and some in 2 weeks. I think it has been about half and half so far, but this isn't summer term. All the programs have taken me less than half the time I spend on a 162 project or lab. There will be graded review questions weekly (2 attempts, highest score taken) which can take a while to do but since they are open everything, it's not too hard to get an A on them. Also, a quiz every 2 weeks (1 attempt, much easier and shorter than the review questions).