In Programming, I had eight assignments a semester.
In Algorithms I had four assignments.
In Systems, I had eight assignments (four of which were group).
In Discrete Maths, I had ten assignments.
In Statistics (*ugh*), I had four assignments (all group).
In Japanese, I had tests and assignments throughout the semesters (all three - Autumn/Spring/Summer - that I've done it). The subjects for Japanese have been assessed 90% continuous assessment, 10% participation.
In Japanese History I only had two assignments (essays, one worth 30%, and the other worth 40%), and multitudes of little quizzes which added to 30% based on the week's readings.
What I'm trying to say is the subject outline (maybe even the description) will tell you what your assignments are and when due. The most you can do to prepare yourself is expect lots of assignments. However, you might be lucky and have very little. Some subjects (say in the Arts faculty) might not have lots of assignments, but for the few there are, lots of work needs to be done. Moreso than other subjects.
A subject with eight little assignments is no different than a subject with two big ones. I spent more time on my Japanese History essays than I did on my programming ones, since I'm not skillful enough to pull a piece of writing out of my behind. The programming assignments involved me sitting down, reading/re-reading a specification, thinking of an algorithm to solve the problem and converting that algorithm to code. The history assignments involved reading the specification, re-reading the specification. Looking at the options, seeing how much info for an option I could use, deciding on an option. Researching that option. Writing notes on that option. Deciding that I'm going nowhere, and choosing another option. Research, research, research, research. Writing a huge essay with all the information I found (upwards of double to triple the word limit), then cropping it down to size by keeping the important bits, shortening paragraphs. Then rewriting the essays so all using the same language and style is constant. Once the essays were typed, I then had to ensure I got all my refrences correct. I had an annotated bibliography and I used the correct style of refrencing (footnoting, endnoting or in-text).
So what I tried to say, don't judge a subject by how many assignments you get. Look at the weighting, and you'll see you need to put more effort into some assignments then others.