About this course: Solve real world problems with Java using multiple classes. Learn how to create programming solutions that scale using Java interfaces. Recognize that software engineering is more than writing code - it also involves logical thinking and design. By the end of this course you will have written a program that analyzes and sorts earthquake data, and developed a predictive text generator. After completing this course, you will be able to: 1. Use sorting appropriately in solving problems; 2. Develop classes that implement the Comparable interface; 3. Use timing data to analyze empirical performance; 4. Break problems into multiple classes, each with their own methods; 5. Determine if a class from the Java API can be used in solving a particular problem; 6. Implement programming solutions using multiple approaches and recognize tradeoffs; 7. Use object-oriented concepts including interfaces and abstract classes when developing programs; 8. Appropriately hide implementation decisions so they are not visible in public methods; and 9. Recognize the limitations of algorithms and Java programs in solving problems. 10. Recognize standard Java classes and idioms including exception-handling, static methods, java.net, and java.io packages.

Who is this class for: This course is for anyone who has taken the first three courses in the Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization, “Programming Foundations with JavaScript, HTML and CSS,” “Java Programming: Solving Problems with Software,” and “Java Programming: Arrays, Lists, and Structured Data.” To succeed in this course, before starting you should have a good understanding of the following: variables, conditionals, loops, methods, Strings, arrays, lists, maps, Java classes, and the edu.duke custom libraries.

Created by: Duke University

Taught by: Robert Duvall, Lecturer
Computer Science
Taught by: Owen Astrachan, Professor of the Practice
Computer Science
Taught by: Andrew D. Hilton, Assistant Professor of the Practice
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Taught by: Susan H. Rodger, Professor of the Practice
Computer Science

Basic Info	Course 4 of 5 in the Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization
Level	Beginner
Commitment	4 weeks of study, 4-8 hours/week
Language	English
How To Pass	Pass all graded assignments to complete the course.
User Ratings	4.6 stars Average User Rating 4.6See what learners said

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Welcome to the Course

Welcome to “Java Programming: Principles of Software Design”! We are excited that you are starting our course to learn how to write programs in Java, one of the most popular programming languages in the world. In this introductory module, you will hear an overview of this course and be introduced to the supporting resources available.

1 video, 1 reading

Video: Welcome!
Reading: Programming Resources

Earthquakes: Programming and Interfaces

In this module, we will introduce a data set containing details about earthquakes around the world. You will learn how to pull this data into a program, search through the data, and filter the data based on desired criteria. By the end of this module, you will be able to (1) write programs that include multiple classes and ArrayLists of class types, (2) find the maximum value in an ArrayList, (3) use a Filter interface to search through data, (4) implement interfaces with method signatures, and (5) combine several filters together.

11 videos, 5 readings, 2 practice quizzes

Reading: Module Learning Outcomes / Resources
Video: Introduction
Video: Relationships Between Classes
Video: Licensing and APIs
Reading: Location class documentation and license resources
Video: Coding a Magnitude Filter
Video: Coding the Closest Quakes
Video: Summary
Reading: Programming Exercise: Searching Earthquake Data
Practice Quiz: Searching Earthquake Data
Video: Introduction
Video: Interfaces to Avoid Duplication
Video: Interfaces in More Depth
Video: MatchAll
Video: Summary
Reading: Programming Exercise: Filtering Data
Practice Quiz: Filtering Data
Reading: End of Module Survey

Graded: Earthquakes: Programming and Interfaces

WEEK 2

Earthquakes: Sorting Algorithms

In this module, you will continue using real earthquake data to explore several sorting algorithms. You will learn how to implement a selection sort and a bubble sort, then be introduced to a Java method Collections.sort, which sorts with much greater efficiency. By the end of this module, you will be able to (1) implement several sorting algorithms from scratch, (2) use efficient pre-existing sorting classes, (3) modify a class’s compareTo method to choose the criteria by which objects of that type are ordered, and (4) write classes that implement the Comparator interface to create interchangeable sorting criteria.

12 videos, 4 readings, 2 practice quizzes

Reading: Module Learning Outcomes / Resources
Video: Introduction
Video: Developing an Algorithm
Video: Translating to Code
Video: In Place
Video: Efficiency
Video: Summary
Reading: Programming Exercise: Implementing Selection Sort
Practice Quiz: Implementing Selection Sort
Video: Introduction
Video: Comparable
Video: Ordering Quakes by Magnitude
Video: Comparator
Video: Comparator for Distance from a Location
Video: Summary
Reading: Programming Exercise: Sorting at Scale
Practice Quiz: Sorting at Scale
Reading: End of Module Survey

Graded: Earthquakes: Sorting Algorithms

WEEK 3

N-Grams: Predictive Text

In this module, you will explore some of the underlying concepts of predictive text. The first lesson will introduce random character generation and then how to train the character selection based on an input text. The second lesson will extend this concept to complete words. By the end of this module, you will be able to: (1) base random text generation on the frequency of characters in a training text, (2) collect a set of characters that occur in a text after randomly chosen initial character(s) to create a semi-random text, (3) extend the predictive text generation to use whole words, and (4) implement your own .equals method to compare complex data types.

15 videos, 6 readings, 4 practice quizzes

Reading: Module Learning Outcomes / Resources
Video: Introduction
Video: Order-Zero, Order-One
Video: Finding Follow Set
Video: Implementing Order-Two
Video: Testing and Debugging
Reading: Programming Exercise: Generating Random Text
Practice Quiz: Generating Random Text
Video: Interfaces and Abstract Classes
Video: Summary
Reading: Programming Exercise: Interface and Abstract Class
Practice Quiz: Interface and Abstract Class
Video: Introduction
Video: Order-One Concepts
Video: Order-One Helper Functions
Reading: Programming Exercise: Word N-Grams
Practice Quiz: Word N-Grams
Video: WordGram Class
Video: WordGram Class Implementation
Video: Equals and HashCode Methods
Video: Equals Method Implementation
Video: Summary
Reading: Programming Exercise: WordGram Class
Practice Quiz: WordGram Class
Reading: End of Module Survey

Graded: N-Grams: Predictive Text

WEEK 4

Java: Tools and Libraries for Everyone

As you reach the end of this series, you may wish to extend your Java experience to tools beyond those provided here. This module will cover some of the Java basic information that is needed to program without BlueJ or the edu.duke library. After completing this module, you will be able to: (1) write a main method to start a Java program in any programming environment, (2) use the “static” keyword to modify fields, (3) find alternative editors to use with Java, (4) use exceptions to debug your program and make it more robust, and (5) reference Java libraries that are necessary to read files without the edu.duke library.

13 videos, 3 readings

Reading: Module Learning Outcomes / Resources
Video: Miscellaneous Java
Video: Main Method
Video: Static
Video: Editors
Video: Summary
Video: Introduction
Video: Understanding Exceptions
Video: Handling Exceptions
Video: Declaring Exceptions
Video: Throwing Exceptions
Video: Reading Files with Java.nio
Video: Hello Around the World with Eclipse
Video: Summary
Reading: Where To Go From Here
Reading: End of Module Survey

Graded: Java: Tools and Libraries for Everyone

FAQs

How It Works

Coursework

Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.

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Creators

Duke University

Duke University has about 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students and a world-class faculty helping to expand the frontiers of knowledge. The university has a strong commitment to applying knowledge in service to society, both near its North Carolina campus and around the world.

Pricing

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Ratings and Reviews

Rated 4.6 out of 5 of 437 ratings

A very challenging course with a lot of assignments, great professors and discussion forum. But I feel like the instructors could have given the instructions more clearly on the assignment

Amazing course! Perfect for those who are serious about learning programming and Java!

The assignments get really cluttered sometimes and week 4's final quiz can certainly improve. Other than that, awesome course! :D

This is amazing course for beginners to gain more programming skills and behavior. If you are interested in such kind of specialization this course is for you