Software Design and Architecture

Mindful Strategies for Quality Software. Think like an expert architect and create quality software using design patterns and principles.

Instructor: Kenny Wong

Beginner Level • 8 hours to complete Recommended experience • Flexible Schedule

Skills You'll Gain

Code Review
Systems Architecture
Service Oriented Architecture
Java
Software Design Documents
Microservices
Software Visualization
Web Services
Object Oriented Design
Software Systems
Software Design Patterns
Software Architecture

Shareable Certificate

Earn a shareable certificate to add to your LinkedIn profile

Outcomes

  • Learn in-demand skills from university and industry experts
  • Master a subject or tool with hands-on projects
  • Develop a deep understanding of key concepts
  • Earn a career certificate from University of Alberta

4 courses series

This course takes Java beginners to the next level by covering object-oriented analysis and design. You will discover how to create modular, flexible, and reusable software, by applying object-oriented design principles and guidelines. And, you will be able to communicate these designs in a visual notation known as Unified Modelling Language (UML).You will be challenged in the Capstone Project to apply your knowledge of object-oriented design by evolving and documenting the Java codebase for an Android application with corresponding UML documentation. After completing this course, you will be able to: • Apply the Class Responsibility Collaborator (CRC) technique to analyze and design the object-oriented model for a problem. • Explain and apply object-oriented modeling principles and their purpose (e.g., abstraction, encapsulation, decomposition, generalization). • Explain and apply different types of inheritance • Explain the difference between association, aggregation, and composition dependencies. • Express object-oriented models as Unified Modeling Language (UML) class diagrams. • Translate between UML class diagrams and equivalent Java code. • Apply design guidelines for modularity, separation of concerns, information hiding, and conceptual integrity to create a flexible, reusable, maintainable design. • Explain the tradeoff between cohesion and coupling.

This course extends object-oriented analysis and design by incorporating design patterns to create interactive applications. Through a survey of established design patterns, you will gain a foundation for more complex software applications. Finally, you will identify problematic software designs by referencing a catalog of code smells.You will be challenged in the Capstone Project to redesign an existing Java-based Android application to implement a combination of design patterns. You will also critique a given Java codebase for code smells. After completing this course, you will be able to: • Demonstrate how to use design patterns to address user interface design issues. • Identify the most suitable design pattern to address a given application design problem. • Apply design principles (e.g., open-closed, dependency inversion, least knowledge). • Critique code by identifying and refactoring anti-patterns. • Apply the model-view-controller architectural pattern.

The way that software components — subroutines, classes, functions, etc. — are arranged, and the interactions between them, is called architecture. In this course you will study the ways these architectures are represented, both in UML and other visual tools. We will introduce the most common architectures, their qualities, and tradeoffs. We will talk about how architectures are evaluated, what makes a good architecture, and an architecture can be improved. We'll also talk about how the architecture touches on the process of software development.In the Capstone Project you will document a Java-based Android application with UML diagrams and analyze evaluate the application’s architecture using the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM). After completing this course, you will be able to: • Compare and contrast the components, connections, protocols, topologies, constraints, tradeoffs, and variations of different types of architectural styles used in the design of applications and systems (e.g., main program and subroutine, object-oriented, interpreters, pipes and filters, database centric, event-based). • Describe the properties of layered and n-tier architectures. • Create UML ipackage, component, and deployment diagrams to express the architectural structure of a system. • Explain the behaviour of a system using UML activity diagrams. • Document a multi-application system with a layered architecture.

Based on an understanding of architectural styles, you will review architectures for web applications, then explore the basics of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in two approaches: Web Services (WS*) and Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture. In the Capstone Project you will connect a Java-based Android application with Elasticsearch, a web service with a REST application programmer interface (API). After completing this course, you will be able to: • Describe SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture) to structure web-based systems. • Explain WS* services (i.e., SOAP over HTTP, WSDL, UDDI, BPEL). • Apply REST architecture (i.e., JSON over HTTP, URI). • Identify REST design principles. • Create a system using REST interfaces. • Apply microservice architecture.

Learner Testimonials

Felipe M.
Felipe M. • Learner since 2018

To be able to take courses at my own pace and rhythm has been an amazing experience. I can learn whenever it fits my schedule and mood.

Jennifer J.
Jennifer J. • Learner since 2020

I directly applied the concepts and skills I learned from my courses to an exciting new project at work.

Larry W.
Larry W. • Learner since 2021

When I need courses on topics that my university doesn't offer, Coursera is one of the best places to go.

Chaitanya A.
Chaitanya A. • Learner since 2727

Learning isn't just about being better at your job: it's so much more than that. Coursera allows me to learn without limits.