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University of Alberta · on Coursera

Object-Oriented Design

Intermediate English SpecializationFREE
SkillsObject-oriented designUMLSoftware modellingDesign principlesJavaOO analysis

Is this course right for you?

Our take
Kenny Wong's University of Alberta course for programmers ready to stop just coding and start designing — thinking a system through before writing it.

Good for: Learning to design object-oriented software properly, beyond just coding.

Skip if: You are a complete programming beginner or want a specific framework tutorial.

It covers object-oriented analysis and modelling, UML and the core design principles, the skills that separate code that works from code that's built to last and change. That aim sets the entry bar: you'll want to be able to program a little already, so it's the wrong course for a complete beginner or for anyone after a specific framework tutorial. It opens the Software Design and Architecture Specialisation, worth knowing if you might continue.

Free to audit on Coursera; a certificate needs a subscription (about $49/month) or Coursera Plus, with financial aid available, though it's a learning record, not a formal engineering qualification. Design principles like these age slowly (as of 2026).

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About this course

Object-Oriented Design takes Java beginners to the next level by teaching how to think through software design before writing code. From the University of Alberta's Kenny Wong, it covers object-oriented analysis and modelling, expressing designs in UML, and principles like encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism that make software modular and maintainable — finishing with a hands-on capstone.

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Instructor

KW
Kenny Wong
Coursera instructor

Kenny Wong is an associate professor of computing science at the University of Alberta with many years teaching project-based software engineering. His courses are praised for clear explanations of core design principles.

Frequently asked questions

Some familiarity helps. Part of a University of Alberta software-design specialization, it uses object-oriented concepts and often Java and UML to illustrate design, so knowing basic Java (or another OO language) makes the material land. It is about design principles more than coding, but you get far more from it with programming grounding. Complete non-programmers would find the design concepts hard to apply.

It is design-focused, so more conceptual than a coding course — teaching how to design well-structured object-oriented software using principles, patterns, and UML modelling. But good design is practical, and you apply the ideas to real design problems rather than only reading definitions. Expect to think about structure and modelling rather than write lots of code, which is exactly the skill it aims to build.

Yes. It is a course within a University of Alberta specialization on software design and architecture. You can take it standalone for the object-oriented design material, but it is designed within that sequence, so if software design interests you the wider specialization — covering design patterns and architecture — builds naturally around it.

Yes, you can audit it on Coursera and watch the lectures at no cost. The graded assignments and the certificate require a subscription, with financial aid available if you apply. Since much of the value is understanding the design concepts, auditing gives you the substance if you want the ideas rather than the credential.

As a single course within a specialization, it typically runs a few weeks at a modest weekly pace. It is design- and concept-focused rather than a heavy coding build, so the time goes into absorbing the object-oriented design principles and applying them to modelling exercises, with the wider specialization a longer commitment if you continue.
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