Ever wonder how Netflix decides what movies to recommend for you? Or how Amazon recommends books? We can get a feel for how it works by building a simplified recommender of our own!
In this capstone, you will show off your problem solving and Java programming skills by creating recommender systems. You will work with data for movies, including ratings, but the principles involved can easily be adapted to books, restaurants, and more. You will write a program to answer questions about the data, including which items should be recommended to a user based on their ratings of several movies. Given input files on users ratings and movie titles, you will be able to:
1. Read in and parse data into lists and maps;
2. Calculate average ratings;
3. Calculate how similar a given rater is to another user based on ratings; and
4. Recommend movies to a given user based on ratings.
5. Display recommended movies for a given user on a webpage.
This course is part of the Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization
Java Programming: Build a Recommendation System
Offered By
About this Course
4.7
284 ratings
Skills you will gain
Data StructureInterfacesSoftware DesignJava Programming
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week
11 hour to complete
Introducing the Recommender
You will start out the capstone project by taking a look at the features of a recommender engine. Then you will choose how to read in and organize user, ratings, and movie data in your program. The programming exercise will provide a check on your progress before moving on to the next step.
2 videos (Total 13 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
2 readings
Module Description / Resources10m
Programming Exercise: Step One10m
1 practice exercise
Step One20m
Week
21 hour to complete
Simple Recommendations
Your second step in building a recommender will focus on making simple recommendations based on the average ratings that a movie receives. You'll also make sure that each recommended movie has a least a minimal number of user ratings before including it in your recommendations. Throughout this step you are encouraged you use your knowledge of the seven step process to design useful algorithms and successful programs to solve the challenges you will face.
1 video (Total 3 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
1 video
2 readings
Module Description10m
Programming Exercise: Step Two10m
1 practice exercise
Step Two20m
Week
31 hour to complete
Interfaces, Filters, Database
In your third step, you will be encouraged to use interfaces to rewrite your existing code, making it more flexible and more efficient. You will also add filters to select a desired subset of movies that you want to recommend, such as 'all movies under two hours long' or 'all movies made in 2012'. You'll also make your recommendation engine more efficient as you practice software design principles such as refactoring.
1 video (Total 8 min), 2 readings, 1 quiz
1 video
2 readings
Module Description10m
Programming Exercise: Step Three10m
1 practice exercise
Step Three20m
Week
43 hours to complete
Weighted Averages
In your fourth step, you will complete your recommendation engine by finding users in the database that have similar ratings and weighting their input to provide a more personal recommendation for the users of your program. Once you complete this step, you could request ratings of movies from those you know, run your program, and give them recommendations tailored to their own interests and tastes!
1 video (Total 14 min), 2 readings, 2 quizzes
1 video
2 readings
Module Description10m
Programming Exercise: Step Four10m
1 practice exercise
Step Four22m
1 minute to complete
Farewell
Congratulations on completing your recommender programming project! As we conclude this capstone course, our instructors have a few parting words as you embark in future learning and work in computer science!
1 video (Total 1 min)
1 video
4.7
50 Reviews33%
started a new career after completing these courses
35%
got a tangible career benefit from this course
Top Reviews
I really like this approach to a final project. I learned a lot outside of the course by using a different, full-featured IDE and writing unit tests for my code. Pretty challenging!
Challenging, but I feel that I learned a lot about programming. I'm looking forward to the UCSD intermediate programming course.
Instructors
Robert Duvall
LecturerComputer Science
Owen Astrachan
Professor of the PracticeComputer Science
Andrew D. Hilton
Associate Professor of the PracticeElectrical and Computer Engineering
Susan H. Rodger
Professor of the PracticeComputer Science
About 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.
About the Java Programming and Software Engineering Fundamentals Specialization
Take your first step towards a career in software development with this introduction to Java—one of the most in-demand programming languages and the foundation of the Android operating system. Designed for beginners, this Specialization will teach you core programming concepts and equip you to write programs to solve complex problems. In addition, you will gain the foundational skills a software engineer needs to solve real-world problems, from designing algorithms to testing and debugging your programs.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Once you enroll for a Certificate, you’ll have access to all videos, quizzes, and programming assignments (if applicable). Peer review assignments can only be submitted and reviewed once your session has begun. If you choose to explore the course without purchasing, you may not be able to access certain assignments.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
What is the refund policy?
Is financial aid available?
Will I receive a transcript from Duke University for completing this course?
No. Completion of a Coursera course does not earn you academic credit from Duke; therefore, Duke is not able to provide you with a university transcript. However, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
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