Now that you're warmed up, it's time to get started planning for the bulk of your capstone project. This week you will identify several questions you'd like to answer about the social network data. For each of these questions, you'll research and evaluate data structures and algorithms that would be useful in implementing a solution. Defining the scope of your project and anticipating bottlenecks and tricky spots is tough but extremely valuable. You'll use asymptotic analysis to guide and refine your design.

Now that you've identified the two problems you want to solve, this week you'll work to solve the easier of the two. This week you are predominately on your own to work independently. To solve the problem, you'll likely create small datasets for testing, research existing solutions to related problems, implement a solution, test your solution, and analyze the algorithmic runtime of the solution. You can optionally write-up a report of your work for peer-review feedback.

This week, you will work on your own on the larger problem you aim to solve. You'll have two weeks (this and the next) to solve the larger problem and submit a report for peer feedback. For this week, you should aim to create small test datasets, research exist solutions, and analyze the runtime of your potential solutions. You should also research datasets which might be particularly interesting for your problem.

Now you get to finalize your project! This week, you will finish your solution to the larger problem and submit a report for peer feedback. This is also an opportunity for reflection about what went well and what went poorly in the process of completing the project. It is also an opportunity to reflect on how far your technical skills have advanced since the beginning of this specialization.

In this week, you get to present your project to the learner community! This will combine all the skills you've learned in the specialization: algorithm analysis, object oriented programming, design and use of data structures, and presenting your work with confidence. We look forward to seeing what you've created!