Overview

Develop the technical foundation to design and implement scalable, interconnected cloud systems. In this course, you’ll explore distributed architectures and web service design that power today’s high-performance applications. Through hands-on lessons, you’ll learn how distributed systems manage computation, storage, and communication across multiple machines, and how RESTful APIs enable seamless data exchange between services. You’ll also gain experience deploying applications using virtualization and cloud storage technologies. By the end of the course, you’ll be able to analyze distributed architectures, build and test web services using Flask, and apply containerization concepts with Docker. You’ll understand how cloud components integrate to create flexible, reliable, and scalable systems. Designed for learners seeking to expand their cloud development and systems engineering skills, this course bridges theory and practice through real-world use cases and guided coding exercises, preparing you for advanced studies or roles in cloud computing, backend development, or systems design.

Syllabus

Architecture Styles in Distributed Systems

In this module, you'll explore key architectural styles used in distributed systems, including client-server, peer-to-peer, layered, and microservices models. Through real-world case studies like Instagram, BitTorrent, Netflix, and Uber, you'll examine how each style supports scalability, performance, and system flexibility. By the end, you'll understand how architectural decisions shape the design and behavior of distributed applications.

Web Services Architecture

In this module, you'll learn how web services enable communication across the internet using HTTP, data formats like JSON and XML, and RESTful architecture. Through real-world use cases and guided code reviews, you'll explore the request/response model, how synchronous and asynchronous requests work, and how APIs are designed and integrated into cloud-based applications. By the end, you'll understand how modern web services are structured, accessed, and integrated into cloud-based applications.

In-Depth Look at RESTful Web Services

In this module, you'll take a hands-on approach to implementing RESTful web services using Flask. You’ll set up a basic Flask application, implement routing and HTTP methods, and manage static content and templates. Through interactive tutorials, code reviews, and an implementation assignment, you’ll learn how to design, structure, and debug lightweight RESTful APIs that are ready for deployment in cloud environments.

Virtualization in Cloud Computing

In this module, you'll examine how virtualization contributes to the foundation of cloud computing by enabling flexible, scalable infrastructure. You'll explore key technologies such as software-defined networking, software-defined storage, and containerization with Docker. Through hands-on activities, you'll learn how to deploy cloud-native applications using Docker and Flask-based RESTful APIs.

Cloud Storage

This module introduces you to the fundamentals of cloud storage, including key storage types, underlying systems, and distributed architectures. Through case studies, quizzes, and practice activities using Google Cloud and RESTful APIs, you’ll gain practical experience with block storage, object storage, and distributed file systems.