EECS 485: Web Systems

The University of Michigan
Fall 2026

A holistic course of modern web systems and technologies, covering front end and back end. Build a ChatGPT clone in the first half of the semester and a Google clone in the second. Syllabus

EECS 485 Group Form Survey

Looking for project group members? Please fill out this survey to find classmates with compatible schedules, working styles, and preferences by Sept 12, 11:59pm.

Welcome to EECS 485, Fall 2026!

We're so glad you're here! A few announcements for first week of class:

  • Attend any lecture or lab section. If you are registered for the ARR lecture section, you are welcome in the in-person lectures. Attendance is not graded.
  • Yes we have lab during first week of classes
  • Read the syllabus
  • Add the exams to your calendar: Oct 27, 7pm; Dec 14, 7pm
  • New this term: ChatGPT clone project sequence! (replaces Instagram)

This Week

Schedule

Day Lecture Lab Deadline
Week 1
Aug 31 - Sep 4

L01 Introduction

L02 Static Pages

Project 1 Intro
Week 2
Sep 7 - 11

L03 Server-side Dynamic Pages

L04 Sessions

Python
Week 3
Sep 14 - 18

L05 Encryption

L06 Web Security

Project 2 Intro and Databases
Project 1 due Tue Sep 15 11:59pm
Week 4
Sep 21 - 25

L07 REST APIs

L08 Client-side Dynamic Pages

Flask and Sessions
Week 5
Sep 28 - Oct 2

L09 Client-side Applications

L10 Asynchronous Programming

P3 Intro and Rest APIs
Project 2 due Tue Sep 29 11:59pm
Week 6
Oct 5 - 9

L11 MapReduce

L12 Google File System
(last lecture on midterm)

Asynchronous Programming and React
Week 7
Oct 12 - 16

L13 OS and Parallelism

L14 Networking

In-lab office hours

Project 3 due Fri Oct 16 11:59pm
Week 8
Oct 19 - 23

No lecture - Fall Break

No lecture

No lab
Week 9
Oct 26 - 30

No lecture

No lecture

No lab
Midterm Tue Oct 27, 7pm
Week 10
Nov 2 - 6

L15 Text Analysis for Web Search

L16 Link Analysis for Web Search

Project 4 Intro and MapReduce
Week 11
Nov 9 - 13

L17 Scaling Search

L18 Scaling Static Pages

Multithreaded Debugging
Week 12
Nov 16 - 20

L19 Scaling Dynamic Pages

L20 Scaling Storage

Project 5 Intro and MapReduce Pipelines
Project 4 due Fri Nov 20 11:59pm
Week 13
Nov 23 - 27

No lecture

No lecture - Thanksgiving

No lab

Week 14
Nov 30 - Dec 4

L21 Recommender Systems

L22 Ads and Auctions

Inverted Index Servers
Week 15
Dec 7 - 11

L23 Blockchain

L24 Dark Web

TBD
Project 5 due Tue Dec 8 11:59pm
Exam Week
Final Mon
Dec 14, 7pm

People

Reach us at eecs485staff@umich.edu

Andrew DeOrio head shot
Andrew DeOrio

awdeorio@umich.edu

andrewdeorio.com

Raed Almomani head shot
Raed Almomani

almomani@umich.edu