Developer Guide

Backend Developer

Build production-ready backends with Node.js, Express, MongoDB, and Redis

36 sections

76 lessons

508 min

Start Learning

Course Content

36 sections • 76 lessons • 508 min total

🟢

Foundations

Start here - no prior experience needed

6 sections

What is Backend?

Servers, databases, APIs, and how the web works

Choosing a Language

JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust, and more

Frameworks Overview

Express, FastAPI, Django, Spring Boot comparison

Node.js Runtime

Event loop, modules, and npm

JavaScript for Backend

Async patterns, error handling

TypeScript Setup

Configuration and development workflow

TypeScript Patterns

Generics, utility types, type-safe APIs

package.json

Dependencies, scripts, and project config

Entry Point

Server startup and graceful shutdown

Environment Variables

Configuration and secrets management

Getting Started

Setup and basic concepts

Routing

URL patterns and route handlers

Middleware

Request pipeline and common patterns

API Design

REST patterns and response formats

Git & GitHub

Workflows, PRs, GitHub Actions

🟡

Core Development

Build real applications - some experience recommended

18 sections

Input Validation

Why and how to validate user input

Zod Schemas

Type-safe validation with Zod

Error Patterns

Custom errors, async handling, middleware

Recovery Strategies

Retries, fallbacks, circuit breakers

Project Structure

Folder organization and file patterns

Controllers

Request handling and response formatting

Services

Business logic layer

Models

Data schemas and database interaction

Utils & Helpers

Reusable functions and utilities

Common Patterns

Repository, Factory, Singleton, Strategy, DI

MongoDB

Document database with Mongoose

Redis

Caching and session storage

PostgreSQL Introduction

SQL vs NoSQL, when to choose PostgreSQL

Prisma ORM

Type-safe database access with Prisma

OpenAPI & Swagger

Auto-generate interactive API docs

API Contracts

Schema validation, versioning, breaking changes

Testing Introduction

Why test and choosing a framework

Unit Testing

Testing individual functions

Mocking

Isolating code with mocks and stubs

Integration Testing

Testing API endpoints with Supertest

Authentication

JWT, sessions, and auth flows

Encryption & Hashing

Passwords, tokens, and sensitive data

Security Headers

CORS, Helmet, and HTTP security

OWASP Top 10

Injection, XSS, CSRF, and common vulnerabilities

Sessions & Cookies

Secure session management and cookie security

Implementation

Protect APIs from abuse with rate limits

Local Uploads

Multer, Formidable, and Busboy

Cloud Storage

S3, Cloudinary, GCS, and more

Sending Emails

Nodemailer, SendGrid, Resend, AWS SES

Receiving Webhooks

Handle incoming webhooks from Stripe, GitHub, etc.

Sending Webhooks

Build your own webhook system

Stripe Integration

Checkout, subscriptions, and webhooks

Introduction

Real-time bidirectional communication

Socket.io

Rooms, namespaces, and production patterns

Job Queues

BullMQ, Agenda, and async processing

Scheduled Tasks

Cron jobs and recurring tasks

Introduction

REST vs GraphQL, when to use each

Apollo Server

Resolvers, context, DataLoader, subscriptions

Full-Text Search

Elasticsearch, Meilisearch, Atlas Search

🔴

Production & DevOps

Deploy and scale - significant experience required

12 sections

Introduction

Continuous Integration and Deployment basics

GitHub Actions

Automated testing, building, and deployment

Reverse Proxy

Load balancing, SSL, static files, caching

Docker

Containerize your application

Cloud Platforms

Railway, Render, Fly.io, AWS

PM2 Process Manager

Clustering, monitoring, zero-downtime

Optimization

Profiling, N+1 queries, memory leaks

Caching Strategies

Redis patterns, HTTP caching, invalidation

CDN & Edge Caching

Cloudflare, CloudFront, edge caching

Scaling Strategies

Replication, sharding, read replicas, pooling

Introduction

Async communication between services

RabbitMQ

Exchanges, queues, and routing patterns

Apache Kafka

High-throughput event streaming

Logging

Structured logs with Pino

Telemetry

Metrics, traces, and monitoring

Introduction

Functions without servers, when to go serverless

Platforms

Vercel, Cloudflare Workers, AWS Lambda

Basics

Pods, services, deployments, and scaling

Introduction

Monolith vs microservices, when to use each

Service Communication

REST, gRPC, message queues

Patterns

API Gateway, service discovery, circuit breakers

Putting It Together

Full project structure and patterns

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Backend Developer

Course Content

Foundations

Introduction

What is Backend?

Choosing a Language

Frameworks Overview

Fundamentals

Node.js Runtime

JavaScript for Backend

TypeScript

TypeScript Setup

TypeScript Patterns

Project Setup

package.json

Entry Point

Environment Variables

Express.js

Getting Started

Routing

Middleware

API Design

Version Control

Git & GitHub

Core Development

Validation

Input Validation

Zod Schemas

Error Handling

Error Patterns

Recovery Strategies

Architecture

Project Structure

Controllers

Services

Models

Utils & Helpers

Design Patterns

Common Patterns

Databases

MongoDB

Redis

PostgreSQL Introduction

Prisma ORM

API Documentation

OpenAPI & Swagger

API Contracts

Testing

Testing Introduction

Unit Testing

Mocking

Integration Testing

Security

Authentication

Encryption & Hashing

Security Headers

Web Security

OWASP Top 10

Sessions & Cookies

Rate Limiting

Implementation

File Uploads

Local Uploads

Cloud Storage

Email

Sending Emails

Webhooks

Receiving Webhooks

Sending Webhooks

Payments

Stripe Integration

WebSockets

Introduction

Socket.io

Background Jobs

Job Queues

Scheduled Tasks

GraphQL

Introduction

Apollo Server