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The Backend guides & blogs

Backend

Design, secure, and scale a real backend service — and reason about every layer between the browser and the database.

49 guides & blogs·6 stages·≈ 7 hr

Start with Common Foundations — it counts on every subject.

  1. 01

    HTTP, APIs & the backend core

    ≈ 1 hr

    The request/response contract, REST and GraphQL, databases, auth, caching, jobs, and getting it deployed.

    Backend Engineering from ZeroA plain-English guide to backend engineering from first principles — HTTP, APIs, REST and GraphQL, databases and indexes, authentication and authorization, caching, background jobs and queues, and deployment. No hype.10 chapters·≈ 1 hr
  2. 02

    Object-oriented design

    47 min

    The paradigm most backend code is organised around — objects and classes, the four pillars, and composition over inheritance. Concept-first, not tied to any language.

    Object-Oriented Programming, Concept-FirstA plain-English, language-agnostic guide to object-oriented programming — objects and classes, and the four pillars: encapsulation, abstraction, inheritance, and polymorphism, plus why "composition over inheritance" is the advice you hear most. Concepts, not syntax.6 chapters·47 min
  3. 03

    Databases, deeply

    ≈ 1 hr

    Indexes, query planning, transactions, isolation, and the schema decisions that make or break performance.

    Databases, DeeplyA deep, plain-English guide to how relational databases actually work — the relational model, indexes and B-trees, joins and query planning, transactions and ACID, isolation levels and locking, normalization, SQL vs NoSQL, and the connection pool and N+1 problems at the application seam. No hype.8 chapters·≈ 1 hr
  4. 04

    Authentication & access

    ≈ 1 hr

    Sessions to OAuth to RBAC — who a request is from, and what it is allowed to do.

    Authentication: The Complete GuideA plain-English guide to authentication and access — sessions, cookies, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), OAuth, OpenID Connect, API keys, role-based access control (RBAC), and refresh tokens. No hype.8 chapters·≈ 1 hr
  5. 05

    Web security

    ≈ 1 hr

    How real attacks work — XSS, CSRF, SQL injection — and the defences that actually hold.

    Web Security Beyond Auth: How Attacks Work and How to Stop ThemA plain-English guide to web application security — the attacker mindset and trust boundaries, the same-origin policy and CORS, XSS, CSRF, SQL injection, HTTPS and TLS, security headers, and defence in depth. How real attacks work, and the fixes that actually hold. No hype.8 chapters·≈ 1 hr
  6. 06

    System design

    ≈ 1 hr

    Load balancers, replication, sharding, queues, and event-driven architecture — scaling past one box.

    System Design FundamentalsA plain-English guide to system design — scalability, load balancers, reverse proxies, CDNs, caching at scale, database replication and sharding, message queues, and event-driven architecture. No hype.9 chapters·≈ 1 hr

Shelves don't teach. Guides do.

Start: Backend Engineering from Zero