All roadmaps

Backend Developer

Design APIs, model data, secure users, and run services in production.

Internet

What happens between typing a URL and seeing a page.

  1. How the internet works — Clients, servers, IP addresses, and how packets travel between them.
  2. HTTP and HTTPS — Requests, responses, methods, status codes, headers, and TLS.
  3. DNS and domain names — How a domain name resolves to an address and what records control it.
  4. Hosting — Where websites live: static hosting, servers, and platforms.
  5. How browsers work — Parsing, layout, painting, and the rendering pipeline.

JavaScript

The language of the web.

  1. Language fundamentals — Variables, types, functions, scope, closures, and control flow.
  2. The DOM and events — Select, change, and respond to elements in the page.
  3. Promises and async/await — Handle asynchronous work, errors, and the event loop.
  4. Modules — Split code into files with import and export.
  5. Fetching data — Call APIs with fetch, handle JSON, and deal with failures.

Git and GitHub

Track changes and collaborate with other developers.

  1. Commits and history — Stage, commit, and inspect changes in a repository.
  2. Branching and merging — Work in isolation and combine changes safely.
  3. Pull requests — Review and merge work with GitHub.

Node.js

Run JavaScript on the server.

  1. Runtime and modules — The event loop, ES modules, and the standard library.
  2. Package managers — Install, version, and publish dependencies with npm.
  3. Building an HTTP server — Handle routes, middleware, and errors.
  4. Configuration and environment — Keep secrets and settings out of source code.

APIs

Design interfaces other programs can rely on.

  1. REST principles — Resources, methods, status codes, and pagination.
  2. Validation and errors — Reject bad input early and return consistent error shapes.
  3. GraphQL — Query exactly the data a client needs.
  4. Documenting APIs — Describe endpoints with OpenAPI.

Databases

Store and query data reliably.

  1. SQL fundamentals — Select, join, group, and filter data.
  2. Schema design — Tables, relations, keys, and normalization.
  3. Indexes and transactions — Keep queries fast and updates consistent.
  4. NoSQL stores — Document, key-value, and cache stores and when to choose them.

Authentication and security

Identify users and protect their data.

  1. Sessions and tokens — Cookies, JWTs, and how to store them safely.
  2. OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect — Delegate sign-in to providers like Google.
  3. Common vulnerabilities — Injection, XSS, CSRF, and the OWASP Top 10.

Testing

Ship changes with confidence.

  1. Unit tests — Test small pieces of logic in isolation.
  2. Integration tests — Verify that modules work together.
  3. End-to-end tests — Automate real user flows in a browser.

Deployment

Get your application in front of users.

  1. Containers with Docker — Package an application and its dependencies.
  2. CI/CD — Automate tests and releases on every change.
  3. Cloud hosting — Choose between static hosts, serverless, and managed servers.
  4. Logging and monitoring — Notice and diagnose problems in production.

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