Foundations
Programming Fundamentals beginner Get comfortable with variables, control flow, functions, modules, and async patterns. Understanding runtime behavior and non-blocking I/O is non-negotiable before building servers.
Computer Science 14h
Foundations
HTTP & REST APIs beginner Understand HTTP methods, status codes, headers, and request/response cycles. Learn REST constraints before adopting any framework — build a raw HTTP server first.
10h Data Layer
Database Fundamentals beginner Learn relational modeling, normalization, joins, indexes, and transactions in PostgreSQL. Write raw SQL before reaching for an ORM — you need to understand what the ORM generates.
14h Pick Express or Fastify and learn middleware, route organization, validation, and error handling patterns. Fastify is faster and has built-in schema validation — start there for new projects.
12h Security
Authentication & Authorization intermediate Implement JWT-based authentication, refresh token rotation, role-based access control, and OAuth 2.0 flows. Never store passwords in plain text — use bcrypt with a proper cost factor.
12h Data Layer
ORM & Data Access intermediate Use Prisma to define schemas, generate type-safe clients, and run migrations. Know when to drop down to raw SQL for complex queries the ORM handles poorly.
10h Infrastructure
Caching & Message Queues intermediate Use Redis for caching hot data, session storage, and rate limiting. Add BullMQ for background jobs like email sends and report generation — stop blocking your request handlers.
10h Architecture
API Design & Documentation intermediate Design consistent, versioned APIs with proper pagination, filtering, and error responses. Generate OpenAPI specs from your code and keep documentation in sync automatically.
8h Quality
Testing & Observability advanced Write unit tests for business logic, integration tests for API routes with a real database, and add structured logging with request tracing. If you cannot observe it, you cannot debug it in production.
12h Ship It
Docker & Deployment advanced Containerize your application with multi-stage Docker builds, set up Docker Compose for local development, and deploy to a cloud platform with health checks and zero-downtime rolling updates.
10h 