After the core: specialise · The Infrastructure Roles · path 4 of 13
Backend Developer
Builds the hidden engine behind an app: the server, the data, the rules and the security.
🔒 This path opens once you pass the final examination. You can read the path guide and module list now.
Choose this path if you want to build the servers, APIs and databases that store data safely and answer every request.
Where you see it daily: Your login working, your order being saved and your payment going through, all behind the scenes.
Builds on: Level 4 (Full-Stack Applications), Level 5 (Databases and Data) and Level 8 (Advanced Architecture).
Start here
Ready
Path guide
Role, outcomes, prerequisites, setup, costs, hardware and workload. Open to everyone.
Entry diagnostic
10 questions on the core lessons this path builds on, with revision links. Optional.
Projects and capstone
4 briefs with starter files, acceptance tests and a saved self-check.
Completion record
Your lessons, quizzes, path test and project self-checks in one place.
What you'll focus on
System design
Split large systems into smaller services, put a single front door (an API gateway) in front of them, and let services talk by sending messages instead of waiting on each other.
Tools and ideas: microservices, API gateways, event-driven design with Kafka or RabbitMQ, REST and GraphQL APIs; Node.js, Python, Go or Java
Databases and caching
Keep data fast as it grows: indexes for quick lookups, splitting data across machines (sharding), keeping copies (replication), and a fast memory layer for common answers.
Tools and ideas: indexing, sharding, replication, Redis, PostgreSQL, MongoDB
Security and sign-in
Let people sign in safely with standard protocols, stop abuse by limiting how often someone can call your server, and protect data with encryption.
Tools and ideas: OAuth2, OpenID Connect (OIDC), rate limiting, encryption
What makes this path different
Backend work is invisible but carries the rules, the data and the security. Unlike frontend, nobody sees your screens; they feel your work when it is fast, correct and safe, and they feel it badly when it isn't.
Modules
Opens after you pass the final examination.
- 1BE1: Designing APIs that lastBackend Developer · Focus area 1: System design✓
- 2BE2: Data that stays correctBackend Developer · Focus area 2: Databases and caching✓
- 3BE3: Fast queriesBackend Developer · Focus area 2: Databases and caching✓
- 4BE4: Caching with RedisBackend Developer · Focus area 2: Databases and caching✓
- 5BE5: Sign-in with OAuth 2 and OpenID ConnectBackend Developer · Focus area 3: Security and sign-in✓
- 6BE6: Protecting the APIBackend Developer · Focus area 3: Security and sign-in✓
- 7BE7: Messages and queuesBackend Developer · Focus area 4: Messages and services✓
- 8BE8: Services and gatewaysBackend Developer · Focus area 4: Messages and services✓
- 9BE9: Testing and running in productionBackend Developer · Focus area 5: Quality and operations✓
- 10BE10: Capstone: three backend projects for TiffinBoxBackend Developer · Capstone✓
40 questions from every module, in new situations. Opens once you've passed the final examination and every module quiz in this path.
What you'll build
Projects you can show, because working software proves capability in a way tests alone can't.
- An orders API that checks sign-in tokens from a practice OAuth2 and OpenID Connect server, with shared rate limits and automated tests.
- A cache that measurably speeds up a slow, busy endpoint.
- Two services that talk through a Redis stream and cope when one is down for a while.