export default backend-guide

name	backend-guide
description	Complete backend development guide covering Node.js, Python, Go, Java, PHP, databases, APIs, authentication, and server architecture. Use when building server applications, APIs, or backend systems.

Backend Development Guide

Build scalable, secure, and maintainable backend systems with comprehensive learning resources.

Quick Start

Choose your backend language journey:

Node.js (JavaScript)

// Express.js simple API
const express = require('express');
const app = express();

app.get('/api/users/:id', async (req, res) => {
  const user = await User.findById(req.params.id);
  res.json(user);
});

app.listen(3000, () => console.log('Server running'));

Python

# FastAPI example
from fastapi import FastAPI
from sqlalchemy.orm import Session

app = FastAPI()

@app.get("/users/{user_id}")
async def get_user(user_id: int, db: Session = Depends(get_db)):
    user = db.query(User).filter(User.id == user_id).first()
    return user

Go

// Gin framework example
package main

import "github.com/gin-gonic/gin"

func main() {
    r := gin.Default()

    r.GET("/api/users/:id", func(c *gin.Context) {
        user := getUser(c.Param("id"))
        c.JSON(200, user)
    })

    r.Run()
}

Backend Technology Paths

Node.js/JavaScript

• Frameworks: Express, Fastify, NestJS, Koa
• Package Manager: npm, yarn, pnpm
• Database Drivers: Mongoose, Sequelize, TypeORM
• Async: Promises, async/await, event loop

Python

• Frameworks: Django, Flask, FastAPI, Pyramid
• ORM: SQLAlchemy, Django ORM
• Async: asyncio, FastAPI async support
• Data Processing: NumPy, Pandas

Go

• Frameworks: Gin, Echo, Beego
• Concurrency: Goroutines, channels
• Standard Library: Excellent built-in packages
• Performance: Compiled, extremely fast

Java

• Frameworks: Spring Boot, Quarkus
• Build Tools: Maven, Gradle
• JVM Ecosystem: Comprehensive libraries
• Performance: Mature optimization

PHP

• Frameworks: Laravel, Symfony, Slim
• Database: Eloquent ORM, Doctrine
• Modern PHP: 8.0+, typed properties
• Deployment: Easy hosting, mature ecosystem

Database Fundamentals

Relational Databases

• PostgreSQL: Advanced features, JSON support, reliability
• MySQL: Wide adoption, good performance
• SQL Server: Enterprise choice

-- Design example
CREATE TABLE users (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  email VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

CREATE TABLE posts (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  user_id INTEGER REFERENCES users(id),
  title VARCHAR(255),
  content TEXT
);

NoSQL Databases

• MongoDB: Document-oriented, flexible schema
• Redis: In-memory, caching and sessions
• Cassandra: Distributed, high availability

Database Best Practices

• Normalization (1NF, 2NF, 3NF)
• Indexing strategy
• Query optimization
• Connection pooling
• Backup and recovery

API Development

REST APIs

// RESTful endpoints
GET    /api/users              # List all users
GET    /api/users/:id          # Get single user
POST   /api/users              # Create user
PUT    /api/users/:id          # Update user
DELETE /api/users/:id          # Delete user

GraphQL

• Schema design
• Resolvers and data fetching
• Query and mutation design
• Subscriptions for real-time data
• Performance optimization (batching, caching)

API Security

• Authentication (JWT, OAuth2, sessions)
• Authorization (RBAC, permissions)
• Rate limiting
• Input validation
• CORS configuration

Authentication & Authorization

Authentication Methods

// JWT Example
const token = jwt.sign({ userId: user.id }, SECRET, { expiresIn: '7d' });
const verified = jwt.verify(token, SECRET);

Authorization

• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC)
• Permission scoping
• Token expiration strategies

Caching Strategies

HTTP Caching

• Cache headers (Cache-Control, ETag)
• Conditional requests (If-Modified-Since)
• Browser vs server caching

Application Caching

• Redis for session and data caching
• Cache invalidation strategies
• Cache warming
• Distributed caching

Testing

Unit Testing

• Test frameworks (Jest, pytest, unittest)
• Mocking dependencies
• Test coverage targets

Integration Testing

• Database testing
• API endpoint testing
• Third-party service mocking

Load Testing

• Tools (Apache JMeter, k6)
• Performance baselines
• Bottleneck identification

Deployment & DevOps

Containerization

• Docker for consistency
• Container orchestration (Kubernetes)
• CI/CD pipelines

Scaling

• Horizontal scaling (load balancing)
• Database replication
• Caching layers
• Microservices patterns

Learning Resources

Official Docs

• Node.js Docs
• Python Docs
• Go Official
• Spring Boot

Platforms

• FreeCodeCamp
• Udemy
• Frontend Masters
• Coursera

Projects

1. Blog API - CRUD, authentication
2. E-commerce Backend - Products, orders, payments
3. Real-time Chat - WebSockets, persistence
4. Job Board - Complex queries, filtering
5. Social Network - Relationships, feeds

Next Steps

1. Choose a language and framework
2. Master the language fundamentals
3. Learn database design
4. Build 5+ API projects
5. Study system design
6. Learn DevOps basics
7. Contribute to backend open-source

Roadmap.sh Reference: https://roadmap.sh/backend