Backend Roadmap: Build the engineering skills that matter.

Pick a path

Each path is a short, ordered route with a finish line, built from the written modules. Pick one and your progress is tracked against it.

• Backend foundations: Follow a request from the browser to the database and back, and learn to build APIs that are correct and secure. 46 modules · about 11 h of reading · 4 tracks
• Fast, observable and reliable: Take a working service and make it hold up: caching, background jobs and realtime, monitoring, and the patterns distributed systems rely on. 47 modules · about 14 h of reading · 4 tracks
• System design interview sprint: Learn the building blocks interviews lean on, then practise the structure of a system design answer. 28 modules · about 9 h of reading · 3 tracks
• Linux and Git, the working basics: Get comfortable in a Linux shell and keep your work safe and reviewable in Git. 26 modules · about 6.5 h of reading · 2 tracks
• Docker and Kubernetes: Package a service in a container, then run and scale it on Kubernetes. 27 modules · about 5 h of reading · 2 tracks
• How language models work: Understand what a token is, how a language model predicts text, and how the transformer architecture works. 52 modules · about 7 h of reading · 3 tracks
• Build with the OpenAI API: Call a hosted model from your own code, then compare the providers and route between them. 19 modules · about 8.5 h of reading
• Low-level design: Learn object-oriented design, SOLID and the classic design patterns, then practise the standard interview problems. 24 modules · about 4 h of reading

All learning paths

Or browse the library

Every module, grouped by curriculum. The paths above are routes through this.

• Backend Engineering

  HTTP and APIs, authentication, databases, caching, queues, observability and distributed systems, ending in system-design interview practice. 171 modules · 17 tracks.

  • Request/Response Fundamentals
  • API Layer and Request Handling
  • Authentication and Authorization
  • Databases and the Data Layer
  • Caching and Performance
  • Background Processing and Realtime
  • Search with Elasticsearch
  • Observability and Operational Readiness
  • Security Deep Dive — Backend Engineering
  • Distributed Systems Patterns
  • Advanced API Paradigms
  • Testing and Code Quality
  • DevOps for Backend Engineers
  • System Design Interview Practice
  • Multi-Tenancy & SaaS Architecture
  • gRPC Deep Dive & Project
  • Kafka & Streaming Backbones

• System Design Interview Prep

  Short lectures on requirements, scaling, latency, availability, CAP and consistency. Each has a video on YouTube and the written version beside it. 33 modules · 2 tracks.

  • Core Fundamentals
  • Networking from Zero

• GenAI Engineering

  Tokens, transformers and GPUs, then the OpenAI, Anthropic and Gemini APIs, embeddings and vector databases. RAG, agents and serving come next. 133 of 297 modules written · 17 tracks.

  • GenAI Foundations
  • Tokens & Language Modeling
  • Transformer Architecture
  • Landmark Models — BERT, GPT & Mixture-of-Experts
  • Training, Fine-Tuning & Alignment
  • GPUs & GenAI Hardware
  • OpenAI & the Model Landscape
  • Prompt Engineering
  • Embeddings & Vector Databases
  • Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
  • AI Agents
  • LangChain & LangGraph
  • Agent Orchestration & Multi-Agent Systems
  • Model Context Protocol (MCP)
  • Inference & Serving — vLLM
  • Evaluation, Observability & Safety
  • Speech & Multimodal Models

• Linux to Cloud

  Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, networking, Git, CI/CD and Terraform, with a deep Azure track, then SRE, security and platform engineering. 239 modules · 24 tracks.

  • Linux Track
  • Docker
  • Kubernetes
  • Networking Fundamentals
  • Azure Networking
  • Azure Container Apps
  • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
  • Git and Version Control
  • Terraform on Azure
  • CI/CD and GitOps
  • Security Deep Dive — Linux to Cloud
  • Observability Deep Dive
  • Service Mesh
  • Databases and Stateful Workloads
  • Messaging and Event-Driven Architecture
  • Identity Deep Dive
  • Governance at Scale
  • Supply Chain Security
  • Azure API Management (APIM)
  • SRE Practices
  • Cost Management and FinOps
  • Disaster Recovery and Chaos Engineering
  • Performance and Load Testing
  • Platform Engineering

• Low-Level Design

  OOP, SOLID and design patterns up to classic interview problems. Every example is written twice: in Python and in C#. 24 modules · 24 topics.

  • Programming Basics — Python and C#
  • Classes, Objects & OOP Building Blocks
  • OOP Foundations & UML
  • Generics, Exceptions & Value Objects
  • SOLID Principles
  • Core Design Principles
  • Creational Patterns
  • Structural Patterns
  • Behavioral Patterns I
  • Behavioral Patterns II
  • Concurrency-Safe Design
  • Requirements to Class Diagrams
  • Parking Lot & Elevator
  • Library & Vending Machine
  • Tic-Tac-Toe & Chess
  • Splitwise Expense Sharing
  • Movie Ticket Booking
  • Ride-Sharing
  • LRU/LFU Cache & Rate Limiter
  • API/Library Design & Dependency Injection
  • Anti-Patterns & Code Smells
  • LLD Interview Playbook
  • Capstone Project — Low-Level Design
  • Capstone Project 2 — Supply Chain Platform

What is in a module

Most modules include these. Interview questions are in the newer modules and are being added to the rest.

• Runnable code: Examples you can copy, run and change, with the real output shown.
• Diagrams: The picture of how the pieces fit, drawn next to the explanation.
• Exercises with answers: Try it first; the answer is one click away, with the reasoning.
• Quizzes and projects: A short check at the end, and a small build to apply it.
• Interview questions: What a strong answer covers, so you can explain it out loud.
• Primary sources: Links to the spec, paper or official docs behind every claim.

Prefer to watch first?

11 short lectures, 38 min in all, are on YouTube already. Each one plays at the top of the module that covers it, so the video and the text are in one place.

• Non-Functional Requirements: p99 Latency, 99.9% Uptime & Payments
• Functional Requirements in System Design (URL Shortener & Chat App Examples)
• Client-Server & Multi-Tier Architecture Explained (1, 2, 3 & N-Tier)
• What Is System Design? HLD vs LLD Explained

All video lectures · Subscribe on YouTube

Spotted a mistake?

Every module is written and checked by hand. 164 more modules are on the way. If something is wrong or unclear, tell me and I will fix it.

Email me · Watch on YouTube