Development · module
Backend systems from an architecture perspective
What happens between a user's click and the data coming back — the parts of a backend, how they fit together, and how the design changes as a product grows.
Start module- Lesson 1beginner
What is a backend system?
- Explain what the backend is responsible for and what the frontend is responsible for
- Follow a request from the user's click to the database and back
- Describe the layers inside a typical backend service
12 min
- Lesson 2practitioner
The building blocks: databases, caches, queues and storage
- Choose between relational and non-relational databases for a use case
- Use a cache correctly, including expiry and invalidation
- Move slow work to queues and background workers
- Know where files, authentication and observability fit in
15 min
- Lesson 3practitioner
Architecture styles and scaling: monoliths, microservices and growth
- Compare monoliths, modular monoliths and microservices, and choose between them
- Explain vertical and horizontal scaling and why stateless servers matter
- Apply the core reliability patterns: timeouts, retries, circuit breakers and graceful degradation
15 min