Backend Engineering Learning Path

Estimated Total Duration: 12-18 months (studying 15-20 hours per week)

Milestone 1: Programming Fundamentals

Duration: 2-3 months

Core Programming Concepts

• Data structures
• Algorithms
• Time & space complexity
• Object-oriented programming
• Functional programming
• Design patterns

Java Programming

• Java basics and syntax
• Collections framework
• Exception handling
• Multithreading
• File I/O
• Stream API
• Lambda expressions

Version Control

• Git fundamentals
• Branching strategies
• Pull requests
• Code review practices
• Collaborative development
• Git workflows

Projects:

1. Library management system
2. Multi-threaded task processor
3. Design patterns implementation

Milestone 2: Web Development Fundamentals

Duration: 2 months

Web Basics

• HTTP/HTTPS protocols
• REST principles
• API design
• Authentication/Authorization
• Cookies and sessions
• Web security basics

Spring Framework

• Spring Core
• Dependency injection
• Spring Boot
• Spring MVC
• Spring Security
• Spring Data

Testing

• Unit testing (JUnit)
• Integration testing
• Mockito
• Test-driven development
• Code coverage
• Testing best practices

Projects:

1. RESTful API service
2. Authentication system
3. Test-driven API development

Milestone 3: Databases and Storage

Duration: 2-3 months

Relational Databases

• SQL mastery
• PostgreSQL/MySQL
• Database design
• Normalization
• Indexing
• Query optimization
• Transactions and ACID

NoSQL Databases

• MongoDB
• Redis
• Cassandra
• Document stores
• Key-value stores
• Graph databases

Data Modeling

• Entity relationships
• Schema design
• Migration strategies
• Data integrity
• Performance optimization
• Caching strategies

Projects:

1. E-commerce database design
2. Caching implementation
3. Multi-database application

Milestone 4: System Design and Architecture

Duration: 3 months

Architecture Patterns

• Microservices
• Event-driven architecture
• Domain-driven design
• CQRS
• Hexagonal architecture
• Clean architecture

Message Queues

• Apache Kafka
• RabbitMQ
• Message patterns
• Event sourcing
• Pub/sub systems
• Stream processing

API Design

• RESTful best practices
• GraphQL
• API versioning
• Documentation (Swagger/OpenAPI)
• Rate limiting
• API security

Projects:

1. Microservices application
2. Event-driven system
3. API gateway implementation

Milestone 5: Cloud and DevOps

Duration: 2-3 months

Cloud Services (AWS/GCP)

• EC2/Compute Engine
• RDS/Cloud SQL
• S3/Cloud Storage
• Lambda/Cloud Functions
• Container services
• IAM and security

Containerization

• Docker fundamentals
• Docker Compose
• Kubernetes basics
• Container orchestration
• Service mesh
• Deployment strategies

CI/CD

• Jenkins/GitHub Actions
• Pipeline design
• Automated testing
• Deployment automation
• Infrastructure as code
• Monitoring and logging

Projects:

1. Cloud-native application
2. CI/CD pipeline setup
3. Containerized microservices

Milestone 6: Performance and Scalability

Duration: 2 months

Performance Optimization

• Profiling
• Memory management
• Thread pooling
• Connection pooling
• Query optimization
• Caching strategies

Scalability

• Horizontal/Vertical scaling
• Load balancing
• Distributed systems
• CAP theorem
• Consistency patterns
• Sharding strategies

Monitoring and Observability

• Metrics collection
• Logging
• Tracing
• Alerting
• Performance monitoring
• Debug production issues

Projects:

1. High-performance service
2. Scalable architecture
3. Monitoring system

Milestone 7: Security and Best Practices

Duration: 1-2 months

Security

• Authentication mechanisms
• OAuth 2.0/JWT
• HTTPS/TLS
• SQL injection prevention
• XSS prevention
• CSRF protection
• Security headers

Best Practices

• Clean code
• SOLID principles
• Code review
• Documentation
• Error handling
• Logging standards

Production Readiness

• Deployment strategies
• Blue-green deployment
• Canary releases
• Feature flags
• Rollback procedures
• Disaster recovery

Projects:

1. Secure authentication service
2. Production-ready application
3. Security audit implementation

Final Capstone Project

Duration: 1-2 months

Enterprise-Grade Application

• System design
• Implementation
• Testing
• Documentation
• Deployment
• Monitoring setup

Continuous Learning Elements

Tools and Technologies

• IDEs (IntelliJ IDEA)
• Debugging tools
• Profiling tools
• Monitoring systems
• API testing tools
• Database tools

Best Practices

• Code quality
• Documentation
• Testing
• Security
• Performance
• Scalability

Professional Skills

• Technical writing
• Problem-solving
• System thinking
• Team collaboration
• Code review
• Architecture decisions

Assessment Criteria

Technical Skills

• Code quality
• System design
• Problem-solving
• Testing coverage
• Security implementation
• Performance optimization

Project Deliverables

• Working applications
• Documentation
• Test suites
• Performance metrics
• Security compliance
• Architecture diagrams

Learning Resources

Online Platforms

• Coursera
• Udemy
• PluralSight
• Java documentation
• Spring documentation
• AWS/GCP documentation

Books

• "Clean Code"
• "Designing Data-Intensive Applications"
• "Spring in Action"
• "Microservices Patterns"
• "System Design Interview"