The map, the universal path, and where to go next; no matter what language you write in.
Hey there! As will become pretty clear pretty quickly, there is a LOT of content within this guide. At first it can seem pretty overwhelming, so here are some quick tips to help keep you centred :)
If you need a refresher, look out for highlighted, bold and callout sections like so:
📌 These will often be used for summaries/quick references.
Note that multiple technologies that fulfil the same purpose will be presented: pick at least one to start. You do not need a comprehensive understanding of all your options before you start some serious backend development.
For hackathon participants: do NOT bother with the exercises if you're already mid-competition. Instead, focus on the information within them so you can quickly digest and apply it to your use-case.
One more thing, and it's the most important thing for understanding how this guide is built:
🗺️ This guide is the map, not the territory. It shows you the whole landscape and walks you through the universal path that every backend takes, in every language. But the moment you're ready to write real code, we hand you off to a dedicated guide for your specific language or tool. So don't expect line-by-line Python in here. Expect to understand what you're building and why, then click through to the guide that shows you how in your language. Those handoff links are sprinkled throughout, and collected in one place near the end.
That's the whole idea: one map, many paths. Everyone reads the same middle; everyone leaves through a different door.
This guide is prettyyyy beginner-friendly, but there are a couple of concepts you should be semi-familiar with before you dive right in.
A basic understanding of internet architecture. How does the internet work (conceptually, you don't need TCP/IP memorised, just a picture of how files travel from a server to a browser and back)? What is HTTP, and why is it used? What are domain names, hosting, and DNS? What role do browsers play?
Basic frontend understanding. This is not a frontend guide, and honestly I'd recommend getting a basic grip on frontend before moving to backend. Just HTML, CSS, and a bit of JavaScript (we got the perfect frontend guide for ya, with these coming in the future, Figma first though ‣ .)