How did I learn backend development?
In this post, I shared the top three guiding principles for beginners in back-end development to kick-start their journey and accelerate their learning curve.
It can be intimidating for beginners in backend development to learn how to start making your server or API solutions. Python alone has more than three commonly used frameworks to choose from. It is overwhelming to start making your own API server to make your applications or website more interactive. I was in your position as well, just a few months ago. However, I found there are some principles you can adapt to learn faster in this domain so that you can start to build something.
Backend engineering or development is a domain where you design, develop, and deploy your server to manage various user requests from the frontend web or mobile applications. Starting is challenging as it requires much more in-depth computer science and software engineering knowledge. However, I want to provide three principles to kick-start your backend engineering adventure.
Starting simple is the key to launch.
Most people are stuck in this development phase, where they think choosing the right tools and framework is essential to get started. Learning various high-end designs for large distributed systems is critical. They are, if only if you scale the app larger than a simple application. But ignore that all things great and extraordinary are built from small. The first iPhone is not as good as the third and the fourth generation, but it can provide value and learning opportunities for you to get the wheel spinning. I am really a fan of the "lean startup and MVP approach to things" cause it took years of my challenge to get the thing going in the first place. You are not required to do anything or learn anything; start today with a minimal scale you can handle. Then, you will know more than just reading how to do it.
Think, plan, and design before you code.
Most junior software engineers are used to jumping into the codebase directly instead of planning ahead what needs to be done in a development session or cycle. Therefore, there might be a lot of problems that emerge during your coding or deployment processes. However, these problems could be avoided in advance if careful planning or studying the codebase or the library you are using for the project.
The particular framework doesn't matter on a small scale.
Indeed, some particular frameworks are designed for much more complex or heavy workloads. However, if you are new to this field, it is unnecessary to overthink to get started. You can start building your first simple API server with a framework like Flask or FastAPI. It is much easier to build a server with these frameworks. In fact, you can even start deploying your app from day one of your development.
Take advantage of ChatGPT or other tools like this, seriously.
After ChatGPT and generative AI emerged, I have been rethinking how this technology would help software engineers learn faster and code more efficiently. And I wrote a blog post a few months ago on how ChatGPT and other generative AI could help you learn and develop.
Mark Chen
Apart from that, our Tokai team is developing a novel AI-first note-taking application to shorten the learning curve for software engineers. Our mission is to plan with intelligence and code with confidence. Feel free to check our latest product updates with the link below.
Just do it, and you will find a way through.
Just do it, as simple as it sounds. But it would give so much momentum after you start to write the first line of code and deploy your first application on the cloud. Can't wait to see what you can build with your creativity and passion for building something cool to benefit you and your community. Feel free to comment below to share what you want to build this year!
