Learning paths

Ordered reading tracks that take you from fundamentals to production-grade patterns. Steps are added as articles are published.

3 paths

Intermediate
PostgreSQL in Production
From indexes to migrations: everything you need to keep a relational database fast under real traffic.
5 steps · 1 published · 15 min of reading
1. Step 1:
  Database Indexing Explained: How B-Tree Indexes Really Speed Up Your Queries15 min read
2. Step 2:
  EXPLAIN ANALYZE: Reading PostgreSQL Query PlansPlanned · Oct 2026
3. Step 3:
  Finding and Fixing N+1 QueriesPlanned · Nov 2026
4. Step 4:
  Connection Pooling, PgBouncer, and ServerlessPlanned · Jan 2027
5. Step 5:
  Zero-Downtime Migrations: Expand and ContractPlanned · Jun 2027
Beginner
Reliable APIs
Design contracts other developers love, secure them properly, and make every request safe to retry.
5 steps · 2 published · 30 min of reading
1. Step 1:
  REST API Design Best Practices: Building APIs Other Developers Love16 min read
2. Step 2:
  JWT vs. Sessions: Choosing an Authentication Strategy for Your API14 min read
3. Step 3:
  Rate Limiting with RedisPlanned · Oct 2026
4. Step 4:
  Offset vs. Cursor PaginationPlanned · Dec 2026
5. Step 5:
  Idempotency Keys: Safe RetriesPlanned · Mar 2027
Advanced
Systems That Scale
Caching, messaging, and service communication patterns for backends that stay up when traffic spikes.
5 steps · 2 published · 30 min of reading
1. Step 1:
  Caching Strategies with Redis: Cache-Aside, Write-Through, and When to Use Each15 min read
2. Step 2:
  Microservices Communication: Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Patterns15 min read
3. Step 3:
  Background Jobs, Retries, and Dead-Letter QueuesPlanned · Feb 2027
4. Step 4:
  The Transactional Outbox PatternPlanned · Mar 2027
5. Step 5:
  Preventing Cache StampedesPlanned · Apr 2027

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PostgreSQL in Production

Reliable APIs

Systems That Scale

Get new steps as they're published