What you will be able to show
A small service with an explicit consistency model, tested failure behavior, telemetry, and a defended scaling plan.
build · Intermediate
Backend APIs & Distributed Systems
Design a dependable backend across API contracts, data consistency, queues, caching, failure recovery, and end-to-end observability.
Learn activelyShort decisions before explanation
Verify independentlyTests, sources, and failure cases
Finish with proofArtifacts another person can inspect
Skills practiced in context
Four-mission proof sprint
Do the work. Keep the evidence.
Check a mission only after the proof exists. Progress stays in this browser and also appears in the Modern Skills catalog.
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01
Design the API boundary
Define resources, validation, errors, idempotency, pagination, and versioning around one user outcome.
Proof: An API contract with example success and failure exchanges. -
02
Choose the consistency model
Map the data lifecycle and decide where strong consistency, eventual consistency, transactions, or compensation apply.
Proof: A state-flow diagram with one rejected alternative. -
03
Engineer for partial failure
Add timeouts, bounded retries, idempotency, overload behavior, and a recovery path for one dependency failure.
Proof: A failure test that demonstrates safe degradation. -
04
Trace the user request
Connect structured logs, metrics, and traces from an external request through storage or a queue.
Proof: A trace-led incident explanation and scaling threshold.
0 of 4 proof missions complete
0%
Proof sprint complete
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Primary learning sources
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These external resources are optional benchmarks. Complete the LearnByShorts mission and bring back one useful artifact.