Understanding the role of the back end in web development

Overview of back-end technologies and languages

Setting up a development environment

Introduction to server-side programming languages (e.g., Python, Ruby, Node.js, Java)

Syntax, data types, and basic operations

Choosing the right language for your project

Database fundamentals

Relational databases (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL)

NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB)

Database design and modeling

Introduction to APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)

RESTful API design principles

GraphQL for flexible data querying

Building and documenting APIs

User authentication and authorization

Password hashing and encryption

Handling user sessions and tokens

Protecting against common web vulnerabilities (e.g., SQL injection, XSS)

Caching strategies

Load balancing for improved performance

Profiling and optimizing code

Monitoring and performance tuning

Introduction to version control

Git basics (cloning, committing, branching, merging)

Collaborative development with Git

Managing code repositories

Unit testing and test-driven development (TDD)

Debugging tools and techniques

Error handling and logging

Continuous integration and automated testing

Introduction to popular back-end frameworks (e.g., Express.js, Django, Ruby on Rails, Spring Boot)

Building applications with frameworks

Leveraging libraries for common tasks

Applying knowledge through hands-on projects

Developing progressively complex web applications

Project management and best practices

Independent or group capstone project

Integrating all course concepts into a real-world application

Presentation and code review