🕒 Duration: 2–3 days
First, understand that the backend is the part users don’t see, but it’s where all the real work happens behind the scenes.
✦ Example:
- User logging in? The backend checks if they’re a real user.
- Showing products? The backend sends data via API calls.
- When a form is submitted — where does the data go? The backend stores it.
🕒 Duration: 1 week
Node.js lets you run JavaScript on the server side.
npm is a package manager — helps install useful libraries.
✦ Learn:
- Create a server using Node.js
- Install express, dotenv, cors, nodemon using npm
- Use console.log for debugging
🕒 Duration: 1–2 weeks
Express.js is a framework built on Node.js that simplifies APIs, routes, and request-response handling.
✦ Learn:
- Build a server using Express
- Create routes: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
- Use middlewares: cors, logger, body-parser
- Organize routes in separate files
- Work with environment variables (.env)
🕒 Duration: 1–2 weeks
MongoDB is a NoSQL database — very friendly with JavaScript.
✦ Learn:
- Create a MongoDB Atlas account
- Use MongoDB Compass to view data
- Connect DB using Mongoose
- Create Schemas (User, Product, Blog)
- CRUD operations: create, read, update, delete
- Difference between ObjectId and string ID
🕒 Duration: 1–2 weeks
You need to manage user login/signup from the backend.
✦ Learn:
- JWT (JSON Web Token) for login system
- Access Token vs Refresh Token
- Hash passwords using bcrypt
- Create protected routes using middleware
- Role-based auth (admin, user, etc.)
🕒 Duration: 1 week
REST APIs connect frontend and backend — they send and receive data.
✦ Learn:
- Use proper status codes (200, 201, 400, 401, 404, 500)
- Pagination
- Filtering / Searching
- Query Params vs Path Params
- Write user-friendly error handling
🕒 Duration: 3–5 days
Once your system is ready, test everything to make sure nothing breaks.
✦ Learn:
- Test APIs using Postman or Insomnia
- Use console logs to debug
- Handle errors using try/catch
- Understand HTTP status codes
🕒 Duration: 3–5 days
Your API will be used by frontend frameworks like React or Next.js. Understand how that works.
✦ Learn:
- Make API calls (using fetch/axios)
- How to send headers, tokens, and auth
- Sending data vs receiving JSON
- What to do if API call fails (error handling)
🕒 Duration: 3–4 weeks
Practice what you've learned by building a full backend system.
✦ Project Ideas:
- Blogging API
- E-commerce Backend (cart, order, product)
- Authentication System
- Hotel Booking Backend
- Task Management API
✦ You can explore:
- Prisma ORM — type-safe database handling
- PostgreSQL — SQL database
- Socket.io — real-time communication (chat, notifications)
- Stripe or SSLCOMMERZ — payment gateway
- Sending emails using nodemailer
- Postman / Insomnia — for testing APIs
- MongoDB Atlas — free database hosting
- Render / Railway / Cyclic — for backend hosting
- Git + GitHub — for saving and sharing code