backend-development

SKILL.md

Backend Development Skill

Production-ready backend development with modern technologies, best practices, and proven patterns.

When to Use

Designing RESTful, GraphQL, or gRPC APIs

Building authentication/authorization systems

Optimizing database queries and schemas

Implementing caching and performance optimization

OWASP Top 10 security mitigation

Designing scalable microservices

Testing strategies (unit, integration, E2E)

CI/CD pipelines and deployment

Monitoring and debugging production systems

Technology Selection Guide
Languages: Node.js/TypeScript (full-stack), Python (data/ML), Go (concurrency), Rust (performance)
Frameworks: NestJS, FastAPI, Django, Express, Gin
Databases: PostgreSQL (ACID), MongoDB (flexible schema), Redis (caching)
APIs: REST (simple), GraphQL (flexible), gRPC (performance)

See: references/backend-technologies.md for detailed comparisons

Reference Navigation

Core Technologies:

backend-technologies.md - Languages, frameworks, databases, message queues, ORMs

backend-api-design.md - REST, GraphQL, gRPC patterns and best practices

Security & Authentication:

backend-security.md - OWASP Top 10 2025, security best practices, input validation

backend-authentication.md - OAuth 2.1, JWT, RBAC, MFA, session management

Performance & Architecture:

backend-performance.md - Caching, query optimization, load balancing, scaling

backend-architecture.md - Microservices, event-driven, CQRS, saga patterns

Quality & Operations:

backend-testing.md - Testing strategies, frameworks, tools, CI/CD testing

backend-code-quality.md - SOLID principles, design patterns, clean code

backend-devops.md - Docker, Kubernetes, deployment strategies, monitoring

backend-debugging.md - Debugging strategies, profiling, logging, production debugging

backend-mindset.md - Problem-solving, architectural thinking, collaboration

Key Best Practices (2025)

Security: Argon2id passwords, parameterized queries (98% SQL injection reduction), OAuth 2.1 + PKCE, rate limiting, security headers

Performance: Redis caching (90% DB load reduction), database indexing (30% I/O reduction), CDN (50%+ latency cut), connection pooling

Testing: 70-20-10 pyramid (unit-integration-E2E), Vitest 50% faster than Jest, contract testing for microservices, 83% migrations fail without tests

DevOps: Blue-green/canary deployments, feature flags (90% fewer failures), Kubernetes 84% adoption, Prometheus/Grafana monitoring, OpenTelemetry tracing

Quick Decision Matrix

Need
Choose

Fast development
Node.js + NestJS

Data/ML integration
Python + FastAPI

High concurrency
Go + Gin

Max performance
Rust + Axum

ACID transactions
PostgreSQL

Flexible schema
MongoDB

Caching
Redis

Internal services
gRPC

Public APIs
GraphQL/REST

Real-time events
Kafka

Implementation Checklist

API: Choose style → Design schema → Validate input → Add auth → Rate limiting → Documentation → Error handling

Database: Choose DB → Design schema → Create indexes → Connection pooling → Migration strategy → Backup/restore → Test performance

Security: OWASP Top 10 → Parameterized queries → OAuth 2.1 + JWT → Security headers → Rate limiting → Input validation → Argon2id passwords

Testing: Unit 70% → Integration 20% → E2E 10% → Load tests → Migration tests → Contract tests (microservices)

Deployment: Docker → CI/CD → Blue-green/canary → Feature flags → Monitoring → Logging → Health checks

Resources

OWASP Top 10: https://owasp.org/www-project-top-ten/

OAuth 2.1: https://oauth.net/2.1/

OpenTelemetry: https://opentelemetry.io/