r/Backend

what are some backend projects ideas that does n’t require having a front end to represent my API’s. Is there are any project that can be technically rich and be testable by end-user at the same time without having a GUI ?

Hi! We’re looking for an experienced full-stack/backend engineer to help us build the backend of our app, including the necessary API integrations.

We’re hoping to work on a flat-rate basis for the initial project, with the possibility of keeping you on as a freelancer afterward for additional projects, updates, and ongoing support as needed.

Please let me know if you’re interested! We’d love to connect and share more about the project, our timeline, and what we’re looking for.

As a recent Software Engineering graduate, I’d like to ask my more experienced brothers and sisters in the field for some advice.

I’ve been invited to an interview for a Java Backend Developer position. So far, I’ve developed projects using technologies such as Java, Spring Boot, Spring Security, JPA/Hibernate, MyBatis, PostgreSQL/MySQL, Redis, Kafka (at a very basic level), Docker, and CI/CD.

I’ve also worked on REST APIs, microservices, event-driven architecture, and distributed systems, although, of course, the projects I’ve worked on are at what we could call a junior level.

During the short initial interview today, they specifically asked me about the Java versions I’ve used. To be honest, I was a little surprised by this because I don’t know much about the differences between the various Java versions.

What do you think I might be asked in a technical interview, and which topics would you especially recommend that I focus on studying?

I’d really appreciate it if anyone who has been through similar interviews could share their experiences.

Thank you!

I tried pythonanywhere, render and railway.. my app is pretty small so nothing crazy in terms of resource consumption, is there a straightforward way to get it live for free?

If I use S3 for storing images, should I store only the object keys in the database and generate a presigned url every time I fetch the records to return to the client? How efficient is this approach for something like a product catalog where each product can have multiple images and I would need to generate several presigned urls every time the catalog is requested?

Hey everyone! I'm currently deciding which backend technology I should focus on, and I'd really appreciate some advice from experienced backend developers.

My learning journey so far has been:

HTML -> CSS -> JavaScript -> React -> Node.js (currently starting)

I've mainly focused on web development so far, and my goal is to become a full-stack developer. Since I've already invested a lot of time into JavaScript and React, Node.js seemed like the natural next step for me.

However, with the rapid growth of AI, I've been wondering whether Python would be the smarter backend choice in 2026.

Python obviously has a huge ecosystem around AI/ML, automation, data science, and backend frameworks like Django and FastAPI. On the other hand, Node.js gives me the advantage of staying within the JavaScript ecosystem and using one language across the frontend and backend.

So I'm wondering what experienced backend developers would recommend:

Should I continue with Node.js or switch to Python for backend development?

I'm particularly interested in:

• Current job demand
• Backend/full-stack opportunities
• Node.js vs FastAPI/Django
• How AI is changing backend development
• Long-term career prospects
• Whether my existing JavaScript + React experience makes Node.js the more logical choice
• Whether Python is worth learning later even if I choose Node.js now

I'm not planning to learn everything at once. I'd rather pick one backend stack, get genuinely good at it, build real projects, and then expand my skills later.

I'd especially appreciate opinions from people who have worked professionally with both Node.js and Python.

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’ve been trying for last 5 months to make my forst job switch either in backend or as a full stack developer. Getting an interview is already kinda tough in this market and I lost my last chance at a good job just because I am not fully familiar with distributed systems architecture. As I have worked with inly monolithic architecture at personal and work level. Can anyone guide what should I focus on to prepare for the interviews. Really need a switch at this moment.

Hello, has anyone worked with SMTP?

When I got the server from digitalocean, there was a place in the app that worked with email. I tried sending a message to email via SMTP, but ports 465 and 587 are closed on digitalocean. When I wrote to support, they said that these ports are closed to avoid spam emails.

If anyone has worked with SMTP, which server doesn't have this problem?

Currently I am doing dsa in java and just started binary search...
I am also planning to do AI/ML in future because recently the companies coming to my college are asking to focus more on AI/ML stuff and in some of the placement/intern rounds they put compulsory 5/14 questions of python only.

I am focusing on backend because I wanna go to the hackathons and if I just focus on completing ai/ml then I don't think that I will able to appear for hackathons this year..
sorry for bad English..

​

I’m a beginner trying to build a career in tech, and honestly, I’m extremely confused right now.

I’ve spent months researching what I should learn and which areas of tech actually have a future. I’ve watched countless YouTube videos, read Reddit threads, followed discussions on X/Facebook/Instagram, looked at job posts, and listened to advice from developers.

And somehow, the more I research, the more confused I become.

One person says learn backend development.

Another says software engineering is becoming obsolete because of AI.

Someone says learn Python.

Someone else says TypeScript/JavaScript.

Others say Go, Java, cloud, DevOps, cybersecurity, AI/ML, data engineering, etc.

Then I see posts saying:

«“Don’t get into tech.”»

«“Junior developers are finished.”»

«“AI will replace programmers.”»

«“There are no entry-level jobs anymore.”»

«“Software engineering is cooked.”»

After consuming all of this for months, I’m honestly getting frustrated and even somewhat discouraged.

But I want to know the reality.

Is the tech industry actually “cooked” for someone starting from scratch in 2026?

Or is the situation more like:

Tech is still a good career, but the easy path is gone and the bar for getting your first job has become much higher?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from senior developers, engineers, hiring managers, or people who have actually been working in the industry for several years.

I don't want another generic “just follow your passion” answer.

I want to understand things like:

- Is software engineering still a viable career for someone starting today?

- Are junior/entry-level opportunities genuinely disappearing, or is the internet exaggerating the situation?

- How much has AI actually changed the job market so far?

- If you were starting from zero in 2026, would you still choose software development?

- What areas of tech would you consider relatively durable over the next 5–10 years?

- What would you not spend time learning today?

- Is it still realistic to eventually work remotely for international companies, or is that becoming unrealistic for beginners?

- What should a beginner realistically expect in terms of time and effort before becoming employable?

I’m asking because I genuinely want to make a career in tech.

One of the things that attracted me to this field is that, compared with many other careers, you can start with relatively little money. With a laptop, internet connection, and enough time and effort, you can learn, build things, contribute to real projects, and potentially work for companies anywhere in the world.

That possibility still really appeals to me.

But I also don't want to spend the next 2–3 years learning something only to discover that the career path has fundamentally disappeared.

At this point, I don't need another list of 20 technologies to learn.

I need someone experienced to help me understand the bigger picture.

So, honestly:

If you were in my position — a beginner in 2026 with no professional experience who wants to build a serious career in tech — would you still go for it? Why or why not?

Please give me the reality, even if it's uncomfortable.

I would genuinely appreciate perspectives from people who are already working in the industry rather than predictions from people who are just watching it from the outside.

I’m looking for an advanced backend project that goes beyond the usual CRUD/API projects, and I’m considering building a distributed CDN from scratch.

The rough idea is to build a system where:

- Multiple edge/cache nodes are distributed across different regions

- Requests are routed to an appropriate/nearby edge node

- Content is cached and served from the edge instead of the origin

- Cache eviction and TTL are handled across nodes

- Cache invalidation/purging is supported

- There is replication between cache nodes

- The system handles node failures and automatically reroutes traffic

- Consistent hashing could be used for distributing content across nodes

- A central control plane manages/configures the edge nodes

- Metrics/observability for cache hit ratio, latency, bandwidth, node health, etc.

- Eventually I could experiment with load balancing, rate limiting, health checks, and automatic failover

I’m particularly interested in implementing the distributed systems/backend concepts myself rather than simply deploying something like Cloudflare or AWS CloudFront.

Would this be considered a genuinely strong advanced backend/system-design project, or is it too ambitious / too close to just rebuilding existing CDN technology?

Also, what features or distributed-systems problems would you expect in a project like this to make it technically interesting rather than just a cache server with multiple instances?

Looking for honest criticism and suggestions.

Cao, sad zavrsavam prvu godinu FON-a smer ISiT. U proteklih godinu dana shvatio sam da mrzim front-end ne svidja mi se nikako ni html ni css.Radio sam C sve petlje, pokazivace, fajlove i liste znaci neki srednji nivo znanja. Do tada sam ucio python koji me je mnogo nervirao jer mi neke stvari nisu bile logicne. Kada sam zbog ispita krenuo da ucim C, bukvalno su mi se otvorile oci, sve je nekako imalo logike, razvio sam dosta algoritamsko razmisljanje, nekad mi se desavalo da znam logiku po kojoj treba da napisem program a ne znam dovoljno dobro sintaksu. E sad ne znam sta je sledeci korak, da li da nastavim dublje C ili da predjem na drugi jezik, iskljucivo me zanima back-end. Razmisljao sam da pocnem da ucim Go, postgresql i docker. Sad ne znam koliko bi to meni leglo i da li se isplati uciti to ili da pocnem nesto drugo? U kom smeru da nastavim?

Hello r/Backend, since I saw a post about someone rejecting a job offer because it was Windows only a few minutes ago I started to have curiosity about how many of us prefer or use Linux for development.

View Poll

Hi everybody. I'm working on a personal project that's also gonna be my bachelor thesis next year. It's a rather complex end-to-end IoT system with part hardware part software.

I expect the final split to be something like 30% firmware, 60% backend-frontend and 10% python.

In past personal projects I've mostly used Node with Javascript, not Typescript. But right now I'm unsure if that's the correct way forward.

In my country there's significantly more .NET based jobs than anything JS/TS related, so I lean towards .NET strictly for that. At the same time, I'm slightly more familiar with Node and I find it easier, which would speed up development time significantly.

How can I learn to determine which one is better? Do I go for the one that's gonna provide the most opportunity or do I go with the one that I find easier ( though I'd be pretty much learning both starting from a similar level )

I came up to this video a long time ago on YouTube and saved it for later. As I was scrolling through that playlist, I was genuinely curious about this one course. I read many comments there and the majority of them are positive.

I would like some piece of advice from a person who has watched this and it has helped them.