Essential Skills for Backend Developers

4.422 hours991 learners
Learn about low-level operating systems and networks, as well as high-level design principles and models, regardless of your programming language of choice.
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Study at your own pace
Fit learning around your schedule. Suitable for all levels.
Learn from the experts
Short, practical text lessons by seasoned developers.
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Integrated with professional tools by JetBrains.
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What you'll learn

In this course, you’ll learn the fundamental concepts and tools used in day-to-day practice by backend developers, such as Bash basics, Networking, Git, and Postman. If you are already familiar with backend development but feel that you might need more information, this course will be perfect for filling in the gaps. 

What you’ll do:

  • Learn the fundamentals of operating systems, with a focus on Linux;
  • Understand networks and security basics;
  • Get to know web development and data formats;
  • Learn about software quality, architecture, and development models;
  • Get an understanding of common development tools, such as IDEs, Postman, Git, and GitHub.
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Learn by doing

# 1
Apply knowledge into practice
You already know the theory. Now it's time to code like you do at work—in a professional IDE, with real project constraints, solving problems that actually matter. Welcome to software engineering as it should be.
# 2
Navigate complexity with surgical precision
Most developers waste months learning random concepts without seeing how they connect. Our interactive Knowledge Map fixes this. It shows exactly how every programming concept relates to others, helping you build a structured mental model of coding.
# 3
Copy the best. Then improve.
Here's what top engineers do that others don't: they study other people's code obsessively. When you get stuck on Hyperskill, you can explore solutions published by other developers. See their exact code. Understand their approach. Learn their tricks.
# 4
Code review that actually makes you better
We stripped code review down to what actually matters: does your solution work? Have you handled the edge cases? Is there a cleaner way to write this? Hyperskill acts like a competent reviewer who actually tests your code. Not genius-level analysis, not architecture debates — just solid feedback on making your code better.

Topics covered by this course

Software construction
34 topics
System administration and DevOps
28 topics
Operating systems
16 topics
Web technologies
11 topics
Programming concepts
9 topics
Standards and formats
9 topics
Algorithms and Data Structures
5 topics
Security
4 topics
Networking
3 topics
Dev tools
2 topics
Math
1 topic
SQL and Databases
1 topic

Learn from the industry experts

JetBrains Academy

JetBrains Academy

JetBrains Academy is a part of JetBrains, a global software company specializing in the creation of intelligent, productivity-enhancing tools for software developers and teams. With years of expertise in software development and education, JetBrains Academy empowers more than a million people worldwide to learn and teach computer science, and help organizations inspire their teams to reach their goals in tech. Professional development tools play a big role in computer science education. This is why JetBrains Academy courses offer integration with JetBrains IDEs. This integration assists learners in getting experience with real development processes to streamline their learning curve at future work.

Your peers think Hyperskill rocks

EVGENII MORGUNOV avatar
EVGENII MORGUNOV
9 months ago
I have learned a lot from the "Essential Skills for Backend Developers" course. The course provided a comprehensive understanding of operating systems, networking, and security basics. I also gained practical knowledge of web development, data formats, and software quality. The hands-on projects hel ...
wang gang avatar
wang gang
11 months ago
This topic allowed me to learn a lot of back-end development materials and knowledge.
Jovan Stepanovic
1 year ago
I wish I had this course when I was just starting to work as a developer or even before, now it helped me to fill some holes in my knowelege

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