Essential Skills for Backend Developers

4.521 hours1K learnersCertificate

Learn about low-level operating systems and networks, as well as high-level design principles and models, regardless of your programming language of choice.

Provided by

JetBrains Academy

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Our students are building their future at:

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.

Become job-ready

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.

Topics covered by this course

Software construction

34 topics

Version control

17 topics

Operating systems

16 topics

System administration and DevOps

12 topics

Web technologies

10 topics

Programming concepts

9 topics

Standards and formats

9 topics

Algorithms and data structures

5 topics

Cybersecurity

4 topics

Networking

3 topics

Dev tools

2 topics

Math

1 topic

SQL and databases

1 topic

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.

Learn from the industry experts

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

AbdulLateeph Opebiyi

1 month ago

the course help me to understand and name some of the concept i have known but could not properly organized

EVGENII MORGUNOV

1 year 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 ...