How to Become a Good Backend Engineer (Fundamentals)

Summary

In this video, the host Hussein addresses aspiring software engineers, particularly those interested in back-end engineering. He emphasizes the importance of understanding core concepts and fundamentals rather than focusing on specific tools or technologies. The discussion covers a range of topics including communication protocols, web servers, database engineering, proxies, caching, messaging systems, API frameworks, message formats, and security. Hussein encourages viewers to explore these areas, find their interests, and dive deep into them, suggesting that expertise in any one area can be highly valuable. He also stresses the importance of continuous learning and experimentation with different technologies.

Takeaways

• 😀 The video is aimed at recent graduates or those new to software engineering, particularly those interested in becoming back-end engineers.
• 🛠 The focus is on understanding fundamental concepts and skills rather than specific tools or applications.
• 🌐 Communication protocols like TCP, UDP, and HTTP are critical for back-end engineers to understand, as they form the basis of how data is transmitted over networks.
• 💬 The importance of grasping the nuances between connection-oriented protocols like TCP and connectionless ones like UDP is emphasized.
• 🌐 Discussion on higher-level protocols such as HTTP/1, HTTP/2, and WebSockets, and their relevance in API development and real-time communication.
• 💾 Database engineering is highlighted as a deep and complex field, with a focus on understanding ACID properties for relational databases and the scalability of NoSQL databases.
• 🔄 The role of proxies, including reverse proxies, load balancers, and caching layers, is explained, emphasizing their significance in microservices architecture.
• 🔒 Security is identified as a broad and critical area, including encryption, TLS, firewalls, and protection against various types of network attacks.
• 📚 The speaker encourages viewers to explore different areas of back-end engineering, develop strong opinions, and not be afraid to experiment with different technologies and languages.
• 🌟 The video concludes with advice for new engineers to taste various fundamentals, find their interests, and then dive deep into their chosen specialization.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video by Hussein?

The main focus of the video is to discuss the fundamentals and concepts necessary to become a back-end engineer, rather than specific tools or applications.

Why does Hussein emphasize the importance of understanding communication protocols for back-end engineers?

Understanding communication protocols is crucial as it helps back-end engineers make informed decisions when building APIs and dealing with performance issues related to network communication.

What are the differences between TCP and UDP as explained by Hussein?

TCP is a connection-oriented protocol with a slow startup due to its handshaking process, ensuring reliability, while UDP is a connectionless protocol, faster but less reliable, suitable for real-time applications where speed is critical.

Why is HTTP knowledge important for back-end engineers according to the video?

HTTP knowledge is important because it forms the basis of how data is transferred on the web, and understanding it helps in building efficient APIs and troubleshooting web application issues.

What role do web servers play in back-end engineering as discussed by Hussein?

Web servers play a critical role in serving content, whether static or dynamically generated, and understanding their workings, including caching, threading, and HTTP protocol support, is essential for back-end engineers.

How does Hussein view the importance of database engineering in the context of back-end engineering?

Hussein views database engineering as a deep and high-level field, emphasizing the importance of understanding ACID properties for relational databases and the trade-offs involved in NoSQL databases for scalability.

What is Hussein's perspective on specializing in a particular area of back-end engineering?

Hussein encourages back-end engineers to explore various areas, find their interests, and then specialize in one or more areas to become an expert, as no one can be an expert in all areas.

Why does Hussein consider proxies and their understanding important for back-end engineers?

Proxies, including reverse proxies, are important for back-end engineers because they play a significant role in microservices architecture, handling tasks like load balancing, caching, and TLS termination.

What advice does Hussein give to new graduates or those getting into software engineering?

Hussein advises new graduates to taste and learn about various back-end engineering concepts, ask questions, form their own opinions, and experiment with different technologies and languages to find their niche.

How does Hussein define the role of caching in back-end engineering?

Caching is defined as a critical aspect of back-end engineering, where understanding when and how to use caching, including in-memory caches and stateless versus stateful caching, can significantly enhance application performance.

What does Hussein suggest about the importance of security in back-end engineering?

Hussein highlights the importance of security, including encryption, TLS, firewalls, and defense against various attacks, as a fundamental aspect of back-end engineering that engineers should delve into and potentially specialize in.