Build Systems That Actually Work Under Pressure
Most back-end courses teach you to build a to-do app. We'll show you how to handle 10,000 concurrent users without breaking a sweat. Starting September 2025.
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Real Problems You'll Actually Solve
We focus on the situations that keep senior developers up at night. Here's what you'll learn to handle before they become emergencies.
Database Query Performance Collapse
Your app runs fine with 50 users. Then you launch, 5,000 people show up, and suddenly every page takes 12 seconds to load. Your queries are timing out and support tickets are flooding in.
API Rate Limiting Gone Wrong
A third-party service changes their API limits without warning. Your application starts failing randomly, users can't complete actions, and you're scrambling to understand which endpoints are affected.
Authentication System Security Breach
Someone reports suspicious activity. Your logs show login attempts from 47 different countries in two minutes. Your token system might be compromised and you need to act fast without locking out legitimate users.
Microservices Communication Failures
Service A talks to Service B which calls Service C. One service goes down for 30 seconds and suddenly your entire platform is throwing errors. Users see blank pages and your error tracking system is overwhelmed.
Learn By Breaking Things (Then Fixing Them)
You won't spend weeks watching videos. From day three, you're writing code that processes real data volumes. We give you working systems and ask you to scale them. When they break, you'll debug them using the same tools professionals use.
- Build an API that handles 50 requests per second, then optimize it to handle 500
- Debug a memory leak in a production-like environment before it crashes the server
- Implement caching that actually improves performance instead of creating stale data problems
- Design database schemas that don't require complete rewrites when requirements change
Your Development Timeline
Most students see practical results within weeks, not months. Here's what the progression typically looks like when you dedicate 15-20 hours per week.
Foundation Speed Run
Build your first REST API with proper error handling. Set up local development environment that mirrors production. Write tests that actually catch bugs.
Performance Under Load
Optimize database queries that were taking 2 seconds down to 50 milliseconds. Implement caching strategies. Handle concurrent requests without race conditions.
Production-Ready Systems
Deploy applications with proper monitoring and logging. Implement security measures that pass penetration testing. Build systems that recover from failures automatically.
Program Starts September 2025
Twelve-week intensive program with live code reviews every week. You'll work on progressively complex projects that simulate real development scenarios. Limited to 18 students per cohort for personalized feedback.
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Ysolde Kirkpatrick
I've spent eight years building systems for platforms with millions of active users. Most of that time was fixing problems that could have been avoided with better architecture decisions early on. Now I teach developers how to make those decisions before the mistakes happen.