Learning Path

Choosing Your Path#

Answer: "What is my primary gap right now?"

• "I write code that works but I don't know why it's slow" → Path A (Performance Focus)
• "I want to design systems, not just implement them" → Path B (Systems Design Focus)
• "I want to understand the foundations, not just patterns" → Path C (Theory-First)
• "I need to lead technical decisions" → Path D (Staff Engineer)

Path A: Performance Focus (8–12 weeks)#

Week 1–2: 07-core-backend/01-n-plus-one-query-problem.md + lab-01

Week 3–4: 07-core-backend/02-connection-pooling.md + lab-02

Week 5–6: 07-core-backend/03-caching-strategy.md + bench-06

Week 7–8: 07-core-backend/04-threading-vs-async-vs-event-loop.md + bench-01

Week 9–10: 09-performance-engineering/ (profiling, latency analysis)

Week 11–12: 06-databases/01-storage-engines.md through 03-query-planning.md

Outcome: Can diagnose and fix the 5 most common backend performance problems.

Path B: Systems Design Focus (10–14 weeks)#

Week 1–2: 04-computer-networks/01-osi-and-tcp-ip.md + 02-tcp-deep-dive.md

Week 3–4: 06-databases/04-transactions-and-mvcc.md + 05-replication.md

Week 5–6: 08-systems-design/01-scalability-patterns.md

Week 7–8: 08-systems-design/02-consistency-models.md

Week 9–10: 08-systems-design/03-distributed-systems-fundamentals.md

Week 11–12: 11-real-world-systems/ (Redis, Nginx, PostgreSQL internals)

Week 13–14: 12-staff-engineer-playbook/

Path C: Theory-First (14–20 weeks)#

Modules 01 through 12 in order, all files within each module.

Deep foundation. Takes longer. Produces the strongest engineers.

Path D: Staff Engineer (6–8 weeks, requires Paths A or B)#

10-production-systems/ → 12-staff-engineer-playbook/ → enterprise-kit/

Focus on: observability design, architecture reviews, incident response, mentoring frameworks.