Great Backend Engineering (GBE)

Ready to dive into the future of software?

AI engineering is not just a buzzword—it's the new frontier!

In our latest episode, we uncover what it truly means to build production-ready AI systems.

Key takeaway

90% of AI engineering still relies on core software engineering principles.

Have you started your AI journey yet? Share your experiences in the comments!

Bootcamp: https://masteringbackend.com/ai-bootcamp?ref=spotify

Param: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paramanantham/

Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/ai-engineer

Luciano Mammino, Senior Architect and author of “Node.js Design Patterns,” joins Solomon Eseme, Founder and CTO of Masteringbackend and author of “Rust Essentials”, to discuss the powerful combination of Rust and serverless computing. 🦀In this podcast, Luciano shares his experience with Rust and AWS Lambda and how they interact. He provides practical examples of building Rust applications and deploying them to AWS Lambda.We covered:🧠 Why Rust’s performance and type system make it surprisingly good for backend development💸 How faster cold starts and smaller binaries can mean lower cloud bills📉 The real tradeoffs (like a steeper learning curve and smaller community)🔧 Best practices for shipping Rust Lambdas — including Infrastructure as Code and using tools like cargo lambda👨‍💻 Plus, a live coding session where I scaffold, test, and deploy a real Lambda with Rust — all in minutes!

• Become A Rust Backend Engineer: https://masteringbackend.com/courses/...

• Lambda Runtime Benchmarks: https://maxday.github.io/lambda-perf/
• Cargo Lambda: https://cargo-lambda.info
• Rustup: https://rustup.rs
• Workshop slides: https://slides.com/lucianomammino/unl...
• Easy mode rust: https://llogiq.github.io/2024/03/28/e...

• Crafting Lambda Functions in Rust: https://rust-lambda.com/
• Design Patterns in Node.js: https://www.nodejsdesignpatterns.com/

• Luciano Twitter (X): https://x.com/loige
• Solomon Twitter (X): https://x.com/kaperskyguru
• Luciano All Links: https://linktr.ee/loige

In this episode of the “The Backend Podcast, we’re thrilled to have Vikas Rajpu join us as our 5th guest! With his extensive experience in backend engineering, Vikas shares invaluable insights on a critical topic: "Microservices for Backend Engineers"

In this episode of the “Great Backend Engineer” podcast, we’re thrilled to have Fernando join us as our 4th guest! With his extensive experience in backend engineering, Fernando shares invaluable insights on a critical topic: "Do Backend Engineers Need Data Structures and Algorithms?"

We dive deep into why these foundational concepts are essential, how often they’re used in daily backend tasks, and the real-world impact they can have on the performance and scalability of backend systems.

Fernando also discusses common pitfalls for engineers who may lack a strong grasp of these concepts and offers practical advice for those looking to strengthen their knowledge.

Whether you’re a seasoned backend engineer or just starting, this episode is packed with actionable strategies and expert advice to help you level up your backend skills.

🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel for more episodes from the “Great Backend Engineer” series!

#BackendEngineering #DataStructures #Algorithms #AdvancedBackendBootcamp #SoftwareDevelopment #TechPodcast

LINKS

Academy: https://academy.masteringbackend.com

Masteringbackend: https://masteringbackend.com

Fernando Newsletter: https://newsletter.francofernando.com/

Fernando Twitter: https://x.com/Franc0Fernand0

Fernando LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/fernando-franco-4696708

Another Episode of the GBE Podcast on "Building better software using internal tools"

This episode is sponsored by Alerty.ai

In this episode, I host Johnny Dallas, a backend software engineer with over 8+ years of experience, to discuss the following concepts.

- How far can a solo dev scale?

- What is DevOps, and why do we need it?

- Why does internal tooling matter?

- Why does CI/CD matter? Why is deployment so complicated?

- What is monitoring, what is observability? Why are they important?

- How do you monitor a web app?

- How does observability scale with infrastructure complexity?

- Building better software

- What’s relevant to the backend engineer (managing 50 servers)

- JavaScript monitoring

If you're interested in this kind of discussion. Then, consider subscribing to the YouTube channel and turning on the notification.

Summary

In our latest podcast, we had the pleasure of hosting Anthony to discuss the crucial aspects of API Monitoring and Observability. Anthony shared his extensive experience, covering everything from the basics of structured logging to advanced monitoring strategies. Here's a recap of the key points and insights from our conversation.

Highlights

Basics of Structured Logging

Anthony explained the foundational concept of structured logging, emphasizing its importance for backend engineers. Structured logging involves using a consistent format of key-value pairs, making logs more searchable and analyzable.

Differences Between Structured and Traditional Logging

Anthony delved into the nuances of structured logging versus traditional logging, highlighting the benefits of consistency and contextual metadata. He also shared best practices for effective implementation.

Importance of Monitoring in Backend Engineering

Anthony discussed the critical role of monitoring in maintaining the health and performance of APIs. Effective monitoring helps detect issues, proactively troubleshoot, and minimize downtime.

Tools and Techniques for Observability

Anthony recommended several tools and techniques for achieving effective observability:

Building a Robust Monitoring Strategy

For backend engineers starting with API monitoring and observability, Anthony outlined key steps to build a robust strategy:

Key Insights

Consistency and Context in Logging

Structured logging provides a consistent format and includes contextual metadata, significantly enhancing the ability to diagnose issues and analyze performance.

Proactive Monitoring

Monitoring is essential for proactive issue detection and troubleshooting, ensuring system reliability and performance.

Comprehensive Observability

Combining various tools and techniques allows for a holistic view of system health and performance, making it easier to maintain and optimize backend systems.

Step-by-Step Strategy

Starting with the basics and progressively building a robust monitoring strategy ensures a strong foundation for maintaining API health and performance.

Stay tuned for more expert insights in our upcoming podcasts!

LINKS:

APIToolKit

Anthony Twitter

MasteringBackend Academy

The Great Backend Engineering (GBE) is Masteringbackend's official podcast.

Raul Junco & I jumped on a call to discuss the importance of Databases for Backend engineers.

Here's what we discussed

We discussed topics such as: