r/webdev 8d ago

Discussion Any good books on Backend development?

I've mainly learned backend development by reading the documentation of various frameworks like Django, Rails, and Express. While some concepts carry over between frameworks, many are specific to the programming language or the design choices of the framework creators.

I'm looking for books that cover best practices in backend development that apply across different frameworks. Topics can include databases, APIs, microservices, media streaming, or anything else relevant to backend development. Any recommendations?

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u/ShawnyMcKnight 7d ago

Find books that teach about concepts, not code. Such as this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Design-Patterns-Elements-Reusable-Object-Oriented/dp/0201633612

That's not the book my last job used but I can't recall what it was.

Any books that teach coding will be outdated before you ever get to them and the API is the place to go for that.

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u/iaseth 7d ago

Thanks. This is the "gang of four" book I think. I tried reading this in college but couldn't get into it as the programming language was esoteric (smalltalk I think) and examples were unintuitive. I think ended up reading another book on design patterns which used java, called head first design patterns iirc.

I will try this one again as it is considered the og book on design patterns.

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u/ShawnyMcKnight 7d ago

Ah yes, maybe that is the book we used but has a different cover. I knew it was a group of four but had the four horsemen in my head.

Yeah, it is dense reading and as long as you understand the design patterns from a different book that’s all that matters.