Software Engineering Concepts, Hands On: How Real Apps Are Built

Take one small app, Errand, apart and rebuild it one concept at a time: where data changes shape between layers, how to debug from evidence instead of guessing, fake APIs and test doubles, synchronous and asynchronous work, signing in and OAuth with PKCE, background workers that stop safely and resume, domain boundaries and contracts between teams, and search that forgives typos. Every chapter starts from a real problem and ends with something you build and test. Module 1 is available now; the other modules follow.

Difficulty: Beginner
Duration: ~57 hours
Price: Free

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Explore the syllabus

Course curriculum

1 modules · 14 lessons. Open a module to see its lesson list.

01One request, many shapes (MVC and data shapes)14 lessonsView lessonsHide lessons

01.01The problem: a password hash in the response15 min
01.02Run Errand50 min
01.03Why code is split into layers40 min
01.03Why code is split into layers40 min
01.04One task, five shapes40 min
01.04One task, five shapes40 min

What you'll build

Extend Errand, a small desktop-style assistant app in plain JavaScript and Postgres, through nine modules with tests in your own repository, find a fault a mentor plants from evidence alone, and defend it in a five-minute demo.

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01.05Same idea, different names30 min

01.06Code: map a row to a response40 min

01.07Challenge 1: add a field without leaking60 min

01.08Keep secrets out of Git30 min

01.09Layers and shapes15 min

01.10Checklist: one request, many shapes20 min