Built on Real Problems, Not Marketing Hype
We started because the backend training landscape felt broken. Too much theory, not enough messy real-world code. So we built something different.
How This Started
Back in 2022, a few of us were helping junior developers get unstuck. Same patterns kept showing up — folks could pass coding tests but couldn't build systems that handled actual traffic. The gap between bootcamp skills and production requirements was wider than anyone wanted to admit.
We'd spend hours explaining things like connection pooling, database indexing strategies, or why their API was timing out under load. Eventually someone said: why not just teach this stuff properly from the start?
So we did. Started small with weekend workshops in Tainan. No fancy branding, just real code reviews and honest feedback. People seemed to appreciate the direct approach — we weren't selling dreams, just showing how backend systems actually work when thousands of users hit them at once.
That was three years ago. Now we run structured programs that walk through backend development the way it happens in actual companies. Still based in Taiwan, still focused on the unglamorous but essential work of making servers do what they're supposed to do.
What Guides Our Approach
These aren't mission statement filler. They're decisions we make when designing curriculum and giving feedback.
Production Context
Every topic connects to actual deployment scenarios. We skip the toy examples and work with code that resembles what you'll maintain in a job. Database migrations that don't break live systems. API designs that handle failure states. Caching strategies that actually improve response times.
Honest Feedback
When your code works but won't scale, we'll tell you. When your solution is clever but unmaintainable, same thing. The goal isn't to make anyone feel good — it's to spot problems before they hit production. We'd rather have uncomfortable conversations during training than watch you struggle later.
Depth Over Breadth
We don't cover fifteen frameworks in six weeks. Instead, we go deep on fundamental concepts that apply everywhere. How databases actually execute queries. What happens during an HTTP request. Why some code patterns cause memory leaks. Master these, and you can pick up any framework quickly.
Who Teaches This Stuff
Our instructors have built systems that handle real traffic. They've debugged production outages at 3am, optimized slow queries, and refactored codebases that grew beyond their original design. That experience shapes how they teach.
Lennart Vidarsson
Senior Backend InstructorSpent eight years building distributed systems before teaching. Still maintains two production APIs because it keeps his examples current.
Teaching Philosophy
Most instructors explain what code does. We explain why it fails. That second part — understanding failure modes, performance bottlenecks, and maintenance burden — makes the difference between junior and mid-level thinking. Our curriculum focuses heavily on the debugging and optimization skills that bootcamps tend to skip.
Siobhan Calloway
Systems Design LeadDesigns the architecture modules after years of fixing other people's scalability problems. Believes good design prevents more bugs than testing catches.