Backend Development Skill
Overview
This skill provides universal patterns for back-end development workflow, focusing on API design, data modeling, error handling, and deployment. It is technology-agnostic and emphasizes maintainability, scalability, and robustness.
When to Use
- •Designing, building, or refactoring APIs
- •Modeling data and business logic
- •Preparing for deployment or CI/CD
- •Reviewing or improving code quality and structure
Critical Patterns
API Design
- •Define clear, versioned contracts for endpoints
- •Use RESTful or RPC conventions as appropriate
- •Document APIs for consumers
Data Modeling
- •Normalize data structures for consistency
- •Use validation at boundaries (input/output)
- •Separate domain logic from persistence
Error Handling
- •Centralize error handling and logging
- •Return meaningful error messages/codes
- •Monitor and alert on failures
Deployment
- •Automate build, test, and deploy steps
- •Use environment variables for config
- •Monitor deployments for errors and rollbacks
Decision Tree
- •New endpoint? → Define contract/schema and document
- •Data model change? → Migrate safely and validate
- •Deployment? → Automate with CI/CD
- •Bug found? → Add/expand test coverage
Edge Cases
- •Data migration failures (rollback, partial data)
- •API versioning and backward compatibility
- •Security edge cases (injection, auth, rate limiting)
Practical Examples
Before (no API versioning)
All endpoints are on /api with no versioning, breaking clients on changes.
After (versioned API)
Endpoints use /api/v1, changes are documented and backward compatible.
Before (no error handling)
Errors are logged to console, users get generic 500 errors.
After (robust error handling)
Centralized error handler returns clear messages, logs with context, and triggers alerts.
References
- •Use with conventions, architecture-patterns, and process-documentation for best results.