Top Backend books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Backend books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Backend

Understanding the concepts of Backend starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Microservice APIs

Microservice APIs teaches you practical techniques for designing robust microservices with APIs that are easy to understand, consume, and maintain. You'll benefit from author José Haro Peralta's years of experience experimenting with microservices architecture, dodging pitfalls and learning from mistakes he's made. Inside you'll find strategies for delivering successful API integrations, imple…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software (Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series)

Patterns allow designers to create more flexible, elegant, and ultimately reusable designs without having to rediscover the design solutions themselves. Highly influential, Design Patterns is a modern classic that introduces what patterns are and how they can help you design object-oriented software and provides a catalog of simple solutions for those already programming in at last one object-…

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Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems

In this practical and comprehensive guide, author Martin Kleppmann helps you navigate this diverse landscape by examining the pros and cons of various technologies for processing and storing data. Software keeps changing, but the fundamental principles remain the same. With this book, software engineers and architects will learn how to apply those ideas in practice, and how to make full use of…

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Designing Data-Intensive Applications

Data is at the center of many challenges in system design today. Difficult issues need to be figured out, such as scalability, consistency, reliability, efficiency, and maintainability. In addition, we have an overwhelming variety of tools, including relational databases, NoSQL datastores, stream or batch processors, and message brokers. What are the right choices for your application? How do …

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Python Crash Course: A Hands-on, Project-based Introduction to Programming

If you've been thinking about learning how to code or picking up Python, this internationally bestselling guide to the most popular programming language is your quickest, easiest way to get started and go! Even if you have no experience whatsoever, Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition, will have you writing programs, solving problems, building computer games, and creating data visualizations in no…

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Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship

Noted software expert Robert C. Martin, presents a revolutionary paradigm with Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Martin, who has helped bring agile principles from a practitioner’s point of view to tens of thousands of programmers, has teamed up with his colleagues from Object Mentor to distill their best agile practice of cleaning code “on the fly” into a book that will …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Additional Backend Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Backend, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

Effective Java (3rd Edition)

Since this Jolt-award winning classic was last updated in 2008, the Java programming environment has changed dramatically. Java 7 and Java 8 introduced new features and functions including, forEach() method in Iterable interface, default and static methods in Interfaces, Functional Interfaces and Lambda Expressions, Java Stream API for Bulk Data Operations on Collections, Java Time API, Collec…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Building Microservices: Designing Fine-Grained Systems

Microservice technologies are moving quickly. Author Sam Newman provides you with a firm grounding in the concepts while diving into current solutions for modeling, integrating, testing, deploying, and monitoring your own autonomous services. Youâ??ll follow a fictional company throughout the book to learn how building a microservice architecture affects a single domain.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The Joy of PHP: A Beginner's Guide to Programming Interactive Web Applications with PHP and MySQL

Have you ever wanted to create dynamic, professional-grade websites but thought programming was too daunting—or just plain boring? Whether you’re a complete beginner or looking to expand your web development skills, The Joy of PHP by Alan Forbes makes learning PHP both accessible and fun!

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

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Hi, I'm Rick! With over 10 years as a Software Engineer at FAANG companies and startups, I specialize in Backend Distributed Systems and have a broad skill set in various technologies. I've also founded two startups. In the past, I mentored many engineers/non-engineers through work, volunteering, and bootcamps, focusing on …

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