- Node/Express APIs powering Car-Match, ProjectHub, and tutorial repos (Car-Match runs on Render/Atlas but still feels like a demo because of cold starts).
- FastAPI experiments for Convo-AI to understand Python services.
- README honesty logs that spell out missing pieces: auth hardening, load tests, observability.
- AI pair-programming in every session; prompts + edits included in the repo so reviewers can trace them.
Backend Engineer
How I currently practice backend engineering
I haven’t been paid as a backend engineer yet; these are student projects and volunteer experiments with clear limits.Where I actually spend time
What I can show today
Car-Match API
- Express + MongoDB CRUD routes deployed to Render; JWT auth works once the free instance wakes up (expect ~5 minute cold starts).
- API docs live in Postman + README tables; no OpenAPI generator yet.
- Repository issues list missing pieces (rate limiting, structured logging, faster startup paths).
Secrets Management tutorial
- Side-by-side “good vs. bad” Express code for handling secrets.
- Used for personal learning and blog content, not deployed anywhere.
- Disclosure: large portions scaffolded with ChatGPT + Copilot before I annotated them.
Stacks I reach for
Node.js + Express (comfortable for prototypes)TypeScript (learning)MongoDB / Mongoose (learning)PostgreSQL basics (exploring)FastAPI (exploring)Jest + Supertest (learning)Postman collections (comfortable)
Each repo calls out where I’m strong vs. where I lean heavily on AI or tutorials.
Gaps I’m working through
- Designing auth flows that include refresh tokens, device trust, and auditing.
- Schema design + migrations for relational databases (beyond toy schemas).
- Observability + tracing for Express/FastAPI services.
- Performance profiling, caching strategies, and async job processing.
If you can mentor a junior backend engineer through these topics, I’d love to hear from you.