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Microservices Mastery

A comprehensive, interview-focused curriculum designed for engineers targeting Senior/Staff roles at top tech companies (Google, Amazon, Netflix, Uber, Stripe, etc.). This course covers everything from microservices fundamentals to production-ready distributed systems.
Course Duration: 16-20 weeks (self-paced)
Target Outcome: Senior+ Engineer at FAANG / Top-tier microservices expertise
Prerequisites: Node.js basics, REST APIs, basic database knowledge
Language: Node.js/TypeScript with concepts applicable to any language
Projects: 10+ hands-on projects including a full e-commerce platform
Chapters: 27 in-depth chapters covering all aspects of microservices

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Why This Course?

Interview Ready

Covers exact topics asked at top tech companies for backend/distributed systems roles

Production Patterns

Real patterns from systems handling millions of requests at Netflix, Uber, Amazon

Hands-On Projects

Build a complete e-commerce platform with 10+ microservices

Deep Technical Foundation

Understand the “why” behind every pattern, not just the “how”
Interview Reality: At Senior+ level, you’re expected to design microservices systems that handle millions of requests, maintain data consistency, and recover from failures gracefully. This course prepares you for exactly that.

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What Companies Ask

CompanyCommon Microservices Topics
AmazonService decomposition, eventual consistency, DynamoDB patterns, SQS/SNS
NetflixCircuit breakers, chaos engineering, service mesh, Eureka
UberEvent-driven architecture, Kafka, real-time systems, CQRS
StripeDistributed transactions, idempotency, exactly-once delivery
GooglegRPC, service discovery, load balancing, observability
MetaGraph services, fan-out patterns, caching at scale

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Complete Curriculum

#ChapterTopics
00OverviewCourse structure, learning path, prerequisites
01FoundationsMonolith vs microservices, when to use, trade-offs
02Domain-Driven DesignBounded contexts, aggregates, service decomposition
03Sync CommunicationREST, gRPC, protocol buffers, API versioning
04Async CommunicationMessage queues, RabbitMQ, Kafka, event-driven
05API GatewayRouting, authentication, rate limiting, Kong
06Data ManagementDatabase per service, saga pattern, CQRS
07Resilience PatternsCircuit breaker, retry, bulkhead, timeout
08Service DiscoveryConsul, Eureka, DNS-based discovery
09ObservabilityTracing, logging, metrics, Prometheus, Jaeger
10SecurityOAuth2, JWT, mTLS, secrets management
11ContainerizationDocker, multi-stage builds, best practices
12KubernetesDeployments, services, ConfigMaps, scaling
13TestingUnit, integration, contract, E2E testing
14Interview PrepCommon questions, system design, coding
15Capstone ProjectE-commerce platform with 10+ services
16Service MeshIstio, Linkerd, traffic management, mTLS
17Configuration ManagementConsul, feature flags, hot reload
18CI/CDGitOps, ArgoCD, GitHub Actions, canary deploys
19Database PatternsData partitioning, migrations, replication
20Caching StrategiesRedis, cache-aside, invalidation, distributed
21Chaos EngineeringChaos Monkey, LitmusChaos, game days
22Case StudiesNetflix, Uber, Amazon, Spotify architectures
23Load BalancingClient/server-side, algorithms, health checks
24Migration PatternsStrangler fig, branch by abstraction, CDC
25Event Sourcing Deep DiveEvent stores, projections, snapshots
26GraphQL FederationApollo Federation, schema composition

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Course Structure

The curriculum is organized into 10 tracks progressing from fundamentals to Staff+ expertise: 
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      MICROSERVICES MASTERY                                  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                              │
│  TRACK 1: FOUNDATIONS           TRACK 2: COMMUNICATION                      │
│  ─────────────────────          ────────────────────────                    │
│  ☑ Monolith vs Microservices    ☑ Synchronous (REST/gRPC)                   │
│  ☑ Domain-Driven Design         ☑ Asynchronous (Message Queues)             │
│  ☑ Service Decomposition        ☑ Event-Driven Architecture                 │
│  ☑ API Design Principles        ☑ API Gateway Patterns                      │
│  ☑ Database per Service         ☑ GraphQL Federation                        │
│                                                                              │
│  TRACK 3: DATA MANAGEMENT       TRACK 4: RESILIENCE                         │
│  ─────────────────────────      ──────────────────────                      │
│  ☑ Database per Service         ☑ Circuit Breaker Pattern                   │
│  ☑ Saga Pattern                 ☑ Retry Strategies                          │
│  ☑ Event Sourcing               ☑ Bulkhead Isolation                        │
│  ☑ CQRS Pattern                 ☑ Timeout Patterns                          │
│  ☑ Caching Strategies           ☑ Chaos Engineering                         │
│                                                                              │
│  TRACK 5: DEPLOYMENT            TRACK 6: OBSERVABILITY                      │
│  ─────────────────────          ────────────────────────                    │
│  ☑ Containerization             ☑ Distributed Tracing                       │
│  ☑ Kubernetes Basics            ☑ Centralized Logging                       │
│  ☑ Service Discovery            ☑ Metrics & Dashboards                      │
│  ☑ Service Mesh (Istio)         ☑ Health Checks                             │
│  ☑ CI/CD Pipelines              ☑ Alerting Systems                          │
│                                                                              │
│  TRACK 7: SECURITY              TRACK 8: ADVANCED PATTERNS                  │
│  ─────────────────────          ────────────────────────────                │
│  ☑ Service-to-Service Auth      ☑ Strangler Fig Pattern                     │
│  ☑ API Gateway Security         ☑ Backend for Frontend (BFF)                │
│  ☑ Secrets Management           ☑ Sidecar Pattern                           │
│  ☑ Zero Trust Architecture      ☑ Ambassador Pattern                        │
│  ☑ Rate Limiting & Throttling   ☑ Migration Patterns                        │
│                                                                              │
│  TRACK 9: REAL-WORLD            TRACK 10: INTERVIEW PREP                    │
│  ─────────────────────          ────────────────────────                    │
│  ☑ Netflix Architecture         ☑ System Design Questions                   │
│  ☑ Uber Dispatch System         ☑ Coding Challenges                         │
│  ☑ Amazon SOA Journey           ☑ Behavioral Questions                      │
│  ☑ Spotify Squad Model          ☑ Architecture Deep Dives                   │
│  ☑ Configuration Management     ☑ Capstone Project                          │
│                                                                              │
│  ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════│
│  CAPSTONE PROJECT: E-COMMERCE PLATFORM                                       │
│  ─────────────────────────────────────                                       │
│  □ User Service          □ Order Service        □ Inventory Service          │
│  □ Payment Service       □ Notification Service □ Search Service             │
│  □ API Gateway           □ Event Bus (Kafka)    □ Full Observability         │
│                                                                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Learning Path

1

Foundations (Week 1-2)

Understand when and why to use microservices. Learn DDD and service decomposition strategies.
2

Communication Patterns (Week 3-4)

Master sync/async communication, event-driven architecture, and API gateway patterns.
3

Data Management (Week 5-6)

Handle distributed data with sagas, event sourcing, CQRS, and caching strategies.
4

Resilience Patterns (Week 7-8)

Build fault-tolerant services with circuit breakers, retries, bulkheads, and chaos engineering.
5

Deployment & DevOps (Week 9-10)

Deploy with Docker, Kubernetes, service mesh, and implement CI/CD pipelines.
6

Observability (Week 11-12)

Implement distributed tracing, logging, metrics, and comprehensive monitoring.
7

Security & Advanced (Week 13-14)

Secure your services and learn advanced architectural patterns including migration strategies.
8

Case Studies (Week 15-16)

Learn from Netflix, Uber, Amazon, and Spotify architectures. Understand real-world trade-offs.
9

GraphQL & Event Sourcing (Week 17-18)

Master GraphQL Federation and deep dive into event sourcing patterns.
10

Capstone Project (Week 19-20)

Build a production-ready e-commerce platform with 10+ services.

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Projects You’ll Build

API Gateway

Build a custom API gateway with rate limiting, auth, and intelligent routing

Event Bus

Implement message broker integration with RabbitMQ and Apache Kafka

Saga Orchestrator

Build distributed transaction handling with compensation logic

Service Mesh Demo

Deploy services with Istio for traffic management, mTLS, and observability

Observability Stack

Set up Prometheus, Grafana, Jaeger, and centralized logging

Chaos Engineering Lab

Implement chaos experiments with LitmusChaos and game days

GraphQL Federation

Build unified APIs across microservices with Apollo Federation

E-Commerce Platform

Complete microservices application with 10+ production-ready services

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Interview Topics Covered

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System Design Questions

  • Design a URL shortener with microservices
  • Design an e-commerce checkout system
  • Design a notification service at scale
  • Design a real-time messaging system
  • Design a rate limiter service

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Coding Questions

  • Implement circuit breaker from scratch
  • Design an event-driven order processing system
  • Build a distributed cache invalidation system
  • Implement saga pattern with compensation
  • Create a service discovery mechanism

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Behavioral/Architecture Questions

  • When would you choose microservices over monolith?
  • How do you handle distributed transactions?
  • How do you debug issues in a microservices system?
  • How do you handle service failures gracefully?
  • How do you ensure data consistency across services?

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Tech Stack

CategoryTechnologies
LanguageNode.js, TypeScript
FrameworksExpress, Fastify, NestJS
DatabasesPostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis
Message QueuesRabbitMQ, Apache Kafka
ContainersDocker, Docker Compose
OrchestrationKubernetes, Helm
API GatewayKong, Express Gateway
Service MeshIstio, Linkerd
ObservabilityPrometheus, Grafana, Jaeger, OpenTelemetry
CI/CDGitHub Actions, ArgoCD, GitOps
GraphQLApollo Server, Apollo Federation
Chaos EngineeringChaos Monkey, LitmusChaos
ConfigurationConsul, ConfigMaps, Feature Flags

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Prerequisites

  • JavaScript/TypeScript basics
  • async/await, Promises
  • Express.js basics
  • npm/yarn package management
  • SQL basics (PostgreSQL preferred)
  • NoSQL concepts (MongoDB)
  • Basic caching concepts
  • REST API design
  • HTTP methods and status codes
  • JSON data format
  • Basic authentication concepts
  • Command line basics
  • Git version control
  • Basic Docker knowledge (helpful but not required)

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Ready to Begin?

Start with Foundations

Begin your microservices journey by understanding when and why to use microservices architecture.