Backend Challenges Guide

Welcome to SelectCode's Backend Challenges! We're excited to see how you tackle these challenges, showcasing your unique skills and creativity. Our backend challenges aim to reflect real-world scenarios and tasks, simulating the type of work you would engage in as part of our team.

Before you begin, here's a brief guide on what we're looking for, what you should focus on, and what's important when developing a real-world backend.

What To Focus On

1. Quality Code: Maintainability is key. Your code should be easy to read and follow. Make use of clear function and variable names, keep functions small and focused on a single task, and follow the DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) principle.

2. Problem Solving: Show us how you tackle the problem. The path to your solution is just as important as the solution itself. Document your thought process, any problems you encounter along the way and how you overcame them.

3. Use of Frameworks & Libraries: Make effective use of the chosen language's frameworks and libraries. This can not only make your code more efficient but also demonstrates your knowledge and skills in these areas.

4. Test Coverage: Real world applications need real world testing. Ensure your code is well-tested and that edge cases are covered.

Importance in Real World Development

1. Scalability: Your application should be designed to handle growth. It should perform well under an increasing load, and the code structure should be maintainable and easy to add to.

2. Performance: Performance is key in providing a good user experience. Your application should be optimized to run efficiently, with minimal load times and efficient use of resources.

3. Security: Always keep security in mind. This means protecting sensitive data, ensuring secure connections, and safeguarding against potential threats.

4. Error Handling & Logging: Robust error handling and clear logging are crucial in the real world. They help identify and debug issues quickly and efficiently.

5. Code Collaboration: In the real world, you're rarely coding alone. Follow standard conventions for code style and formatting, and write clear, concise code comments where necessary. Include a thorough README and maintain a clean, organized repository structure.

Conclusion

Remember, these challenges are designed not only to test your technical skills but also your problem-solving abilities and your understanding of what it takes to write production-quality code. While we do consider your final output, we're also very interested in your thought process and approach.

We value your time and effort in completing these challenges, and we're excited to see what you come up with! Good luck!