Week 1: Foundations

Goal: Understand what BSPS is and where you are in your learning journey.

Day 1-2: Orientation

1. Read ../../README.md — understand the system
2. Read ../../bsps/00-orientation/prerequisites.md — assess your starting point
3. Choose a learning path from ../../bsps/00-orientation/learning-path.md

Day 3-4: First Core Module

1. Read ../../bsps/07-core-backend-engineering/01-n-plus-one-query-problem.md
2. Run Lab 01: ../../labs/lab-01-n-plus-one-profiling/
3. Find one N+1 pattern in the codebase you are onboarding into

Day 5: Audit Your First System

1. Run backend-audit-checklist.md on the primary service you own
2. Score each section
3. Identify the top 3 action items

Week 2: Connection and Caching

1. Read ../../bsps/07-core-backend-engineering/02-connection-pooling.md
2. Run Lab 02: ../../labs/lab-02-connection-pool-tuning/
3. Verify pool configuration in your service
4. Read ../../bsps/07-core-backend-engineering/03-caching-strategy.md
5. Check cache hit rates in your service's metrics

Week 3: Concurrency and Performance

1. Read ../../bsps/07-core-backend-engineering/04-threading-vs-async-vs-event-loop.md
2. Run Benchmark 01: ../../benchmarks/01-thread-vs-async-vs-event-loop/
3. Profile one slow endpoint with your language's profiling tools
4. Review ../../playbooks/performance-tuning.md

Week 4: Production Readiness

1. Read ../../bsps/10-production-systems/01-observability.md
2. Verify your service exports RED metrics
3. Read ../../playbooks/incident-response.md
4. Shadow one on-call rotation

Checklist: Ready for Independent Operation

• [ ] Can explain N+1 and fix it in your codebase's ORM
• [ ] Know your service's pool size and why it was chosen
• [ ] Know your service's cache hit rate and whether it's acceptable
• [ ] Have run at least one profiling session on your service
• [ ] Have read through the incident response playbook
• [ ] Completed backend audit checklist for your primary service