Backend Development with Python: backend basics, intro to Python, Django and first applications

Basic

79h 6min

Last updated 08/2025

Skills

This skill path will teach you everything you need to get started with back-end development using Pythin as your main programming language. We start teaching you the basic concepts of back-end development and we then move into more details about Python, Django, and even a bit of front-end development to make sure you can complete the tutorials and exercises inside the path. 

This path is curated by Chris Koch who is a senior and professional back-end developer with several years of knowledge programming on Python. Chris has a YouTube channel where he teaches coding and Python with more than 200,000 subscribers. Chris is also active on several other platforms like Udemy and Shareable where his courses are watched by more than half a million people every month. 

Content (51)

All (51)

(1)

(24)

(26)

Introduction to Backend Developpment

In this first chapter you will learn what it means to develop software for the backend. We cover initial basic steps like backend concepts and fundamentals and we then introduce you to Python, SQL and Front-end Development, to give you a full overview.

Back-End Development

Back-End Development Tools

Django

Python

SQL

Video

Back-end web development - a complete overview

3min

Intermediate

Short video on the basics of back end development. It covers the basics concepts like servers, programming languages and databases and shows how the various parts connect. 

Video

What is a server ? How does a server work?

9min

Intermediate

This connects to the previous part and goes a bit more into detail to introduce what a server is and how that gets to a website functioning in the browser. 

Link

Mastering back-end development: fundamental concepts and terminologies

10min

Intermediate

A more detailed guide on the major concepts within back-end development along with more explanations. 

Video

Introduction to Python in 100 seconds

2min

Intermediate

This is a super brief overview of Python and what it is used for. Python is the most common programming language used for back-end development. 

Link

What is Python?

6min

Intermediate

Another resource on Python, this one gives you a few more examples and resources that you can explore 
 on your own. Just have a look on the site and click on the links to see the examples. Beyond that, you can also look around on Youtube or google to see what people are doing with Python. Besides things like websites and games the language can also be used to control robots or automate your computer. 

Video

What is Django? A Python Web Framework

5min

Intermediate

An overview of the Django framework that will be used to create the actual backend. The video also does a good job reiterating the basic concepts and links them back to the overview. 

Link

What is SQL and what is it used for?

15min

Intermediate

An introduction to databases and how they can used along with some examples. To build back-end applications you will regularly use databases to store and read data, and that's why SQL (Structured Query Language) will help you get confidence with one of the most popular database languages. 

Video

Front-end web development - a complete overview

6min

Intermediate

Useful information to get the other side of website development: How the actual website is designed and how that links back to the back end stuff. 

Learn the Python programming language

This is a long chapter that will teach you the basics of the Python programming language. We have structured this chapter to be used by beginners that never used Python. Toward the end you will also build a simple application in Python and get introduce to Git and Github.

Python

Link

What are the basic fundamental concepts of programming?

6min

Intermediate

An introduction to the basics of programming, this covers just theory, implementing things will come next! 

Link

How much Python should you know to learn Django?

5min

Intermediate

How much Python do you need to know? 

Link

How to get learn coding

5min

Intermediate

Some forum tips to get started on programming. 

Link

Useful resources when you need help

10min

Intermediate

A list of resources that can help when you get stuck. These are usually forums where people are eager to answer questions. 

Video

Python in a single video

11h 9min

Intermediate

A complete intro to Python in a single video. If you want to follow one course this should give you a good structure. 

Video

Installing Python and setting up a code editor

14min

Intermediate

A short video covering how to install Python and a code editor. 

Video

Python in 1 hour

Intermediate

A really brief introduction to Python that covers variables, functions and the general logic. While this is very basic it conveys a lot of fundamental knowledge. 

Video

Controlling the flow of the code

21min

Intermediate

Controlling the flow of code in Python (if, else, while). 

Video

Functions

10min

Intermediate

Learn Python functions. 

Video

List Comprehension

12min

Intermediate

Python list comprehension. 

Video

Classes

1h 20min

Intermediate

Playlist on using classes 

Video

Decorators

43min

Intermediate

Understand decorators. 

Link

Writing Pythonic code

15min

Intermediate

To finish up the basics of Python you should be aware of some broad style patterns. 

Video

How to fix the 10 most common Python errors

9min

Basic

How to understand and fix the most common errors. 

Video

Practice project 1 - Create games in Python

3h 48min

Intermediate

Making games in Python. 

Video

Practice project 2 - Make apps

4h 25min

Intermediate

Make apps in Python. 

Link

Git version control

10min

Intermediate

How to store your work and make sure you don't accidentally delete or change something. 

Video

Git and GitHub Tutorial for Beginners

46min

Intermediate

A detailed tutorial on how to use GitHub and Git. 

Learn the basic of Front-end to build and operate your applications

Let's take a break from back-end development: in this chapter I want to teach you enough about front-end development to let you build applications on the back-end side that you can still use and expose to your users.

Front-End Development

Front-End Development Tools

HTML

JavaScript

ReactJS

Video

As a back-end developer, how much should you know about front-end?

9min

Intermediate

To be a good back-end developer you should know the basics of front-end development. You shouldn't spend too much time on this though so here is a list with the main concepts you should know. 

Video

Learn HTML the easy way

1h 10min

Intermediate

A basic overview of HTML5 to help you understand how websites are built.
HTML (and css) is the default language to create websites and it is a very easy one to learn; it hardly even qualifies as a programming language: It is mostly just a way to place various elements on a browser page; there is basically no interactivity or complex logic. For your journey as a back-end developer though, you should know the basic skeleton that creates a website. 

Video

Learn Javascript the easy way

48min

Intermediate

A JavaScript crash course, this is the language that makes websites interactive and will be used to send data. It's a very famous language in the front-end world and something you will constantly use, sometimes even in your back-end development. 

Link

Practice projects to test your front-end skills

Intermediate

Some practice projects to test your skills. Now that you have learned enough about front-end applications, you should be able to open some of these projects and build them. 

Link

Javascript framework overview

10min

Intermediate

An overview of Javascript frameworks for more interactive websites. Most developers don't actually use pure Javascript to make interactive websites. Instead, they use a framework that automates the complex work; really famous examples are react and angular. Both make it much easier to develop pretty and interactive websites; but that is basically it. For a back-end you don't need to know too many details but keep in mind that they exist. 

Link

Introduction to ReactJS

30min

Basic

An introduction to ReactJS, the most popular front-end framework. While this is not something you should learn as part of this skill path, you might want to learn more about it. Anthropos has a dedicated skill path if you want to learn React. 

Django: building wen applications with Python

This chapter is completely dedicated to Django and it will teach you everything to adopt it to build your first application. Django is a popular framework supported by thousands of people using it.

Django

Video

Basic intro to Django

8min

Intermediate

Introduction and overview of Django. 

Link

Django introduction

8min

Intermediate

With the basics out of the way we can start properly with Django and start on the major concepts. 

Link

Django alternatives

15min

Intermediate

Alternatives to Django along with their strengths and weaknesses. 

Link

Version management with pyenv

30min

Intermediate

When developing back-ends, especially in a team, you need to make sure  that you keep control over the version that you use; this can be done via Venv. 

Video

Django overview

1h 3min

Basic

A basic intro to Django. 

Article

Django course - Practical guide

23h

Intermediate

Paid Django course. 

Video

Django full course

18h 33min

Intermediate

Free Django course. 

Video

SQL explained in 100 seconds

2min

Intermediate

A brief overview of SQL. 

Link

Performing raw SQL queries with Django

20min

Intermediate

Linking Django to SQL. 

Link

Django ORM

20min

Intermediate

An introduction to Django ORM. 

Link

Django projects

Basic

Django practice projects. 

Link

Security in Django

30min

Intermediate

Security is a really important part of any project, as a back-end developer you will be in trouble if your website gets hacked! 

Video

Hidden Forces podcast

Intermediate

Hidden Forces: This is how they tell me the world ends is a really good book on  hacking, it will give you a good understanding of how widespread hacking is. 

Soft skills and other skills to consider as back-end developer

Becoming great at building back-end applications doesn't require just hard skills like Python or Django. In this chapter you will learn how mastering soft skills, team collaboration and project management can really help you succeed and move faster.

Communication

Problem Solving

Teamwork and Collaboration

Link

10 Soft skills every programmer needs

20min

Intermediate

Soft skills that would make your life much easier as a programmer. Programming is more than just writing lines of code. You will almost certainly work with other people: You will have coworkers, clients, managers, other teams or maybe even government officials.
Let's learn a few soft skills that will completely change the way you work. 

Link

The programmer’s guide to working on a team

20min

Intermediate

Working in a team can be difficult and but being able to get this right is crucial. You should really invest time and constantly improve in this area: it will make you incredibly more successful, trusted by colleagues and able to quickly get things done. 

Video

Can a "DIY mindset" keep programmers from growing

14min

Intermediate

It is fine to ask for help! 

Link

How to communicate your ideas to developers

10min

Intermediate

Learn strategies to communicate your ideas. Things like know the knowledge level of your audience or how to focus your ideas for presentations. 

Link

Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up problem solving approaches at McKinsey

8min

Intermediate

You can approach any problem from the bottom up or the top down; depending on the approach you might want to think differently. 

Link

Planning a programming project

15min

Intermediate

Being able to plan your projects with the proper requirements and achievable deadlines is incredibly helpful. 

Introduction

Chris Koch is the owner of Clear Code, a famous YouTube channel dedicated to learning to code with 200,000+ members. Chris' videos are watched by nearly half a million viewers per month and his courses are some of the highest-rated ones on several of the platforms.  I love building video games and prog...

Chris Koch

YouTuber and Coder at Clear Code channel

Skill objectives