Introduction

Hi, I’m Kendall Kelly, a recent computer science graduate excited to embark on a new learning adventure. While my degree gave me a solid foundation, I’ve realized that building real-world, production-grade applications requires hands-on experience that goes beyond academic projects. That’s why I’m thrilled to be working with my mentor on a multi-tiered web application project.

This blog will serve as my learning journal, documenting the challenges, breakthroughs, and lessons learned along the way. I hope my experiences can help other developers navigating the transition from theory to practice.

The Project

I’ll be building a multi-tiered web application from the ground up, focusing on understanding how different layers of modern applications work together. Rather than just following tutorials, this project aims to give me deep insights into architectural decisions, security considerations, and deployment practices that production systems require.

The Tech Stack

After discussions with my mentor, we’ve chosen a modern, industry-relevant stack:

  • Frontend: React - for building a responsive and interactive user interface
  • Backend: Go - for high-performance server-side logic and API development
  • Database: PostgreSQL - a robust, reliable relational database
  • AI Integration: OpenAI API - to explore AI-powered features
  • MCP: FastMCP - for enhanced integration capabilities

This combination offers a great balance of performance, scalability, and modern development practices.

Learning Goals

My primary objectives for this project include:

1. Architecture & Design

Understanding how to properly structure a multi-tier system, make architectural decisions, and design components that are maintainable and scalable.

2. Backend Development

Building robust APIs, implementing business logic, designing efficient database schemas, and handling data persistence with Go and PostgreSQL.

3. Frontend Integration

Creating seamless connections between the React frontend and Go backend, managing state effectively, and ensuring a smooth user experience.

4. Security

Implementing authentication, authorization, input validation, and other security best practices to build secure applications.

5. Deployment & DevOps

Learning how to deploy applications to production environments, set up CI/CD pipelines, and manage infrastructure effectively.

What to Expect

I’ll be documenting my progress through regular blog posts covering:

  • Technical Deep Dives: Detailed explanations of implementation challenges and solutions
  • Architecture Decisions: Why we chose certain approaches over others
  • Lessons Learned: Mistakes made and how I overcame them
  • Code Examples: Practical snippets demonstrating key concepts
  • Resources: Helpful documentation, articles, and tools I discover

Moving Forward

I’m both excited and slightly intimidated by this journey. Building a full-stack application with modern technologies while keeping security and best practices in mind is no small feat. But with my mentor’s guidance and a commitment to learning, I’m confident this will be an incredible growth experience.

Stay tuned for my next post where I’ll dive into the initial project setup and architectural planning.

If you’re also learning web development or working on similar projects, I’d love to hear from you. Let’s learn together!

This is the first post in my multi-tier application development series. Follow along as I document my journey from recent graduate to building production-ready applications.