Software Engineering / Backend Track

.NET Developer
Roadmap

// Click topics to track progress. Click phase header to expand/collapse.

PROGRESS

01

C# Language Fundamentals

4–6 WEEKS▼

Variables, Types, Operators

int, string, bool, decimal, var, const. Type casting. Arithmetic, logical, bitwise operators.

Control Flow

if/else, switch expressions, for, foreach, while, do-while. break/continue/return.

Methods & Parameters

void vs return types, overloading, ref/out/in, optional & named params, params array.

OOP: Classes & Objects

Fields, properties, constructors, access modifiers (public, private, protected, internal).

OOP: Inheritance & Polymorphism

base class, override, virtual, abstract, sealed. Method hiding vs overriding.

Interfaces & Abstract Classes

Interface contracts, explicit implementation, multiple interface inheritance, abstract members.

Generics

Generic classes, methods, constraints (where T : class, new(), IComparable). List<T>, Dictionary<K,V>.

Exceptions & Error Handling

try/catch/finally, custom exceptions, when clause filters, exception hierarchy.

Collections & LINQ

IEnumerable, List, Dictionary, HashSet. LINQ: Where, Select, OrderBy, GroupBy, FirstOrDefault, Any/All.

Delegates, Events, Lambda

Func<>, Action<>, Predicate<>. Lambda expressions. Event/EventHandler pattern.

Async / Await & Task

Task, Task<T>, async/await, ConfigureAwait, CancellationToken, Task.WhenAll/WhenAny.

Modern C# Features

Records, pattern matching, nullable reference types, init-only setters, file-scoped namespaces, global usings.

02

.NET Ecosystem & Tooling

2–3 WEEKS▼

.NET SDK & CLI

dotnet new, build, run, publish, test. Solution (.sln) and project (.csproj) files. Target frameworks.

NuGet Package Manager

dotnet add package, PackageReference, versioning, lock files, private feeds.

Visual Studio / VS Code / Rider

Debugging (breakpoints, watch, call stack), IntelliSense, refactoring tools, hot reload.

Project Types

Console app, class library, web API, worker service, xUnit test project. Multi-project solutions.

Configuration System

appsettings.json, environment-specific config, IConfiguration, Options pattern, secrets management.

Dependency Injection (DI)

IServiceCollection, AddSingleton/Scoped/Transient, IServiceProvider, constructor injection, DI in libraries.

Logging

ILogger<T>, log levels, structured logging with Serilog/NLog, log sinks, correlation IDs.

03

ASP.NET Core — Web APIs

5–7 WEEKS▼

HTTP & REST Principles

HTTP verbs, status codes, headers, REST constraints, resource naming, statelessness.

Minimal APIs vs Controllers

MapGet/Post/Put/Delete, ApiController attribute, route templates, action results.

Model Binding & Validation

[FromBody], [FromQuery], [FromRoute], Data Annotations, FluentValidation, ModelState.

Middleware Pipeline

app.Use, app.Run, app.Map. Custom middleware. Order matters: auth, CORS, routing, endpoints.

Authentication & Authorization

JWT Bearer tokens, cookie auth, OAuth2/OIDC with IdentityServer/Keycloak, [Authorize], policies, roles.

Entity Framework Core

DbContext, DbSet, Code-First migrations, relationships (1:1, 1:N, M:N), Fluent API, lazy vs eager loading.

Querying with EF Core

LINQ queries, raw SQL, stored procedures, projections, pagination, tracking vs no-tracking.

Caching

IMemoryCache, IDistributedCache, Redis with StackExchange.Redis, cache invalidation patterns.

Background Services

IHostedService, BackgroundService, Worker Services, Hangfire, Quartz.NET for job scheduling.

API Documentation

Swagger/OpenAPI with Swashbuckle, XML comments, versioning with Asp.Versioning.

04

Data, Databases & Architecture

4–5 WEEKS▼

SQL & Relational Databases

SQL Server / PostgreSQL. DDL/DML, joins, indexes, transactions, stored procedures, views, normalization.

Dapper (Micro-ORM)

Query<T>, Execute, multi-mapping, stored proc calls. When to use Dapper over EF Core.

Repository Pattern

IRepository<T>, Unit of Work, separating data access from business logic.

Clean Architecture

Domain, Application, Infrastructure, Presentation layers. Dependency rule. SOLID principles applied.

CQRS & MediatR

Command/Query separation, IRequest<T>, IRequestHandler, pipeline behaviors (validation, logging).

Domain-Driven Design Basics

Entities, Value Objects, Aggregates, Domain Events, Bounded Contexts, Ubiquitous Language.

NoSQL with MongoDB

Document model, BSON, MongoDB.Driver for .NET, collections, indexes, aggregation pipeline.

05

Testing, DevOps & Security

3–4 WEEKS▼

Unit Testing with xUnit

Fact vs Theory, Arrange-Act-Assert, test isolation, naming conventions, test projects structure.

Mocking with Moq / NSubstitute

Mock<T>, Setup, Verify, Returns, argument matchers, mocking interfaces and abstract classes.

Integration Testing

WebApplicationFactory, in-memory database, TestServer, realistic endpoint testing.

Docker & Containers

Dockerfile for .NET apps, multi-stage builds, docker-compose for local dev (app + DB + Redis).

CI/CD Pipelines

GitHub Actions / Azure DevOps. Build, test, publish, containerize, deploy pipeline stages.

Security Fundamentals

OWASP Top 10 in .NET context: injection, XSS, CSRF, insecure deserialization, sensitive data exposure.

Secret Management

dotnet user-secrets, Azure Key Vault, environment variables, never commit credentials.

06

Advanced & Specialization

ONGOING▼

gRPC with .NET

Protobuf contracts, Grpc.AspNetCore, unary & streaming RPCs, client factory, vs REST trade-offs.

SignalR (Real-time)

Hubs, groups, connection management, scaling with Redis backplane, JS/TS client integration.

Message Queues

RabbitMQ with MassTransit, Azure Service Bus, publish/subscribe, saga orchestration.

Microservices Patterns

API Gateway (YARP/Ocelot), service discovery, circuit breaker (Polly), distributed tracing (OpenTelemetry).

Azure / Cloud Deployment

App Service, Azure Container Apps, Azure Functions, Blob Storage, Cosmos DB, Azure SQL.

Performance & Profiling

BenchmarkDotNet, memory profiling, Span<T>, ArrayPool, ValueTask, avoiding allocations.

AI Integration (your domain)

Semantic Kernel, Azure OpenAI SDK, vector databases (Qdrant/pgvector), RAG pipelines in .NET.