Summer 2026 Build In Public Engineering Journey

Become known as the developer who builds computer science concepts from scratch and explains how they work.

Focus Areas:

  • Backend Engineering
  • System Design
  • Networking
  • Databases
  • Distributed Systems
  • AI Applications
  • Software Architecture

Content Flywheel Every project must produce: Engineering Output

  • Working project
  • GitHub repository
  • Documentation
  • Architecture diagram
  • Lessons learned

Content Output YouTube

1 long-form video (4-10 min) Structure:

  1. Problem
  2. How real systems solve it
  3. My implementation
  4. Challenges
  5. Demo
  6. Lessons learned

X

  • 1 build thread
  • 3-5 individual posts
  • Architecture diagrams
  • Technical discoveries
  • Build updates

Instagram

  1. Reel
  2. Carousel
  3. Demo Clip

Website · Project writeup · Notes · Source code · Screenshots · Demo Month 1: Internet & Backend Foundations Goal: Understand how web applications work from the ground up. Projects:

Week 1 Build HTTP Server Concepts: · Sockets · Requests · Responses · Headers · Status Codes Content Ideas: · How browsers talk to servers · What happens when you visit a website · Building a web server from scratch

Week 2 Build Web Framework Concepts: · Routing · Middleware · Request lifecycle · Controllers Content Ideas: · What Express actually does · Building my own mini Express · Understanding backend frameworks

Week 3 Build Git Clone Concepts: · Hashing · Objects · Commits · Trees Content Ideas: · How Git stores code · Git is simpler than I thought · Building version control from scratch

Week 4 Build Redis Clone Concepts: · In-memory storage · Key-value databases · Persistence · Data structures Content Ideas: · Why Redis is so fast · Building my own Redis · Understanding caching systems

Month 2: Databases & Search Goal: Understand how data is stored and retrieved. Projects:

Week 5 Build Database Concepts: · Storage engine · Indexing · Query execution · Data persistence Content Ideas: · How databases store data · Building a database from scratch

Week 6 Build Search Engine Concepts: · Crawling · Indexing · Ranking · Search algorithms Content Ideas: · How Google finds results · Building a search engine

Week 7 Build URL Shortener Concepts: · IDs · Database design · Redirection · Scalability Content Ideas: · How Bitly works · Designing a URL shortener

Week 8 Build Authentication Service Concepts: · Sessions · JWT · Password hashing · Security Content Ideas: · How login systems work · Building authentication from scratch

Month 3: System Design & Scale Goal: Learn how large systems are built. Projects:

Week 9 Build Message Queue Concepts: · Producers · Consumers · Event-driven systems Content Ideas: · How background jobs work · Building a queue system

Week 10 Build Load Balancer Concepts: · Scaling · Traffic distribution · Reverse proxies Content Ideas: · How websites handle millions of users

Week 11 Build Rate Limiter Concepts: · Security · Distributed systems · Algorithms Content Ideas: · How APIs prevent abuse

Week 12 Build API Gateway Concepts: · Routing · Authentication · Microservices Content Ideas: · How modern backend systems work

Weekly Workflow Monday · Research · System design · Architecture diagram

Tuesday - Thursday · Build

Friday · Finish implementation · Documentation

Saturday · Record YouTube video · Create Reel · Create Carousel

Sunday · Publish content · Write reflection · Plan next project

Brand Positioning I am not documenting tutorials. I am documenting understanding. My goal is to become the developer who learns complex systems by building them from scratch and explains them in a way others can understand.

Every project should answer: “How does this technology actually work under the hood?” Success Metrics

By End of Summer Engineering: · 12 completed projects · 12 architecture diagrams · 12 GitHub repositories

Content: · 12 YouTube videos · 12 Reels · 12 Carousels · 50+ X posts

Portfolio: · Personal website updated · Detailed project writeups · Public learning journey

Outcome: A portfolio that demonstrates real engineering depth rather than only CRUD applications.

Future Ideas · Build Docker · Build Kafka · Build Torrent Client · Build DNS Server · Build AI Agent Framework · Build WebSocket Server · Build Distributed Cache