The latest articles on DEV Community by Kumaresan Kanthasamy (@kumaresan02). https://dev.to/kumaresan02 https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4041076%2F87378de4-1ac7-4f36-84c1-653a89dbe49e.jpg https://dev.to/kumaresan02 en Kumaresan Kanthasamy Mon, 17 Aug 2026 10:07:43 +0000 https://dev.to/kumaresan02/recent-grad-on-an-aws-backend-team-how-do-i-actually-get-good-fast-3ak8 https://dev.to/kumaresan02/recent-grad-on-an-aws-backend-team-how-do-i-actually-get-good-fast-3ak8 <p>Hey folks 👋</p> <p>I graduated a few months back and landed my first "real" SWE job, working mostly on AWS backend stuff. Stack so far:</p> <ul> <li>Node.js/TypeScript on Lambda, sitting behind API Gateway</li> <li>Postgres + Drizzle ORM</li> <li>Cognito for auth, plus the usual encryption fundamentals (AES-256-GCM, HMAC)</li> <li>Serverless Framework, some SAM/CloudFormation, Docker for local dev</li> </ul> <p>I can ship features and I'm not drowning, which is nice. But I keep noticing the gap between "I got the ticket done" and "I actually understand why the system is built this way." I don't want to spend year one just closing Jira tickets and calling it growth — I want the growth to actually compound.</p> <p>So, genuine question for anyone who's mentored juniors or remembers their own first year clearly:</p> <p><strong>1. What actually separates someone who "gets" backend architecture from someone who's just wiring up endpoints?</strong> Is it a specific set of concepts, or more of a habit of asking different questions?</p> <p><strong>2. Past Lambda/API Gateway — what's actually worth digging into next?</strong> I keep seeing SQS/SNS event-driven patterns, ElastiCache/Redis caching, and observability come up as "the next level" for serverless folks. Curious what you'd prioritize and why, versus what's a distraction this early.</p> <p><strong>3. How do you build technical credibility on a team without turning into "that junior who won't stop talking in standup"?</strong> Genuinely trying to be useful and visible without overstepping into territory I haven't earned yet.</p> <p><strong>4. What's a trap you (or juniors you've mentored) fell into that a senior had to catch in review?</strong> Doesn't matter if it's cost blowups, connection pooling gone wrong, IAM permissions sprawling out of control, swallowed errors, whatever — I'd rather hear it from you than learn it the expensive way in prod.</p> <p><strong>5. If you had to pick one book, mental model, or daily habit that paid off the most in your first year — what would it be?</strong></p> <p>Even a single sentence helps. Appreciate anyone who takes the time 🙏</p> aws backend backenddevelopment beginners