Before you pay for a backend developer course in Nepal, check one thing first: how much SQL it teaches. Backend job ads in Kathmandu name SQL, PostgreSQL and database skills, yet it is easy to pick a course that is mostly about a framework.
The backend is the part of an app you do not see: the servers, APIs and databases behind it. If you are still deciding whether you want this work at all, start with our post on what a backend developer does. This article is for the next step, when you are comparing courses.
Here are the questions we would ask, and what a good answer sounds like.
Can you read the full syllabus, week by week, before you pay?
A list of tools is not a syllabus. "Node.js, Express, MongoDB, deployment" tells you nothing about depth. A real syllabus says what you learn in week 3, and what you build at the end of it.
Ask for it in writing. If a course will not show it until you pay, you cannot judge it, so pick another course.
Does it teach SQL deeply, or only one database?
Read two backend job ads from Kathmandu side by side. One lists SQL, PostgreSQL, Git and Docker. Another asks for Python, Django and "database management". The languages differ, but both ask for database skills by name.
The written test is often about databases too. Many mid-sized companies in Nepal start with a one to two hour written test at their office. It asks string and array problems by hand, SQL joins and normalisation.
So look for these words in the syllabus: joins, normalisation, indexes, transactions. A transaction is a group of database changes that all happen or none happen. The PostgreSQL docs explain it with a bank transfer. The money must leave one account and reach the other, or neither change counts.
Also look for EXPLAIN ANALYZE. It runs a query and shows the real time each step took. That is how you find out why a page is slow. If a backend syllabus never mentions SQL, ask why before you pay.
Does the language come before the framework?
A framework like Express or NestJS saves time only when you understand what it does for you. If week one opens with a framework, you can copy a tutorial. When it breaks, you will not know which part broke.
A good order is HTTP and the terminal first, then plain JavaScript, then async code and TypeScript, then the framework. Ask the course where async and await are taught. If the answer is "along the way", expect gaps.
Will your code run on a real server you can log in to?
Some courses deploy to a one-click platform. That is fine for a demo, but it hides the server. You never see Linux, open a port or set up HTTPS yourself.
Ask three things. Will you connect to a server with SSH? Will you set up HTTPS yourself? Let's Encrypt gives HTTPS certificates for free, so this costs nothing to teach. Will a push to GitHub deploy your code by itself?
Also ask what it costs. A good course does not make you buy a cloud account with a card just to finish an exercise.
Is security more than adding a login?
Many beginner APIs check who you are, then forget to check what you own. OWASP lists this as the first risk in its API Security Top 10 for 2023: Broken Object Level Authorization.
It looks like this. Your app opens an order at a URL ending in /orders/105. A user changes it to 106 and sees someone else's order. The login worked. The check on ownership was missing.
Ask whether the course teaches ownership checks on every route, not only JWT login. A course that names the OWASP API list is a good sign.
Who reads your code, and how many others share that person?
You learn backend by writing code and having someone point at the line that is wrong. That only works when the class is small and the mentor still builds real systems.
Ask how many students are in one batch. Ask who teaches, and whether that person works as a developer now. Ask whether a person reviews your projects, or only an automatic checker.
Is the course honest about jobs?
Be careful with any course that promises a job or a salary. A short course can teach you the topics. Becoming a senior engineer still takes years of work.
A good course tells you the market as it is. Many Kathmandu companies use PHP and Laravel. Node.js jobs pay best on remote teams abroad, where clear written English matters. Most job ads ask for 1 to 2 years of experience, so a live backend with its code on GitHub matters more than a certificate.
How our own course answers these
Saarathi Academy in Old Baneshwor, Kathmandu runs a 10-week Backend Engineering course in Node.js, TypeScript, NestJS and PostgreSQL. The syllabus is public on the website before anyone pays, and it starts from the basics.
Weeks 2 and 3 are JavaScript and TypeScript, before any framework. Weeks 6 and 7 are databases, with SQL, indexes, EXPLAIN ANALYZE, transactions and locking. Your first deploy is in Week 5, on your own subdomain of the academy's batch server. In Week 10 you set up Nginx and Let's Encrypt HTTPS there, and GitHub Actions deploys your code by itself.
Up to 10 students sit in the classroom per batch, and a few join online. Mentors still do the job they teach. Every tool in the course has a free version, and 8GB of RAM works if you run one database at a time.
What can you check tonight?
Open any backend syllabus, ours included, and search the page for these words:
- SQL, join, index, transaction
- HTTPS, SSH, deploy
- authorization or ownership
Count how many weeks go to the framework, and how many go to the database. That one number tells you a lot.
Then read the free PostgreSQL page on transactions and the OWASP page on broken object level authorization. If both make sense to you, you are ready for a serious course.
Our Backend Engineering course page and the week-by-week syllabus are there to compare against.
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