STAGE 1 → STAGE 6

The FDE roadmap

Six stages from programming foundations to shipping a deployment. Switching from another role? Your switch plan shows which stages to skip.

STAGE 01

Programming foundations

Outcome: You can write, test and version a small service without help.

Python Git Testing TypeScript Debugging

Test: Python for integrations (25 min) →

Projects: Sync a CSV export into a client's REST API · Webhook receiver with retries and logs

STAGE 02

Data and APIs

Outcome: You can move data between two systems and keep it correct.

SQL REST APIs Webhooks ETL pipelines ERP/CRM integration

Test: Python for integrations (25 min) →Test: SQL and data modelling (30 min) →

Projects: Sync a CSV export into a client's REST API · Webhook receiver with retries and logs · Weekly KPI report from a messy database

STAGE 03

Cloud and deployment

Outcome: You can ship code to an environment you do not own and see it running.

Docker Cloud basics CI/CD Auth & secrets Observability

Projects: Webhook receiver with retries and logs · Support ticket triage with human review · RAG across Drive, Slack and a wiki

STAGE 04

Applied AI

Outcome: You can build an LLM feature on private data and prove it works.

LLM APIs Prompt engineering RAG Vector databases AI agents LLM evals Guardrails Fine-tuning SLMs

Test: Applied AI (30 min) →

Projects: FAQ bot over one PDF with citations · CRM lead-enrichment agent · Contract clause extractor with evals

STAGE 05

Customer discovery

Outcome: You can turn a vague brief into scope, a design and a plan a client signs.

System design Data modelling Security & privacy Cost optimisation Discovery Scoping & SOWs Stakeholders Technical writing Demos

Test: Customer scoping (20 min) →

Projects: Weekly KPI report from a messy database · Serve a small model on client infra · Full deployment with handover pack

STAGE 06

Ship a deployment

Outcome: You have shipped one end-to-end deployment with a handover pack.

Ship one end-to-end deployment: try the monthly challenge or the full deployment project.

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