Mastering Databases

A complete curriculum on databases — from the relational model and ACID through PostgreSQL internals, production operations, modeling patterns, and the modern data ecosystem (NoSQL, distributed SQL, warehouses, streaming, vectors). Built for working engineers who want database knowledge that survives any system they touch.

5 pillars30 courses224 concepts~360h estimated

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What you'll learn

Database Foundations

~60h

The model that underlies every database, no matter the engine. Relational algebra, schema design, indexes from first principles, ACID, and concurrency control.

Indexes from First Principles(8 concepts)
Concurrency Control — Locking & MVCC(8 concepts)
The Relational Model & SQL Foundations(14 concepts)
Schema Design & Normalization(10 concepts)
Transactions & ACID(9 concepts)

PostgreSQL in Depth

~75h

The engine you use every day. Architecture and internals, advanced SQL, indexing strategies, EXPLAIN mastery, and the power features (JSONB, FTS, partitioning) that make Postgres special.

Indexing Strategies in PostgreSQL(9 concepts)
Advanced SQL with PostgreSQL(10 concepts)
PostgreSQL Architecture & Internals(9 concepts)
Query Performance & EXPLAIN Mastery(9 concepts)
PostgreSQL Power Features(8 concepts)

Operations & Reliability

~95h

Running a database in production. Transactions in the wild, locking patterns and queues, online migrations, replication and HA, backups and PITR, connection pooling, observability, and security.

Backups, PITR & Disaster Recovery(8 concepts)
Connection Pooling & Capacity Planning(7 concepts)
Observability & Performance Engineering(6 concepts)
Database Security(8 concepts)
Transactions in Production(6 concepts)
Replication, HA & Failover(8 concepts)
Schema Migrations at Scale(8 concepts)
Locking Patterns & Job Queues(6 concepts)

Data Modeling Patterns

~65h

Patterns that recur in every product — multi-tenancy, soft deletes, audit trails, event sourcing, hierarchies, materialized read models. Where most domain bugs actually live.

Modeling Real-World Domains(6 concepts)
Multi-Tenancy Patterns(5 concepts)
API-Shaped Data & Materialized Views(5 concepts)
Event Sourcing, CQRS & the Outbox Pattern(5 concepts)
Hierarchies & Graph Modeling in SQL(5 concepts)
Soft Deletes, Audit Trails & Temporal Data(5 concepts)

Beyond OLTP — The Modern Data Ecosystem

~65h

What lives next to your primary database, and when each is the right tool. NoSQL families, distributed SQL and sharding, data warehouses and OLAP, streaming and CDC, vector databases for AI workloads, and caching strategies.

Distributed SQL & Sharding(8 concepts)
NoSQL Families & When to Use Them(8 concepts)
Caching Strategies(4 concepts)
Vector Databases & AI Workloads(8 concepts)
Data Warehouses & OLAP(8 concepts)
Streaming, CDC & Eventual Consistency(6 concepts)

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