Build APIs That Remain Secure Under Real-World Pressure

You'll develop the skills to build well-documented, properly secured APIs that other developers enjoy working with. This course covers REST principles, GraphQL implementation, gRPC services, and most importantly, how to implement authentication and authorization that actually protects your systems.

By completing this program, you'll understand security principles deeply enough to evaluate new authentication methods as they emerge, design APIs that scale gracefully, and implement documentation strategies that reduce support burden while improving developer experience.

You've built APIs before. Basic endpoints work fine initially. But as your system grows, security concerns multiply. Should you use sessions or tokens? How do you handle third-party integrations safely? What about rate limiting to prevent abuse?

Every tutorial shows simple examples with hardcoded tokens and minimal error handling. But production APIs face actual attackers trying various exploits, legitimate traffic spikes that need rate limiting, and integration partners with varying technical capabilities requiring clear documentation.

What you need isn't another framework tutorial. You need understanding of security principles that remain valid regardless of which tools you use, patterns for structuring APIs that remain maintainable as they grow, and practical experience implementing authentication flows that actually work in production.

This course teaches API development by having you build progressively more complex endpoints while implementing proper security at each stage. You'll start with basic REST APIs, add authentication and authorization, implement multiple API styles, and conclude with comprehensive security hardening and penetration testing.

Instructors guide you through security decisions based on experience protecting production APIs. You'll learn not just how to implement OAuth2, but when different grant types make sense, how to handle token refresh securely, and what common implementation mistakes create vulnerabilities.

The program runs for nine weeks, with approximately 12-15 hours expected each week. You'll watch instruction covering security concepts, implement APIs with proper authentication, write comprehensive tests including security testing, and document your work following OpenAPI standards.

You'll work through increasingly complex scenarios. Early weeks involve building basic REST endpoints with proper error handling. Mid-course modules introduce OAuth2 implementation, requiring you to understand authorization flows and token management. Final weeks include penetration testing exercises where you attempt to compromise your own APIs, learning security by seeing what breaks.

The hands-on security focus makes concepts concrete. Rather than just reading about JWT vulnerabilities, you'll implement tokens incorrectly, see how they can be exploited, then fix the implementation properly. This approach helps you understand not just what to do, but why certain patterns prevent specific attack vectors.

This nine-week program provides comprehensive training in API development with emphasis on security best practices. The investment covers all course materials, access to testing tools and environments, security review sessions, and ongoing instructor support through office hours.

The security principles you learn apply broadly across backend development. Understanding OAuth2 properly helps regardless of which specific implementation library you use. Knowledge of common API vulnerabilities remains relevant as frameworks evolve. The patterns for structuring secure authentication transfer to new projects throughout your career.

The course follows a build-test-secure cycle throughout each module. You implement API endpoints, write tests verifying functionality, then attempt to find security vulnerabilities in your implementation. This cycle makes security concrete rather than abstract, showing exactly how vulnerabilities appear and how proper implementation prevents them.

Progress happens through repeated practice with increasing complexity. Initial API implementations might feel straightforward. Adding proper authentication introduces new considerations. Hardening against security vulnerabilities requires understanding attack vectors. By course end, you'll naturally consider security implications when designing any API endpoint.

The nine-week duration provides sufficient time to build multiple complete APIs while maintaining focus. You'll finish with working examples demonstrating REST, GraphQL, and gRPC implementations, all properly secured and documented. These become portfolio pieces showing potential employers your API development capabilities.

API security involves nuanced decisions that benefit from experienced guidance. We provide regular office hours where you can discuss implementation challenges, ask questions about security patterns, and get feedback on your API designs. Instructors review your code with focus on security considerations, suggesting improvements based on common vulnerabilities they've seen in production systems.

We want you to succeed in this program, which requires ensuring it matches your current situation. During the initial consultation, we'll discuss your experience with backend development, what you hope to learn about API security, and whether the course structure works with your schedule. If we think you'd benefit from different preparation first, we'll tell you honestly.

Joining this course begins with a conversation to ensure mutual understanding of expectations and fit. We want you to feel confident this program addresses your learning goals before you commit.

The next cohort begins in early December 2025, with enrollment closing on November 29th. This allows time to set up development environments and review prerequisite materials before intensive coursework begins.