CF

Fundamentals of Backend Communications and Protocols

15h 35m 37s
English
Paid
Updated September 2026

Fundamentals of Backend Communications and Protocols is a 49-lesson 15 hours 35 minutes self-paced course by Udemy. Built from 18 years of hands-on backend engineering, this course treats communication design as its own discipline – the patterns of request-response, publish-subscribe, polling, and push that show up again and again once you look…

Course facts

Lessons
49
Duration
15 hours 35 minutes
Level
All levels
Language
English
Updated
2026-09-11
Instructor
Udemy
Price
Premium

Built from 18 years of hands-on backend engineering, this course treats communication design as its own discipline – the patterns of request-response, publish-subscribe, polling, and push that show up again and again once you look for them.

From patterns to protocols

Those patterns get implemented through real protocols – HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, gRPC, WebRTC, and QUIC among them – each suited to different situations. You'll see concrete examples of where each one fits.

Under the hood

  • What actually happens when a client establishes a connection, at both the kernel and application level
  • How a backend parses and processes an incoming request, protocol by protocol
  • Execution models: processes vs. threads, and how they map onto CPU cores and hardware threads

This is pitched at intermediate-to-advanced engineers who already build backend applications; if networking fundamentals are shaky, the instructor recommends a foundational networking course first.

Who teaches Fundamentals of Backend Communications and Protocols? Udemy

Udemy thumbnail

Udemy is the largest open marketplace for online courses on the internet. Founded in 2010 by Eren Bali, Oktay Caglar, and Gagan Biyani and headquartered in San Francisco, the company went public on the Nasdaq in 2021 under the ticker UDMY. The platform hosts well over two hundred thousand courses across software development, IT and cloud, data science, design, business, marketing, and creative skills, taught by tens of thousands of independent instructors. Roughly seventy million learners use it worldwide, and the corporate arm — Udemy Business — supplies a curated subset of that catalog to enterprise customers.

Because Udemy is a marketplace rather than a single editorial publisher, the catalog is uneven by design. The strongest material lives in the long-form, project-based courses authored by working engineers — full-stack JavaScript, React, Node.js, Python data science, AWS, Docker and Kubernetes, mobile development with Flutter and React Native, and cloud certification preparation. The CourseFlix listing under this source is the slice of that catalog that has been mirrored here for offline-friendly viewing, organized by topic and updated as new releases land. Pricing on Udemy itself swings dramatically with the site's near-permanent sales, which is why the platform is best treated as a deep reference catalog: pick instructors with strong reviews and a track record of updating their material rather than buying on the headline price alone.

What lessons are included in Fundamentals of Backend Communications and Protocols?

This is a demo lesson (10:00 remaining)

You can watch up to 10 minutes for free. Subscribe to unlock all 49 lessons in this course and access 10,000+ hours of premium content across all courses.

View Pricing
0:00
/
#1: Welcome
All Course Lessons (49)
#Lesson TitleDurationAccess
1
Welcome Demo
05:48
2
Who is this course for?
03:02
3
Course Outline
10:48
4
Backend Communication Design Patterns Intro
02:03
5
Request Response
27:38
6
Synchronous vs Asynchronous workloads
42:31
7
Push
20:00
8
Polling
14:14
9
Long Polling
10:12
10
Server Sent Events
13:19
11
Publish Subscribe (Pub/Sub)
16:38
12
Multiplexing vs Demultiplexing (h2 proxying vs Connection Pooling)
14:53
13
Stateful vs Stateless
22:43
14
Sidecar Pattern
21:34
15
Protocols Intro
01:09
16
Protocol Properties
10:48
17
OSI Model
47:30
18
Internet Protocol
01:07:13
19
UDP
48:23
20
TCP
55:12
21
TLS
27:00
22
HTTP/1.1
31:12
23
WebSockets
21:22
24
HTTP/2
17:04
25
HTTP/3
27:59
26
gRPC
49:11
27
WebRTC
01:07:45
28
HTTPS Communication Basics Intro
03:15
29
HTTPS over TCP with TLS 1.2
05:48
30
HTTPS over TCP with TLS 1.3
03:55
31
HTTPS over QUIC (HTTP/3)
02:24
32
HTTPS over TFO with TLS 1.3
01:56
33
HTTPS over TCP with TLS 1.3 and 0RTT
02:07
34
HTTPS over QUIC with 0RTT
01:47
35
Backend Execution Patterns Intro
04:49
36
The Process and The Thread and how they compete for CPU time
27:47
37
How The Backend Accepts Connections
29:31
38
Reading and Sending Socket Data
21:24
39
The Listener, The Acceptor and the Reader
02:07
40
Single Listener, Acceptor and Reader Thread Execution Pattern
03:08
41
Single Listener, Acceptor and Multiple Readers Thread Execution Pattern
05:32
42
Single Listener, Acceptor, Reader with Message Load Balancing Execution Pattern
03:28
43
Multiple Accepter Threads on a Single Socket Execution Pattern
01:59
44
Multiple Listeners, Acceptors and Readers with Socket Sharding Execution Pattern
06:49
45
Backend Idempotency
06:25
46
Nagle's Algorithm
12:09
47
Proxy vs Reverse Proxy
20:06
48
Layer 4 vs Layer 7 Load Balancers
27:52
49
How ChatGPT uses Server Sent Events
44:08
Unlock unlimited learning

Get instant access to all 48 lessons in this course, plus thousands of other premium courses. One subscription, unlimited knowledge.

Learn more about subscription

What courses are similar to Fundamentals of Backend Communications and Protocols?

  • Low Level Design thumbnailUpdated 11mo ago

    Low Level Design

    By: takeUforward (Striver)
    Low-Level Design (LLD) course by takeUforward (Striver): turn architecture into detailed classes, structures and algorithms. Java-based, fits any OOP language.
    22h 34m
  • Full-Stack SaaS Development Course on Cloudflare Workers thumbnailUpdated 1y ago

    Full-Stack SaaS Development Course on Cloudflare Workers

    By: Backpine Labs
    This is a practical training where you will learn full-stack development of SaaS applications based on Cloudflare Workers step by step.
    11h 27m5/5
  • Mobile System Design thumbnailUpdated

    Mobile System Design

    By: Tjeerd in 't Veen
    Learn to design mobile features that scale, from first sketch to production, and handle mobile system design interviews with confidence.
  • Fundamentals of Networking Engineering thumbnailUpdated

    Fundamentals of Networking Engineering

    By: Udemy
    61-lesson networking fundamentals for backend engineers: TCP/IP internals, protocol selection, and real performance optimization.
    18h 6m5/5
  • Systems Thinking in the AI Era, Course 1 thumbnailUpdated 4mo ago

    Systems Thinking in the AI Era, Course 1

    By: Kay Ashaolu
    Study the universal principles of system design for AI applications and platforms. Apply the knowledge to develop complex digital systems and manage them.
    4h 22m
  • Smart Interface Design Patterns thumbnailUpdated 2y ago

    Smart Interface Design Patterns

    By: Vitaly Friedman, Smashing Magazine
    Master essential design patterns for modern interfaces. Learn best practices through examples and live projects to tackle real-life challenges effectively.
    13h 18m5/5
  • CQRS in Practice thumbnailUpdated 2y ago

    CQRS in Practice

    By: Pluralsight
    There are a lot of misconceptions around the CQRS pattern, especially when it comes to applying it in real-world software projects. In this course, CQRS in Prac
    4h 22m
  • Modular Monolith Architecture thumbnailUpdated 2y ago

    Modular Monolith Architecture

    By: Milan Jovanović
    This in-depth course will transform the way you build modern systems. You will learn the best practices for applying the Modular Monolith architecture in a.
    12h 48m5/5

More courses by Udemy

Frequently asked questions

What are the prerequisites for enrolling in this course?
This course does not list specific prerequisites, but a general understanding of networking and backend systems would be beneficial. Familiarity with basic programming concepts and experience in backend development could help in grasping the course material more effectively.
What kinds of projects or exercises are included in the course?
The course provides examples and demonstrations of various backend communication protocols such as HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, gRPC, and WebRTC. While specific projects are not detailed, students will engage with the practical aspects of these protocols, including connection establishment, protocol properties, and execution patterns.
Who is the target audience for this course?
The course is designed for backend engineers and developers who wish to deepen their understanding of communication design patterns and protocols. It is also suitable for those interested in the technical nuances of connection management and protocol integration in backend systems.
What specific tools or platforms will I learn to use in this course?
You will learn about several backend communication protocols, including HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, gRPC, and WebRTC. The course covers how these protocols are used to enhance backend communication, alongside understanding transport mechanisms like TCP and UDP.
What topics are not covered in this course?
The course focuses specifically on backend communication design patterns and protocols. It does not cover frontend development, database management, or specific programming languages in detail. Additionally, it does not delve into non-backend related topics such as user interface design or mobile app development.
How does this course compare in depth and scope to other backend communication courses?
This course offers a detailed exploration of backend communication design patterns and protocols, including HTTP/2, HTTP/3, and gRPC. It focuses on practical aspects of connection management and protocol properties, which may be more in-depth compared to general backend courses that cover a wider range of topics with less focus on communication protocols.
What is the time commitment required to complete this course?
The course consists of 49 lessons. While the total runtime is not specified, students should allocate sufficient time to engage with the detailed content, demonstrations, and examples provided. The time commitment will vary based on prior experience and familiarity with the topics.