Career Paths/FDE

Systems & Infrastructure

Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)

Fix live production outages: read logs, keep services up, and keep clients online.

  • Read logs and find the line that broke the customer experience
  • Keep traffic flowing when a node or region fails
  • Wire queues, retries, and locks so services stay safe under load

Finish the ladder in order: internet → Python → Linux → Git → SQL → system design.

Frontend apps and full DevOps pipelines are other tracks. Planned steps unlock when those games ship.

Your path to FDE

Steps mix mission games and coding quests. Games unlock in order after prior steps. Planned steps ship next.

  1. DNS Detective

    Step 1: How the internet works

    DNS, HTTP, APIs, frontend/backend, HTTPS, cookies — enough to pick a language and start coding.

    About 6 hours

    Finish all cases → Ready for code → pick a language

  2. Step 2: Learn Python

    Pick one language. We recommend Python for FDE — then short coding missions (Read → Write → Quiz).

    About 1–2 weeks · Read → Write → Quiz

    Locked

  3. Step 3: Linux and the terminal

    Files, processes, grep/curl, and reading what is on a box.

    About 4 hours

    Fake Ubuntu desk — Terminal missions, unlimited hints

    Locked

  4. Step 4: Git and GitHub

    Branch, commit, merge, and ship a fix without breaking others.

    About 3 hours · Game coming soon

    Coming soon

  5. Step 5: SQL basics

    Check whether the data is wrong or the service is — SELECT to joins.

    About 5 hours

    Locked

  6. Step 6: System design for reliability

    Load balancers, cache, SPOF, retries, failover, and surviving traffic spikes.

    About 6–7 hours

    Locked

Practice more

Free practice hubs — jump in whenever you want reps outside the skill order.

All games