Blog

HL7 FHIR looks simple in the docs — resources, references, a REST API. The parts that actually eat your time are terminology, modeling decisions, and the layer you're forced to build on top of it. Notes from building a clinical backend on FHIR R4.

AI can generate code, but it can't replace a deep understanding of backend engineering fundamentals. This comprehensive guide walks through the complete backend development journey—from HTTP, routing, authentication, databases, caching, queues, and observability to distributed systems, DevOps, production architecture, and scaling. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced engineer, this roadmap will help you build backend systems from first principles and understand why every component exists, not just how to use it.

How a JSON protocol and a schema-addressable component catalog let an AI agent pick clinical forms instead of generating them — and why that split matters in healthcare software.