Academy Projects
Build real applications while learning each skill.
The Task Tracker Project
Throughout the Academy, you'll build a single project that grows with your skills:
Part 2: CLI task tracker (Node.js basics)
Part 3: Add comprehensive tests
Part 4: Implement quality gates
Part 5: Build REST API + React frontend
Part 6: Deploy with CI/CD
Part 7: Multi-environment setup
Part 8: Add microservices
Part 9: Optimize for scale
Part 10: Implement security
Part 11: Enterprise features
Why One Project?
Building on the same codebase teaches you:
- How codebases evolve — Real projects grow incrementally
- Migration skills — Adding features to existing code
- Refactoring — Improving code as requirements change
- Decision consequences — See how early choices affect later work
Project Progression
| Part | What You Build | Skills Practiced |
|---|---|---|
| Part 2: CLI Foundation | Task CLI | Node.js, modules, file I/O |
| Part 3: Testing | Test suite | Unit, integration, E2E |
| Part 4: Quality | Linting, types | ESLint, TypeScript |
| Part 5: Full-Stack | API + React UI | Express, React, database |
| Part 6: DevOps | CI/CD pipeline | GitHub Actions, Docker |
| Part 7: Environments | Multi-env deploy | Dev, staging, prod |
| Part 8: Architecture | Microservices | Service separation |
| Part 9: Scale | Performance | Caching, optimization |
| Part 10: Security | Auth, encryption | JWT, bcrypt, helmet |
| Part 11: Enterprise | Multi-tenant | Teams, permissions |
Getting Started
Start with Part 2 where you'll create the basic CLI:
SpecWeave Integration
From Part 6 onwards, you'll use SpecWeave to manage the project:
# Initialize SpecWeave in your project
/sw:increment "Add REST API"
/sw:do
/sw:done
This teaches you professional spec-driven development while building real features.