01
Live product
Make this concrete enough that another engineer can understand what you built and why.
CAREER PROJECT · Intermediate · 1–2 weekends
Production URL Shortener
Build a real URL shortener with persistence, redirects, analytics, abuse controls and deployment.
APIsDatabasesCachingTestingDeployment
DEFINITION OF DONE
Leave artifacts a reviewer can inspect.
02
API/docs
Make this concrete enough that another engineer can understand what you built and why.
03
Schema
Make this concrete enough that another engineer can understand what you built and why.
04
Analytics demo
Make this concrete enough that another engineer can understand what you built and why.
05
Tests
Make this concrete enough that another engineer can understand what you built and why.
RESUME / PORTFOLIO FRAMING
Describe what you actually did.
Built and deployed a URL-shortening product with persistent redirects, analytics and abuse-aware API controls.
Use this as a starting structure, then replace it with your real implementation details, metrics and constraints. Do not claim outcomes you did not measure.
STRETCH GOALS
Go deeper if the core is already solid.
Custom aliases
Add only if it strengthens the engineering story instead of delaying a finished, deployable core.
Rate limiting
Add only if it strengthens the engineering story instead of delaying a finished, deployable core.
QR codes
Add only if it strengthens the engineering story instead of delaying a finished, deployable core.