I’m new to backend development and feeling overwhelmed where do I even start?

Hey everyone,

I’m a CS undergrad and I’ve recently been assigned the backend role for a college project (an expense tracking system with image upload and OCR integration).

The problem is I’ve never worked on backend before. I understand frontend basics, but backend concepts like APIs, request/response flow, file uploads, and databases feel overwhelming right now.

I’m not looking for shortcuts or full solutions. I genuinely want to learn this slowly and correctly, step by step, without burning out. Could someone please suggest:

What I should learn first as a complete beginner

Beginner-friendly resources or tutorials that actually explain things(yt/websites that helped you:) I just need a clear starting point.

Thanks a lot for reading. I really appreciate any guidance.