Overview
What this challenge is about.
Build a Java EE REST API with Servlets and JPA for a sustainable fashion marketplace. Complete CRUD and login tasks to earn a verifiable certificate.
The scenario
EcoThreads is a direct-to-consumer marketplace where roughly forty independent clothing makers list garments rated for sustainability, and its three-person operations team currently runs the whole catalog, customer list, and order log out of shared spreadsheets.
The Brief
What you'll do, and what you'll demonstrate.
EcoThreads needs a reliable, scalable backend to replace its error-prone spreadsheets for managing products, user accounts, and orders with proper database persistence.
Earning criteria — what you'll demonstrate
- Design a normalized relational schema for related entities (products, users, orders) and implement it with JPA entity mappings
- Build RESTful endpoints with core Java EE Servlets without relying on the Spring framework
- Implement user registration, login, and robust input validation with meaningful HTTP error responses
- Package and deploy a Java EE web application to a local Tomcat server and verify it with a Postman collection
- Translate a business situation and a written requirements list into a concrete, testable backend design
Program Fit
Where this fits in your program.
Sharpens the same skills your degree expects you to demonstrate.
Aligned coursework coming soon.
Skills
Skills you'll demonstrate.
Each one shows up on your verified credential.
- Java Ee
Apply java ee to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Rest Api
Apply rest api to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Jpa
Apply jpa to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Servlets
Apply servlets to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Mysql
Apply mysql to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Postman
Apply postman to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
Careers
Career paths this challenge builds toward
Completing this challenge demonstrates skills that transfer directly to these roles:
Junior Backend Developer
This challenge mirrors a real first backend role: turning a vague business need into a persistent, tested service. You practice designing data models, exposing REST endpoints, and deploying a runnable application — the daily work of an entry-level backend engineer.
This challenge sharpens
- rest-api
- jpa
- java-ee
Java API Developer
Building servlet-based CRUD endpoints with authentication and clear error handling builds the core competency of a Java API developer, who spends their time shaping request/response contracts and wiring them to persistence reliably and predictably.
This challenge sharpens
- servlets
- rest-api
- java-ee
Database-Focused Software Engineer
Normalizing a schema from messy spreadsheet data and mapping it with JPA against MySQL is exactly the work of an engineer who owns the persistence layer, ensuring data integrity and modeling relationships that prevent business errors like double sales.
This challenge sharpens
- jpa
- mysql
- java-ee