Backend services and APIs
Services with clear contracts, versioned interfaces and the tests that keep them honest.
xptio · Software engineering
Dependable backend and web software, built to last.
Services, web applications and the integrations between them, designed to be understood, tested and run for years.
- Backend services and APIs
- Web applications
- Ops that roll back
01 · Services
Software that has to keep working.
Web applications
Fast, accessible applications that work on every screen and degrade gracefully without JavaScript.
Integrations
Connecting systems that were never meant to talk: imports, exports, queues and the edge cases between them.
Operations
Deployments that roll back on their own, logs worth reading and alerts that mean something.
Modernisation
Moving long-lived systems forward in small, safe steps instead of risky rewrites.
02 · Approach
Four steps, repeated in small cycles.
Understand
Start from the problem
Who uses the system, what must never break, and what “done” means.
Design
Make the shape visible
Interfaces, data and failure modes written down before the code.
Build
Ship in small slices
Each change tested, reviewed and deployable on its own.
Run
Own it in production
Monitoring, security updates and fixes after launch.
03 · Principles
What every piece of work is held to.
Reliable by default
Validation at every boundary, atomic writes, health checks and automatic rollback.
Secure from the start
Least privilege, strict content security policies and no secrets in code.
Accessible to everyone
WCAG 2.1 AA, keyboard paths and reduced-motion versions designed, not dropped.
Measured, not guessed
Performance budgets and automated checks on every change.
Plain and documented
Boring technology, readable code and decisions recorded where the next person looks.
Respectful of privacy
Collect little, keep less, and say clearly what is stored.
04 · Questions
Short answers.
What does xptio do?
Dependable backend and web software, built to last. xptio builds backend services and APIs, web applications and the integrations between them, runs them in production and modernises long-lived systems in small, safe steps.
How does xptio work?
In four steps, repeated in small cycles: understand the problem and what must never break; design the interfaces, data and failure modes before the code; build in small slices that are each tested, reviewed and deployable; and run the software in production with monitoring, security updates and fixes.
What is every piece of work held to?
Six principles: reliable by default, secure from the start, accessible to everyone (WCAG 2.1 AA), measured rather than guessed, plain and documented, and respectful of privacy.
Does this site track visitors?
No. It sets no cookies for visitors, includes no third-party analytics or advertising trackers and does not store visitors’ IP addresses.
05 · Writing
Notes on building and running software.
The blog is not published yet. When the first articles go out they will be there and in its RSS and JSON feeds.