Build a School Management System
Learn SQL Server, C#, and ASP.NET Core Web API by building one connected project.
You will build one real application from the first lesson to the last: a School Management System (SMS). It stores students, teachers, classes, attendance, exam marks, and fees.
Every topic in this course is taught because the SMS needs it. You never learn a feature in isolation. You learn it, then you use it in the project straight away.
New to software development? Read this page once, then begin with Lesson 1: Series introduction. Follow the numbered lessons in the sidebar from top to bottom. Do not skip the setup or database-design lessons; later C# lessons use the database you build there.
Who this course is for
- You have never written code. Start at Lesson 1. Every term is explained the first time it appears.
- You are a fresher or a student. Follow the lessons in order. Each module ends with a working piece of the project you can show in an interview.
- You already work as a developer. Jump to any module. Each lesson lists what you need to know first, and the "In real projects" notes and Senior/Architect interview questions are written for you.
How the course is organized
The course follows the order real software is built:
- Understand the requirements.
- Design and build the database in SQL Server.
- Write the application logic in C#.
- Expose it to web and mobile apps as an ASP.NET Core Web API.
The sidebar is divided into three parts so you can always see where you are:
| Course part | Modules | What you finish |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1 · Database | 1–5 + SQL Extras | A complete, secure, and tuned SchoolDb database |
| Part 2 · C# and .NET | 6–8 | C# fundamentals, OOP models, LINQ, async code, and design patterns |
| Part 3 · Web API | 9–12 | Data access, REST endpoints, authentication, security, and production hardening |
| Part 4 · UI development | Planned | The browser interface will be added after the backend course is complete |
Finish one part before moving to the next. Lessons keep their continuous numbering, so the database ends at Lesson 29, C# ends at Lesson 56, and Web API continues from Lesson 57.
Start with SQL Server
Begin with Lessons 1–29. They form a complete SQL Server path, starting with SSMS and ending with performance tuning, security, backup, and interview practice. You do not need to study C# before completing this milestone.
Use this order for learning and for publishing one YouTube video each day:
| Days | Lessons | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | Start and setup | Understand the project and install SQL Server and SSMS |
| 5–8 | Database planning | Design the ER model, normalize it, and choose data types |
| 9–15 | Database creation | Create the complete SMS schema and load realistic sample data |
| 16–20 | SQL querying | Write filters, joins, reports, CTEs, and window-function queries |
| 21–29 | Advanced SQL | Build procedures and transactions, then tune, secure, back up, and revise |
| After Day 29 | SQL Extras | Learn optional production features without blocking the main course |
Complete the homework after each lesson. After Lesson 29, you should be able to design, build, query, tune, secure, and explain the SMS database without using C#.
| Module | What you build |
|---|---|
| 1. Start here and install tools | The school's requirements and your tools |
| 2. Plan the database | An ER diagram and a normalized design |
| 3. Create tables and sample data | All tables, constraints, and sample data (including 10,000 students) |
| 4. Write SQL queries | Reports: class lists, attendance, toppers |
| 5. Advanced SQL and tuning | Views, procedures, transactions, indexes, tuning |
| SQL extras (optional) | Temp tables, cursors, MERGE, JSON, and temporal tables; more are planned |
| 6. C# fundamentals | Console tools that work with school data |
| 7. OOP and model classes | A C# class for every table, plus DTOs |
| 8. Advanced C# | Collections, LINQ, async, and design patterns |
| 9. Data access and architecture | ADO.NET, Dapper, and EF Core in a layered app |
| 10. Web API fundamentals | A running API project |
| 11. Build the SMS endpoints | Every SMS feature as an API endpoint, one response shape, Dapper |
| 12. Secure and harden the API | Sign-in, permissions, audit, filters, logging, caching, rate limits, versioning, background jobs, health checks, tests |
| 13. The SMS as a product | The SMS for 1,000 schools, deployed and monitored, plus system design and interview practice |
The Database and C# parts are complete. Web API Lessons 57–96 are published, so the complete backend is ready. UI development is intentionally excluded for now and will be added later as its own course part.
What every lesson includes
Each lesson follows the same order, so you always know where to look:
- Why this matters: the school problem the lesson solves.
- The concept: a plain explanation with one everyday example.
- Apply it to the SMS: complete code you can run, step by step.
- Common mistakes and In real projects: what goes wrong at work and how to avoid it.
- Recap, Homework, and Quiz: check that it stuck.
- Interview questions: tagged F (Fresher, 0-2 years), M (Mid, 3-5), S (Senior, 6-9), and A (Architect or Lead, 10+).
Each lesson is written to work without a video. A matching YouTube video will be added progressively, following the same explanation, demonstration, homework, quiz, and interview-question order.
When a video is ready, its YouTube URL is added to that lesson and appears with the article. Until then, learners can continue using the complete written lesson.
Your own project: the Library module
While the lessons build the SMS, you build a Library module on your own: books, copies, and book issues to students. Each lesson's homework adds one piece. By the end, you have a second project that you designed yourself.
Code for every lesson
All code lives in one project repository with a git tag for every lesson. To start from any lesson, check out its tag and you have the project exactly as it is at that point.
Interview questions
All questions from every lesson are also collected in one place: Interview Questions, with filters by level and type.
Want live sessions, code reviews, and interview preparation? Join the next batch at Sahasra Technologies.