Tools
Know what's in the toolbox
What each tool is, how it's licensed, and when a dev would actually reach for it.
Databases & backends
Relational, document, embedded, and vector stores, plus the backends and ORMs around them.
Firebase
Managed serviceDocument backend-as-a-service
Google's app platform: Firestore document database, auth, hosting, cloud functions, analytics, and push messaging. Strong realtime sync and offline support on mobile.
Pinecone
Managed serviceManaged vector database
A fully hosted vector database for storing and searching embeddings. No infrastructure to run; you pay for storage and queries.