Why I Rebuilt My First API From Scratch

I built my first API two months ago. It worked. I deployed it. Users could hit endpoints, get responses, everything functioned. By most measures, it was a success. Then I looked at the code with someone who actually knew what they were doing, and realized: working isn't the same as professional. So I archived it and started over. The First Version My original retail inventory API did what it was supposed to do. CRUD operations, PostgreSQL database, running in production on Render. I followed tutorials, copied patterns I found online, debugged until things worked. The problem wasn't that it failed. The problem was I couldn't explain why it succeeded. When someone asked me to walk through the architecture, I stumbled. Why did I structure the database this way? "That's what the tutorial showed." What's your error handling strategy? I didn't have one—just try-catch blocks scattered everywhere. I could make it run, but I couldn't defend the design. That bothered me. Starting Over The easy p