cleanup, added some boilerplate readmes for backend projects

backend/public/README.md

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+# Backend API
+
+also known as `public`
+
+## What is this?
+
+This is a RESTful API service. Most of the data retrival, requesting, and processing happens here.
+
+## Things you should know
+
+### Environment variables
+
+`public` uses a `.env` file at the root of the project. The file takes standard environment variables (like enviroment variables you would put into a `.bashrc` or ad-hoc into your shell).
+
+For `public` to work properly, please make sure to first create the `.env` file, then fill out the following environment variables:
+
+- `RUST_ENV` - needed for letting the service that we are working in either `development` or `production`
+- `DATABASE_URL` - needed for connecting to Postgres
+- `REDIS_URL` - needed for connecting to the cache (Redis or Valkey)
+- `BASE_URI_WEB` - needed for connecting to the frontend user interface of the system to this service