Navigating the System Design Interview

Interview Process

• Scope the problem
  • Don’t make assumptions.
  • Ask clarifying questions to understand the constraints and use cases.
  • Steps
    • Requirements clarifications
    • System interface definition
• Sketch up an abstract design
  • Building blocks of the system
  • Relationships between them
  • Steps
    • Back-of-the-envelope estimation
    • Defining data model
    • High-level design
• Identify and address the bottlenecks
  • Use the fundamental principles of scalable system design
  • Steps
    • Detailed design
    • Identifying and resolving bottlenecks

Distributed System Design Basics

• System Design Basics
• Key Characterics
• Loading balancing
• Caching
• Sharding
• Indexes
• Proxies
• Queues
• Redundancy
• SQL vs. NoSQL
• CAP Theorem
• Consistent Hashing
• Client Server Communication

System Designs

• Short URL Service
• Pastebin
• Instagram
• Dropbox
• Twitter
• Youtube
• Typehead Suggestion
• API Rate Limiter
• Twitter Search
• Web Crawler
• Facebook Newsfeed
• Yelp
• Uber Backend
• Ticketmaster
• Additional Resources