System Design Fundamentals

Master the core components of modern distributed systems and learn to approach any system design interview with confidence and structured thinking.

System Design Interview Approach

Follow this structured approach to tackle any system design interview question with confidence. This framework helps you organize your thoughts and demonstrate your technical knowledge effectively.

Why This Structure Works

Top tech companies look for engineers who can design scalable, reliable, and maintainable systems. This structured approach demonstrates your ability to think systematically about complex problems, make informed trade-offs, and communicate technical decisions clearly.

1

Define Requirements

Clarify functional and non-functional requirements, scale expectations, and performance targets.

2

API and Data Models

Design the core APIs and data models that will satisfy the functional requirements.

3

System Architecture

Create a high-level design showing key components and data flow through the system.

4

Scalability & Performance

Address how the system scales, bottlenecks, and optimizations to meet performance requirements.

5

Trade-offs & Conclusion

Discuss key trade-offs made, potential improvements, and summarize the design.

Common System Design Examples

URL Shortener

Design a service like bit.ly that takes long URLs and creates shorter, unique URLs that redirect to the original.

Key challenges:
  • Generating unique short codes
  • Efficient storage and retrieval
  • High-performance redirects

Chat System

Design a scalable real-time chat application supporting one-on-one and group conversations.

Key challenges:
  • Real-time message delivery
  • Online presence indicators
  • Message persistence

Rate Limiter

Design a rate limiting system to protect APIs from excessive use and potential abuse.

Key challenges:
  • Distributed implementation
  • Algorithm selection
  • Client identification

Learn how these examples incorporate concepts from all three fundamental areas of system design.

Ready to Master System Design?

Dive into any section to learn the core concepts, or follow our comprehensive approach to build your system design skills from the ground up.