Before Interview
Latest
Before Interview
Back-of-the-envelope Numbers
Before Interview
Common Interview Phrases
Before Interview
System Design Interview Cheat Sheet
This is the short version of system design interview prep. Use it before a mock interview, before a real interview, or anytime you need to reset your structure quickly. The basic interview flow Most system design interviews can follow this structure: Requirements → APIs / Data Model → High-Level Design → Deep Dives
Patterns
Distributed Sync
Patterns
Large File Processing
Patterns
Fanout (Read vs Write)
Patterns
Real-time Messaging
Patterns
Write-heavy Systems
A write-heavy system receives many writes, events, or updates. In interviews, the main challenge is protecting the system from overload while keeping writes durable and correct. What it means A system is write-heavy when new data arrives very frequently. Examples: * logging system * metrics platform * click analytics * chat messages
Patterns
Read-heavy Systems
A read-heavy system has far more reads than writes. In interviews, the main goal is to make the read path fast, cheap, and reliable. What it means A system is read-heavy when users read data much more often than they create or update it. Examples: * URL shortener redirects
Deep Dive Toolkit
TTL, Expiration & Cleanup
Deep Dive Toolkit